Uttarakhand order government staff work from home between March 19 and 24

In a recent development after the Uttarakhand government declared coronavirus as an epidemic, the state government on Wednesday issued an order to allow government employees to work from home from March 19 to 24.

The Government orders state, "The entry of employees and visitors into the Uttarakhand Secretariat has been banned from March 19 to 24 in view of the coronavirus threats. All employees will work from home."

However, the order further stated that the order does not apply to employees of health, police, transport, food, and water supply, electricity, and sanitation departments. 

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The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is working to eliminate the misconceptions regarding coronavirus. Teams have been assigned by the department along with government hospitals. 

As per the press release, the Dehradun District Magistrate stated, "Subharati Medical Hospital and Hotel Taqgene have acquired until further orders to be made a "Quarantine" ward. Chief Medical Officer has been ordered to immediately provide all the facilities related to quarantine ward at both the places."

A doctor from Chinyalisaur's Community center asserted that symptoms of coronavirus were found in a 32-year-old man hailing from Gorun village of Chinyasaur block in Uttarkashi district. 

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The governor of Uttarakhand has also intervened and enquired to prevent the outburst of the virus. 

The State Health Secretary Nitesh Jha asserted, "The government has adequate facilities for quarantine and isolation. Steps have also been taken to stop the black marketing of sanitizers. The training program has been started to increase paramedical staff for treatment and management of coronavirus cases."

Uttarakhand is the first state to issue ‘work-from-home’ directive to employees in the wake of the threat posed by COVID 19, a few other states have issued advisories and not orders for people to work from home.

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Coronavirus Pandemic:

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday praised the Indian government's commitment to combat the novel coronavirus -- a pandemic which has infected more than 168,000 people and killed over 8,000 globally. India has so far reported 152 cases of the novel coronavirus, while three people have died in the country.

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