The status of the vaccination campaign and the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron and its public health implications also came up in the meeting chaired by PM Modi to review the COVID-19 situation in the country, ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics.
New Delhi: The centre has announced that all pregnant women employees and Divyang (handicap) employees have been exempted from attending office due to rising COVID cases.
Briefing about the guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, Union Minister in PMO, Jitendra Singh, said pregnant women and Divyang employees would be required to remain available and work from home. He said that all officials and staff living in the Containment Zone would also be exempted from coming to the office until the containment zone is denotified.
The Minister said that the physical attendance of government servants below the level of Under Secretary has been restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength, and the remaining 50 per cent will work from home. He said that the officials and staff who are not attending the office and are working from home would remain available on the telephone and other electronic means of communication at all times.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level virtual meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the country, ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics. The status of the vaccination campaign and the emergence of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron and its public health implications also came up in the meeting.
Health Secretary gave a detailed presentation highlighting the surge in cases currently being reported globally. It was followed by the status of COVID-19 in India, highlighting various States and Districts of concern based on the surge in cases. Efforts being made by the Central Government so far in terms of supporting States to manage the upcoming challenge were highlighted. Various predictive scenarios of peak cases were also presented.
The Prime Minister stressed the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level. He asked officials to maintain coordination regarding this with the states.
The presentation brought attention to India’s consistent efforts towards the vaccination campaign, with 31 per cent of adolescents aged 15-18 years having been administered with the 1st dose so far within seven days.
