IIM-Ranchi shuts down to sanitise staff

Very recently, the Indian Institute of Management campus at Ranchi, Jharkhand, was shut for sanitation purposes after a staff member working there tested positive for Covid-19.

This was an alarming development for the district administration because the institution is based in Suchana Bhawan, which is right opposite Jharkhand chief minister’s official residence. It currently also houses the information department of the state government.

Lokesh Mishra, the sub-divisional magistrate for Ranchi stated that the 32-year-old man is an office staff at the Indian Institute of Management campus at Ranchi. He is a resident of Ketari Bagan area that falls under the jurisdiction of the Chutia police station.

He further stated that as soon as he received the intimation about a staff member on the campus testing positive for Covid-19, a health department team was formed and instructed to trace his whereabouts. After locating him, he has been shifted to the integrated Covid-19 isolation unit at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi.

Furthermore, all those who have come in close contact with him in the recent past are being instructed to self-quarantine themselves at home. Their swab samples are being collected for testing purposes as well to avoid any risk of contamination going undetected.

The district administration has initiated a contact tracing program at Suchana Bhawan as a preventive measure against any further contamination. This program led to the formulation of a list of fourteen people who came in contact with the affected staff member.

They have all been traced and their swab samples have been collected for medical tests as well. The local administration at Chutia had also previously launched a similar contact tracing exercise in the and it reported to have zeroed in on at least thirty people who had come in close contact with the infected IIM worker who has been attending office since April 20, even during the lockdown.

Shailendra Singh, Director IIM-Ranchi, stated that the office staffer who tested positive remained asymptomatic. According to him, IIM-Ranchi continued to avoid full attendance at their offices due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. And further stated that the man who tested positive was attending office as interviews and admissions had already been scheduled for the next academic
session.

He also said that the Suchana Bhawan officials had indicated they would shut the office for the next couple of days to disinfect the premises to avoid spillovers. They said that they would take a call on opening the offices on a later date although the academic activities will not be affected as most of it is being conducted online.

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Source: Telegraph India