Four employees of GRT Jewellers showroom in Coimbatore tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Sunday.

As per news reports, three out of the four staffers had arrived in Coimbatore from Chennai by road recently without e-passes and had flouted the home quarantine norms imposed by the state government. The fourth employee, who had arrived with a valid e pass, was tested at the district checkpost, and was confirmed to have COVID-19.

The showroom on Cross Cut Road, Gandhipuram was sealed on Saturday by the district administration for multiple violations of the Disaster Management Act and COVID-19 lockdown regulations.

The police have also booked the showroom manager and those who had entered the district without e-passes. The district administration is now involved in contact tracing and has also warned others to strictly be in home quarantine.

On Saturday, the showroom was sealed after the district authorities got a tip-off that over 30 GRT Jewellers employees were recently transported from Chennai without an e-pass. The employees had also not followed the mandatory home quarantine period of 14 days after they reached Coimbatore and had instead started working in the store. 

As the district officers visited the showroom, they saw that the store was functioning with more staff members than was permitted. The City Corporation disinfected all the floors in the store and sealed the store shut. They also subjected all the employees to an RT-PCR test.

The showroom manager has been booked under various provisions of the law including sections 269 [Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life], 270 [Malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life] and 188 [Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant] of the IPC and section 3 [Any person disobeying any regulation or order made under this Act shall be deemed to have committed an offence punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code] of the Epidemic Diseases Act.