All employees of the Industries and Commerce Department, situated in the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat building, have been asked to go into quarantine and work from home after an employee in the department tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The employees have to remain in quarantine for one week and work from home from June 8 to June 14.
"They shall be available on phone calls during the one week and be available whenever their presence is required by the Secretary or senior officials concerned. The Industries and Commerce (OP-claims) Department shall take further necessary action accordingly," a memo from Special Chief Secretary R Karikal Valaven stated.
The employee of the department tested positive after tests were conducted on all staff working in the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat at Amaravati.
It was last week that the Secretariat emerged as a hotspot with employees testing positive for SARS-CoV-2.
After one staffer each of the General Administration Department and Agriculture Department tested positive for coronavirus in the Secretariat, another employee attached to the Revenue Principal Secretary was also diagnosed with COVID-19. A Special Protection Force constable on duty at the Legislature building, situated on the same campus, also tested positive, following which Legislature authorities asked their staff to work from home.
The Secretariat was opened fully only last month after the fourth phase of lockdown ended but the sudden detection of cases triggered panic among employees. Most of the staff returned from Hyderabad after a gap of two months following the government's directive for 100% attendance.
Meanwhile, the state reported 154 new cases on Monday, out of which 125 were local cases. With this, the total COVID-19 tally of the state rose to 4,813 total cases.
Andhra Pradesh has reported 75 deaths due to coronavirus while 2,711 people have recovered and have been discharged. The state now has 1,381 active cases.
PTI inputs