Odisha On COVID-19 Alert: Cops Bar On Foreign-Returned Staff Of IT Firms In Bhubaneswar & Cuttack

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Tuesday advised IT firms in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack  to ask employees who have travelled to foreign countries in the last 14 days, to work from home for two weeks to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus.

Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said IT companies were advised not to allow such employees to come to their premises for 14 days. If any employee cannot work from home, he/she may be asked to avail leave as per the company’s rules, he added.

According to the police advisory, any employee suffering from fever, cough and cold should not be allowed to come to the office. If necessary, the IT firms can use non-contact thermometers at the entry points to measure the body temperature of employees.

Sarangi also said that the IT firms are advised to restrict all travels of their employees within or outside the country unless absolutely necessary and conduct such meetings at regular intervals.

The police commissioner further said that any IT firm not complying with the advisory will face action under Section 100 of the Odisha Urban Police (OUP) Act and Sections 269, 270 and 304 of the IPC.

“To ensure proper implementation of advisory, police officers above the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) will pay a surprise visit to the IT firms and initiate appropriate action for violation of the advisory,” he added.