Srinagar: Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, the government has started mandatory testing of all workplaces, business establishments, government employees, and bankers.
“The heads of the offices should ensure that no entry is given to any official without a negative test certificate. Further, each certificate shall be duly attested by office heads based on the reporting of the team. It shall be valid for a period of 15 days,” reads the order issued by Srinagar district administration on Thursday.
The government said that to ramp up rapid antigen testing (RAT), it has been decided to conduct sampling of all vulnerable clusters like service providers, business establishments, government employees, banks, etc, under the supervision of the Chief Medical Officer and a team of doctors and technicians.
The order said that target areas stand identified and dates fixed for sampling of each locality/ office / area.
“In order to ensure strict compliance and hundred percent sampling in the identified unit, strict perimeter control shall be followed during the period of sampling and testing,” the order further reads
Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, said clusters of cases have emerged in many government offices and banks recently. “It is important to ensure COVID SOPs at workplaces. We are going for testing and sensitisation at all workplaces be it government or private. Testing is also being done in markets, industry, etc,” he said.

NAZIMA SIDIQ