Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, has ordered that the quarantine period of healthcare workers, who are at high risk for exposure due to their own floppiness in following Covid-19 rules and regulation, will be included as casual leaves.
Justifying the directive, the institute said that it is being observed that despite a huge surge in Covid-19 cases, some health workers do not portray Covid-appropriate behavior and thus there should be some sort of initiative so that precautions are observed while performing the duties.
In the month of April alone, around 500 employees of the institute were tested COVID positive. This makes it around 30% of the total employees found positive since the outbreak last year.
The PGIMER administration has brought it to the notice of employees that if someone falls under high-risk exposure due to “sharing of food” and “chatting during duty hours without a mask” or “not wearing proper personal protective equipment due to an unjustifiable reason”, his quarantine period will be treated as casual leave, not the quarantine.
