Less than a month before the commencement of the Budget Session, over 400 Parliament staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to official sources. Out of 1,409 Parliament staff members 402 tested positive for the virus between January 4 to 8, officials told ANI.
The samples of those who tested positive were sent for genome sequencing to confirm the variant of the virus which had infected the staff.
“Close to 402 staffs were tested positive for COVID-19 from January 4-8 and all samples have been sent to genome sequencing for Omicron variant confirmation,” an official told the news agency.
The Parliament staff have been advised to follow the precautions as per the guidelines of the government, according to an internal message from the staff.
“There is a consolidated list of 200 Lok Sabha and 69 from Rajya Sabha and 133 allied staff who have tested positive, but we all need to take proper precautions,” read the internal message from the Parliament staff. However, this list does not include those who had tested positive outside the parliament premises.
Staff members of both the Houses of the Parliament were placed in isolation after they came into contact with others who had tested positive. Various officials of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are currently in isolation.