Southern Railway closes HQ in Chennai after staff test positive

Southern Railway on Thursday closed its headquarters and office of the Chennai Division after a “few staff” tested positive for coronavirus. The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has also announced that its Shell Administrative Building will be closed for two days from May 29 as people working there have been found infected with COVID-19.

Sources said the Southern Railway will carry out the disinfection of its entire premises located close to the iconic Chennai Central Railway station on Friday and Saturday.

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“A few staff working at the headquarters tested positive for COVID-19 and we have closed both the HQ and the building that houses the Chennai division. They will be disinfected thoroughly,” a Railway official told DH. He added that the offices are likely to open on June 1.

The offices began to function after the Union Government allowed to reopen and work with 33 per cent, which was increased to 50 per cent recently.

An official from the ICF, the largest coach factory in the world, said a few staff who were working the Shell Administrative Building have tested positive for COVID-19. “We have positive cases everywhere around the ICF premises. Recently, ICF lost one of its staff to COVID-19,” the official said.

He said the building will be closed for disinfection activities on May 29 and May 30 and will reopen on June 1 as May 31 is Sunday. The positive patients are being treated at Railway Hospital in Chennai, the officials added.