NDMC records its first staff death due to virus

nNEW DELHI: A 31-year-old sanitation worker of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) succumbed to Covid-19 on Sunday, officials of the civic body said..

According to NDMC officials, this is the first Covid-19 death reported from the civic body.

A senior NDMC official said that the man had last attended office on May 23 and succumbed to the virus on Sunday.

“On May 23, he told his colleagues that he was going home as he was not feeling well. On May 28, he got himself tested at BLK Hospital and a day later he was found Covid-19 positive. He was then admitted at RML Hospital where he died on May 31,” the official, said requesting anonymity.

The deceased was deployed at NDMC’S drainage service centre in Netaji Nagar. He is survived by his wife and two children — a four-year-old son and a threemonth-old daughter. The civic body has announced a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to the family of the employee.

The official said that contact tracing of staff in contact with the man is yet to be conducted. The deceased was appointed as a “Beldaar“at the Netaji Nagar drainage service centre and was engaged in desilting drains.

“We have no idea how was he contracted the virus. There are around 42 people who work at the office. I have written to the senior authorities in NDMC to start contact tracing of all the staff members so that people who had come in contact with the deceased can be identified and quarantined. Around 5-6 of his colleagues, with whom the deceased used to clean drains, have been asked to quarantine themselves,” an official at Netaji Nagar drainage service centre, said.

In the last two months, a total of 33 Covid-19 positive cases has been reported from areas under NDMC’S jurisdiction. Out of these 33 cases, four have recovered and one has died. On May 28, the NDMC had to seal its headquarter building on Sansad Marg after six employees tested positive for the virus here. District administration officials said that the contact tracing of the staff would start from Tuesday.

District administration officials said that the contact tracing of the staff would start from Tuesday. “For now, we are trying to find out how the victim got infected with the virus. We will be able to identify high risk and lowrisk symptom people only after the contact tracing is completed,” a district administration official said.

Meanwhile, a 41-year-old junior engineer employed with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation became a victim of the virus on Monday.

According to north corporation officials, the junior engineer was deployed at the Civic Centre — North corporation’s headquarter— and had tested positive on May 30.

“Unfortunately, a junior engineer of the north corporation died due to Covid-19 today (Monday). The man had developed fever on May 18 and was on leave since then. He was admitted to Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital on May 20. He tested Covid-19 positive on May 30 and died on June 1 (Monday),” a north corporation spokesperson said.