COVID-19: SBI closes 3 branches in Mumbai, Thane after spike in cases among staff

MUMBAI: The nation’s largest lender State Bank of India has temporarily closed three branches -- two in Mumbai and one in adjoining Thane -- after eight staff tested positive for COVID-19, bank employees said. The bank’s main branch in Thane was shuttered last week after seven of the 25 staff were found to be COVID-19 positive, according to a senior bank employee.

A cash officer at the local cheque processing cell (LCPC), also known as the clearing department, in the northwestern Mumbai suburb of Jogeshwari (East) was found COVID-19 positive, leading to temporary closure of the branch early last week, said another employee.

As a precautionary measure, the bank temporarily stopped operations at its LCPC located in the Andheri area, after a gardener working there was founded to be infected with the virus, the employee said. When contacted, SBI said, “Our quick response team headed by a general manager is continuously monitoring the situation in the entire country and due protocol is followed in case of any infection. Many of our staff members, who got infected, have recovered and are contributing to the functioning of the bank in these trying times”.

Banks are classified as essential services to provide uninterrupted services even when the entire country was under

lockdown. Over the past few days, three SBI employees — Sandu Borade of the Churchgate branch; Anirban Datta of the Belapur CBD branch; and Ramesh Rane of the Ghatkopar branch were lost to the new Coronavirus infection.