Back to working in North Block office with home-made mask, tweets FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said she is back to working at her North Block office while taking necessary precautions in the wake of coronavirus spread.

"Back to working in North Block office with a home-made mask this morning," Sitharaman tweeted. She also tweeted a photo in which she was seen wearing the mask.

Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, who reached the Sports Authority of India earlier today, said all guidelines regarding COVID-19 will be followed and only senior officials and minimum required staff will be coming to office.

"Only senior officials and minimum required staff will be coming to the office today onwards. We will follow all guidelines regarding COVID-19," Rijiju told ANI.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar held a meeting with officials of Information and Broadcasting Ministry at Shastri Bhawan while his cabinet colleague Jitendra Singh attended a meeting at North Block. Both were seen wearing masks as a precautionary measure.

Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who also attended a meeting with officials today, said: "We started the work from today. We are maintaining social distancing norms and other precautions."

Today is the twentieth day of the 21-day lockdown which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month in a bid to contain coronavirus spread.

On March 19, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions issued guidelines recommending work from home facilities to be given to Group B and C employees of the central government. The Ministry has further ordered working hours of all employees who are attending office to be "staggered" by forming three groups which enter and leave the office at different times.

India's tally of positive COVID-19 cases rose to 9,152 following an increase of 796 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.