Central govt suspends biometric attendance due to coronavirus threat

The central government on Friday requested all the ministries and departments to discontinue their biometric attendance system in wake of the spread of coronavirus in the national capital.

"In view of coronavirus, all Ministries/Departments are requested to exempt their employees to mark biometric attendance in Aadhaar-based Biometric Attendance System till 31 March 2020. However, all employees are required to mark their attendance in a register," Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions stated.

The Director Skill Development and Industrial Training Institute has also ordered all Industrial Training Institutes (ITI s) in Haryana to suspend the biometric attendance.

Meanwhile, in Himachal Pradesh, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) RD Dhiman has also requested all the departments to exempt their employees to mark biometric attendance in Aadhaar-based Biometric Attendance System till March 31, 2020.

The health department also confirmed that all suspected for coronavirus have tested negative.

These developments come after the number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 31 in India. The deadly virus has caused more than 3200 deaths across the world.

The novel coronavirus disease, dubbed COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in late December 2019 and has since spread to more than 20 other countries.