Langur handler at Rail Bhavan tests COVID-19 positive, 15 staffers sent to home quarantine

A langur handler hired to chase away monkeys around Rail Bhavan has tested positive for coronavirus resulting in the quarantining of around 15 rail staffers, sources said on Saturday.

The contract worker had last come to the building on May 4 and tested positive on May 14 making him the second COVID-19 case at the rail headquarters after a Railway Protection Force (RPF) staffer was diagnosed with the virus on May 13.

As part of the government policy, such workers are deployed to scare away monkeys found near most government buildings in central Delhi.

The worker had come in contact with officials of the general branch, the staffers of which have been sent to home quarantine till May 18.

The five-floor Rail Bhavan premises on Raisina Road in New Delhi was already undergoing intensive sanitisation after the orderly working in the RPF offices on the fourth floor tested COVID-19 positive. He had come to office till May 6. The rail headquarters were sealed for two days -- May 14 and 15.

NDMC, which services Rail Bhavan and most of Lutyens Delhi, has been facing a tough time in keeping monkeys at bay in its areas.

It has tried several methods to check the monkey menace, from hiring langur handlers and using air guns and rubber bullets to arranging food for them at specific feeding areas.