Coronavirus Outbreak: Shastri Bhawan partially sealed after senior law ministry official tests positive for COVID-19

New Delhi: Authorities sealed a floor of Shastri Bhawan, which houses several important ministries, on Tuesday after a senior official tested positive for the coronavirus, the second incident of a government building being partially cordoned off in Lutyen’s Delhi within a week. The fourth floor ‘A’ wing from gate 1 to gate 3 has been sealed and is being disinfected, two officials said. Some gates and lifts will also remain closed till Wednesday, the officials said.

A senior official of Department of Legal Affairs in Ministry of Law & Justice tested positive for #COVID19 on May 1. He had last visited his office on 23rd April. As precautionary measure, Shastri Bhawan office of Department of Legal Affairs has been sealed: Law Ministry pic.twitter.com/BnBGvtWRfD

— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2020

They said an official of the Law Ministry, housed on the second floor of Shastri Bhawan, tested positive for the virus, and as per the protocol, the contact tracing has been initiated. Another senior government functionary said the deputy secretary who tested positive used to take a close relative to a hospital for treatment regularly and “may have got infected there”. “As per the protocol, the ministry has been sealed for sanitisation. The drill that needs to be followed is being carried out. It is mandatory and for everyone’s good,” the functionary added. On 28 April, the NITI Aayog building in the high-security zone was sealed for 48 hours after a director-level officer tested positive for the virus. Before that, Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, which houses the Civil Aviation Ministry, was sealed for sanitisation. In other such incidents, the CRPF headquarters and a portion of the BSF headquarters were also sealed recently. These buildings are in CGO Complex in the national capital.