Bokaro Steel (BSL) has issued a fresh set of SOPs for its employees and residents of the township with the rise in the number of Covid patients, including two who were working in the plant.

While one BSL employee, belonging to the slabbing mill, tested positive on July 11, the other is a staffer at the steel melting shop (SMS) who tested positive on Saturday.

A team of doctors of Bokaro General Hospital (BGH) visited SMS and performed a risk assessment exercise to identify the number of employees who may have come in contact with the infected person during work. Sources said in all, 18 employees had been identified. They have not reported any symptoms so far. But they will all be tested.

According to sources, the employee who works at SMS is a resident of Sector-12. He is being treated at the Covid ward of BGH. His condition is stable. Doctors believe he contracted the virus from a domestic help, who was working in the house of a relative in Chas where he had stayed for a few days.

The slabbing mill worker is also being treated at BGH. His colleagues, who have been tested, do not have Covid.

BSL chief of communication Manikant Dhan said a fresh set of SOPs had been issued in view of the rapid rise in Covid numbers. Among these are: i) every employee will have to report the arrival of a family member or relatives and others at their residence, ii) no employee will be allowed to leave station on weekly offs, iii) any employee returning from outstation will have to remain in home quarantine for which they will have to take leave, iv) if any family member or domestic help exhibits symptoms like fever or cough or breathlessness, then the employee will not report for duty.