Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan ordered mandatory Covid tests for staff working in restaurants and supermarkets across the state capital by April 8 in a bid to identify asymptomatic Covid-19 patients working in crowded places and prevent transmission of the virus.,

These places, he said, attract huge crowds and the chances of transmission were higher if any of the staff working there was infected. Chairing a meeting of district officials, Ranjan also directed builder associations and auto-rickshaw associations to get workers and drivers tested at the earliest in a bid to avert further transmission among people who use public transport or visit construction sites.

“All staff working in restaurants and supermarkets will have to be mandatorily tested for Covid-19 by April 8,” said Ranjan, adding that such establishments should follow all Covid-19 precautions and maintain a record of guests along with their contact details.

The Deputy Commissioner also directed the District Education Officer (DEO) to ensure that students of all private and government schools across the district are tested for Covid-19. College students, he said, should also be duly tested for Covid-19 in order to prevent spread of the virus in educational institutions.

Most private schools in Ranchi are likely to resume in-person classes from the first week of April. The students of classes 8, 9 and 11 may have to undergo Covid tests before resuming regular classes, sources present in the meeting on Tuesday said.

The district administration has also tightened the noose around travelers visiting Ranchi from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which has reported a huge spike in cases in the past week. The deputy commissioner on Tuesday directed mandatory Covid test for passengers coming to Ranchi by bus from Chhattisgarh. A special team, he said, will be deployed at the ITI Bus Stand near Piska More in Ranchi for testing travelers.

Last week, the health department had made Covid tests mandatory for travelers from Kerala and Maharashtra. Besides, the state government is also conducting Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) on the go for symptomatic patients at airports and railway stations.

Ranchi has reported a four-fold spike in the active caseload since March 1. As per figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM), there were 282 active cases of Covid-19 infection in the district on March 1, and the count of patients jumped to 1002 by Tuesday morning.