A day after Bengal reported the first case of coronavirus, chief minister Mamata Banerjee today slammed the “irresponsible” attitude of the patient and urged people to behave responsibly if they show coronaviruslike symptoms. She said that employees would be allowed to leave the office an hour early to avoid overcrowding in public transport.

The employees who are sick would be able to apply for their leaves online. “Don’t behave irresponsibly. One has to stay in his/her home after returning from a foreign country. We don’t support if somebody tries to hide his/her symptoms and doesn’t take precautionary measures. If people show any symptom of Covid-19, they should immediately go for medical examination. I don’t support that one will walk in without any screening. I won’t tolerate this VIP culture,” said Miss Banerjee at a programme outside Nabanna state secretariat.

Further, Miss Banerjee said it would be wrong to say this is Kolkata’s first coronavirus case since the youth came from the United Kingdom. According to sources, the patient, who is the son of a senior official of the state home department, refused to get admitted for a test twice before he tested positive for coronavirus.

He also kept meeting people and visiting various places before he was admitted for a test. Miss Banerjee instructed police to take stern action against those who spread fake news on the coronavirus outbreak. A few senior government officials, including home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, were asked to stay at home till further instruction after they came in contact with the official whose son tested positive for coronavirus.

A few other employees and group D staff have also been as-ked to stay in isolation at home. The official in question attended the CM’s high-level meeting in Nabanna on 16 March and met with Bandopadhyay and other officials of the department.

The home secretary’s wife Sonali Chakraborty Bandyopadhyay, who is the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University, has also gone into isolation at home. Sanitisation measures were also on to disinfect Nabanna.

The Nadia district administration has locked the office of the medical officer of Krishnagar municipality, who is the patient’s father, after it was found that he had been in direct contact with his son. Meanwhile, a late night report said that the swab samples of the parents of the youth and their driver have come back negative for nCoV.