Indian Railways has further scaled up the measures against the novel coronavirus, as it has issued an advisory to all zonal railways and its catering arm IRCTC to not allow persons with fever, cough, running nose to be involved in food handling.

Earlier, the Railway Board on Sunday had directed all zonal railways and general managers to remove blankets and curtains from the AC coaches of the passenger trains as a precautionary measure. Railway has also directed proper disinfection and cleaning of the train coaches.

“No staff having symptoms such as fever, cough, running nose or difficulty in breathing should be deployed in the business of food handling,” Phillip Varghese, Director Tourism and Catering Railway Board said in an order to all Railways Principal Chief Commercial Managers and the Managing Director of the IRCTC.

Varghese also said that the staff of catering units should be directed to maintain personal hygiene as per the food safety norms of FSSAI.

“All staff members should wear a face mask, hand gloves, and head-gear while dealing with food production and services to passengers. The staff are advised to wash their hands with soap frequently, avoid contact with persons having coughing or sneezing, avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth. Hand gloves should be changed frequently and disposed of in a closed dustbin,” he said.

The staff involved in the food production have been told to wash their clothes regularly and wear a clean uniform.

Railways also ordered its staff to use disinfectants on frequently touched objects and surfaces such as billing and POS machines, coffee vending machines, counter top, door handles, tables, chairs, and freeze handles by using a cleaning spray.

As of now, India recorded 126 positive cases with 3 deaths reported due to the novel coronavirus.

The number of deaths around the world linked to the new coronavirus topped 7,000 after Italy announced a new surge in fatalities. A total of 7,007 people have died, with 175,536 infections recorded globally. China has the highest number of fatalities at 3,213, followed by Italy with 2,158 deaths and almost 28,000 cases.