New Delhi, January 9: Ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament, more than 400 Parliament staff members were tested positive for COVID-19, according to official sources. The officials told ANI that 402 staff members were tested positive out of the 1,409 staff of Parliament for the virus from January 4 to 8 after which their samples were sent for genome sequencing to confirm the variant.

"Close to 402 staffs were tested positive for COVID-19 from January 4-8 and all samples have been sent to genome sequencing for Omicron variant confirmation," an official told ANI. According to an internal message from the staff of Parliament, the staff are advised to follow the precautions as per the guidelines of the government.

"There is a consolidated list of 200 Lok Sabha and 69 from Rajya Sabha and 133 allied staff who have tested positive, but we all need to take proper precautions," an internal message read. The above list does not include who were tested for COVID outside the Parliament premises. India Reports More Than 1.5 Lakh New COVID-19 Cases, 327 Deaths in Past 24 Hours, Omicron Tally Reaches 3,623.

Several employees of both the Houses of the Parliament were put in isolation after they came into contact with their infected colleagues during work. Various officials of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are also in isolation.

A recent order by the DDMA directed all government offices to run under 50 per cent of staff capacity and the rest will work from home. Taking the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron seriously, the Central government also exempted its staff from biometric (daily punching) for attendance.

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