HYDERABAD: In the wake of rapid spurt in the number of new coronavirus cases in the state, the Telangana government has initiated fresh measures with regard to all government offices including the state secretariat. As part of a new list of guidelines issued on Saturday, the state government decided to restrict the number of employees working from government offices to only 50 per cent in a day. The rest will work the next week on an alternate week basis. However, the rotation of work from office will not apply to senior officials who will have to work from office.

The new duty guidelines for the government employees released by the Telangana government are as follows:

Starting from Monday, employees of the state Secretariat at the Burgula Ramakrishna Rao Bhavan (BRK Bhavan) will work as per the new COVID-19 relaxations in duty.
The 4^th Class employees will work from office every alternate week.
Clerical staff and circling employees will work on alternate days.
Employees allotted special chambers and enclosures will have to discharge their duties every day.
Only those visitors who obtain prior permission will be allowed inside the secretariat.
Section Officers and assistant section officers should be accessible if they are not reporting for work.
Only three persons will be allowed at a time to use the lifts of the secretariat.
Drivers should avoid crowding and close contact in the parking areas on the premises.
Officials should not use lifts at their workplace.

Telangana has been witnessing a sudden spike in the number of single-day new COVID-19 cases in the last few days. As many as 499 new cases were registered in the state on Friday. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) alone contributed to a whopping 329 cases out of the these new cases. With this, the total number of coronavirus cases in the state shot up to 6,526. Threee more deaths caused by the dreaded illness were reported on Friday.

Even as the easing of lockdown curbs in Hyderabad and across the state is being blamed for the sudden spurt in the number of daily cases, it is also being attributed to the increase in the number of tests that are being conducted in the state of late. A total of 2,477 COVID-19 tests were conducted on Friday with a test positivity rate of 20.14 per cent.