In an unusual order, the Chief Development Officer (CDO) of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh has issued an order asking officials and employees to stop using saliva to turn over pages of files and other documents, to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
"It is observed that officers and employees use saliva to turn pages of the files, due to which there is a risk of spreading communicable diseases," read the order by CDO Abhishek Goyal. "Therefore, all district level officers (development)/block development officers are directed to use water sponges by themselves to turn over the page of the files so as to avoid the infectious/communicable diseases," stated the order.
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"Ensure strict compliance in the concerned offices and provide the compliance report to the CDO office in three days," it added. Saliva has been one of the most common modes of infectious transmission.
The latest order comes amid coronavirus epidemic scare that has spread across the world. A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 79,000 people globally. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.
