A staff member in the office of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami passed away on Wednesday after contracting COVID-19.
B.J. Dhamodharan (56), a senior private secretary at the chief minister’s office, was among the five people in the office who contracted the disease and was under treatment at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. Initially, it was reported that three people in the office had contracted the disease, and later the number increased to five.
Dhamodharan, according to sources, was not part of the chief minister’s convoy and used to work from his chamber at the CMO. In a condolence statement issued, the chief minister recalled the official's “dedication in the government's anti-COVID-19 initiatives” and said he is deeply saddened by the demise. He also promised a government job to one of the family members of Dhamodharan, based on eligibility.
A few days after Dhamodaran and the others were infected, a camera person in the chief minister’s entourage too had tested positive. He had travelled with the chief minister when the latter went to open the sluice gates of Mettur dam on June 12. The camera person is under treatment at one of the government hospitals in Chennai.
According to highly placed sources in the CMO, the chief minister had undergone the COVID-19 test twice in the past few weeks. The first time, he had a nasal swab test at one of the private hospitals in Chennai, result of which was declared within hours. He went for a second test after the camera person tested positive for the disease. The result turned out to be negative again.
Sources also say that most of the employees at the CMO underwent tests on Wednesday.
Incidentally, after THE WEEK reported about the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the state secretariat, the government declared that every second Saturday will be a holiday and each office premises in the secretariat will be fumigated. The government said that the departments will work with 33 per cent staff.
However, sources say that at least 150 employees at the state secretariat has been infected as of now and are under treatment.
