A Delhi air traffic controller tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, the day domestic flight services partially resumed after two months, since the nationwide lockdown to control the disease was enforced.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials said flight operations were unaffected as they had measures in place to prevent such an outbreak and contingency plans in case an outbreak occurs in this critical arm of the airport.
The new ATC duty roster, in place to control the spread of infection among employees, gives at least 10 days' rest to each controller. Senior officers said the infected controller was last on duty on May 17. With airport services yet to fully resume, only minimal staff members are required to keep operations running.
Vineet Gulati, member, Air Navigation Services, said keeping in mind the sensitivity of their job, they had enforced strict social distancing measures. "The infected controller had first tested negative for the virus, but then a second test returned positive on Monday. He is asymptomatic and under home quarantine. Seventeen other ATC officers who came in close contact with him have been asked to quarantine themselves at home," he said.
An ATC official, who asked not to be named, said the officer may have contracted the disease from his daughter, who had tested positive for the virus earlier. Authorities have since sanitised the main access areas of the 26-storey control tower.
The Delhi ATC has a strength of around 400 controllers and handles at least 1,300 flight operations every day on average in normal times. On Monday, the first day of resumption of services, around 380 flights (both arrivals and departures) were scheduled to take place, of which 82 were cancelled. On Tuesday, the airport saw 137 departures, 147 arrivals and 25 cancellations.
ATC officials said the new roster has been in force since March when flight operations were suspended in the country in view of the lockdown.
"Earlier, 60 controllers used to work a shift, but from March, this was down to only 20 per shift. From the March 25 to till May 25, flight operations were not even 5% of what we usually handle, so 20 controllers are enough to do the job. We are keeping 40 controllers on standby at any given time. If any controller shows signs of an illness, we can ask the entire shift to quarantine themselves and a fresh lot of controllers can take over without delay ensuring round-the-clock operation of the ATC," an ATC officer, who did not wish to be named, said.
Gulati said strict social distancing is in force at the control room.
Another ATC officer said a number of precautions and sanitisation measures are in place to ensure minimal chance of infection.
"If the ATC is crippled due to the infection, it will be another jolt to the aviation sector that has just resumed partial services. If cases multiply at some pace, it will be difficult for us to fill in for the controllers. Following the safety guidelines, we have placed self-dispensing hand sanitisers, the entire building is fumigated and workstations are cleaned after every shift. All controllers are required to wear masks and gloves while working. Even in other areas, physical distancing rules are being followed and our staff is seated at an adequate distance from each other. All necessary measures are being taken," said the second ATC officer requesting anonymity.
The new protocols, however, do not require officers to test themselves for Covid-19 before attending to their duties.
In the last 24 hours, at least 18 central industrial security force (CISF) personnel deputed at the airport also tested positive for the virus.
"All were at the CISF's isolation facility for the last 10 days. Contact tracing is being done and their families have also been asked to quarantine themselves at home," said a CISF spokesperson, adding that the force now has 54 confirmed cases in Delhi.
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