Harsh Goenka announces work-from-home for RPG employees amid Covid surge: ‘Hope others follow suit’

In December, Goenka had made five suggestions to the government for preventing a potential third wave of infections from hitting the country.

Harsh Goenka, the chairperson of RPG Group, announced on Friday that the Mumbai-based industrial and services conglomerate has closed its offices and gone back to work-from-home in light of the sharp increase in coronavirus cases.

The industrialist said he hopes other organisations emulate what his company has done and break the chain of transmission of COVID-19.

In view of the alarming rise in Covid cases across India, we have gone back to Work from Home and closed our workplaces, effective today. I hope other organisations also follow suit and try to break the chain.

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) December 31, 2021

Before the emergence of the Omicron variant, coronavirus cases had started receding and some companies had asked their employees to return to offices. Others were working in hybrid mode.

In December, Goenka had made five suggestions to the government for preventing a potential third wave of infections from hitting the country. These included opening up vaccination for children, rolling out booster vaccine doses and strictly dealing with violations of COVID-appropriate behaviour.

Coronavirus cases in India and many other countries are surging because of the Omicron variant. On Saturday, India recorded 22,775 new coronavirus -- 35% more than Friday’s tally of 16,764. The count of Omicron cases in India stood at 1,431, with Maharashtra accounting for 454 infections.

The country recorded 406 deaths on Saturday, pushing the toll to 4,81,486.

The rising coronavirus cases have forced several states to reimpose curbs. Because of that, New Year celebrations were subdued.

In view of the risk posed by Omicron, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on December 25, had announced that the vaccination of children above 15 will begin from January 3. He also said that health workers as well as senior citizens with comorbidities would be eligible for a third vaccine dose.