It is understood that a biometric thumbprint scanner to record staff attendance at a government education office in North Goa has been linked to twelve Covid-19 cases, with one of them succumbing to the disease.
The incident took place shortly after the State government decided to resume the practice of using biometric thumbprint scanners to record staff attendance at government offices from November 1. The practice was suspended due to a large number of Covid-19 cases in the State.
People take a lot of precaution to avoid getting infected by the novel coronavirus. However, if a biometric thumbprint scanner can act as a super-spreader then there is very little that the citizens can do. The practice of recording the staff attendance using such a scanner needs to be suspended with immediate effect till such time that there is no risk of getting infected by the virus.
It is pertinent to note that several private firms could be using the biometric thumbprint scanner to record the attendance of its staff. This practice needs to be suspended as we are still not out of the woods with regards to the pandemic.
The practice of recording physical attendance needs to be resorted to in the offices. The health of the staff members in government offices and private firms is of paramount importance.
