COVID-19: Karnataka asks IT companies to stop sending employees abroad

A total of four positive cases have been confirmed in Bengaluru, as of Tuesday.

Coronavirus Coronavirus

Karnataka state health officials are asking IT companies to refrain from sending their employees to work abroad (“on-site") in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

“Thousands of people come in from all over the world to Bengaluru since as we know Bengaluru is an IT hub. We will be telling IT companies to not send their employees on-site till this is resolved,” stated Dr Sudhakar, Medical Education Minister, to TNM following a press meet held earlier today.

During the press meet, health officials stated that an advisory had been issued to several IT companies earlier today, asking the companies to provide a list of all the employees who had recently traveled to a country which had been affected with the coronavirus disease, after February 21. In addition, prevention measures and sanitisation protocols have also been increased.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were four positive cases of coronavirus disease confirmed in the state, from Bengaluru. The first individual was a techie in his 40s who recently traveled to India from Austin, Texas, via Dubai. His wife and child who were placed under isolation at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) in the city were confirmed to have tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. Another techie who had also traveled from the US, via London, also tested positive.

Officials have begun contact tracing and have identified around 2,666 individuals who had come in contact with the first techie, while 12 individuals who had been in touch with the second man have been contacted.

The state government has also set up new testing centres at Mysore Medical College & Research Institute (MMCRI) in Mysuru, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS) in Hassan and Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) in Shivamogga. In Bengaluru, tests are being done by the National Institute of Virology’s field unit and Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI).

A total of 56 cases have been confirmed in India as of Tuesday.