With a swift rise in the number of coronavirus cases being reported, India's tech companies are taking measures to ensure work continuity by asking employees to log in from home, in addition to fumigating their campuses.
The companies have gone on an overdrive since it emerged that one of the two cases reported on March 2, involved a techie.
So far, 28 cases of COVID-19 has been confirmed in India. There are two confirmed cases in Bengaluru and Telangana, and two more are in quarantine, all of them techies.
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On March 2, the news of a techie getting infected by the disease surfaced. The techie, who had travelled to Dubai for work, flew back to Bengaluru before taking the bus to Telangana.
Following this, the techie's roommate, who is from Intel, and his colleague were quarantined in Bengaluru, according to a CNN-News18 report.
In a mailed response to Moneycontrol, Intel said: "An Intel employee in Bengaluru has potentially been exposed and is currently under quarantine in accordance with government requirements. In India, we have implemented precautionary measures such as travel and event restrictions, visitor screenings at all our offices, increased frequency of office sanitisation, and work-from-home provisions."
According to media reports, employees working in Mindspace, an IT hub in Hyderabad, have been asked to work from home as the office building is being sanitised.
This was done after an employee from DSM Shared Services in the was infected. Two of the DSM offices in Telangana have been closed until further notice and are being cleaned, the company said in an e-mail advisory to employees.
The empoyees have been asked to work from home till the time they can re-enter the building.
Similar steps are being taken across the IT landscape in several cities. Some of the employees are in panic mode.
Pressing the panic button
Media reports quoting C Nagaraja, director, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases, stated that so far close to 97 have to come for checkup voluntarily due to panic. The institute is testing people for coronavirus in Bengaluru.
Arupa N*, a techie, who works out of an IT tech park in Bengaluru, refused go to work in the light of outbreak.
"I saw health officials coming to our office building. But we are yet to get any official confirmation from company. Till that time I would rather not go to office though my manager might not be happy," Arupa added.
Some of the companies have fumigated the floors to ensure safety. Nishad K*, another techie from Bengaluru, said one of the floors in the building has been fumigated.
"My friend's office was fumigated but there was no information about my office being fumigated. So, I am not sure how effective this is going to be,” Nishad added.
Aravind S*, an IT employee from Chennai, said: "We had a team meeting yesterday where we were apprised of precautions we are supposed to take.” Aravind’s company had stocked up hand sanitisers and regular soaps are now replaced by medical soaps in washrooms.
"Canteens have become cleaner too," he quipped.
IT companies such as TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies have also sent advisories to employees to exercise caution.
In a statement shared with Moneycontrol, Wipro said that the company has suspended travel and transit to mainland China, including Hong Kong and Macau, until further notice. Employees have also been advised to avoid non critical travel to Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Italy.
"Specifically in Italy, as a precautionary measure we have implemented work from home and travel restrictions. This had also been put in place across some countries in Asia Pacific, and is being monitored and modified based on the situation in each location. The company is also working with its clients to co-ordinate any measures in the current situation," a TCS spokesperson said.
HCL Technologies said that the company has put in place work from home and remote working options. The company has also formed a special global task force to actively monitor the situation and take necessary actions in consultation with external agencies.
Tech major Google has rolled out free access to advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities till July 1, to all G Suite customers globally to help students, educators and companies conduct video conferences in response to COVID-19.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder, Twitter, in a tweet mentioned that the company has put in place precautions to contain COVID-19. This includes working remotely across the world and conducting meetings and interviews through video conferences only.
*names have been changed to protect identity
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