Two more coronavirus cases suspected in Hyderabad, govt issues advisory for companies

While one techie from Hyderabad who works in Bengaluru tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, two more persons in Telangana have been found to have a high viral load on Wednesday. Their first lab test done at the Indian Council of Medical Research in Gandhi Medical College in Secunderabad has turned positive. The government has however sent these samples to National Institute of Virology in Pune. 

One among this is a person working with a Dutch multinational company called DSM that works out of Raheja Mindspace tech park in Hyderabad. 

While three buildings in the tech park were fully evacuated after the company was informed that their employee has most likely contracted the disease, the Telangana government has issued an advisory to companies and workplaces. Companies have been asked to avoid the use of biometric sensors if possible and cancel all non-essential travels, amongst other guidelines.  

The five measures listed by the government are:

1. Spread awareness about personal hygiene including regular hand wash.
2. Make sanitizer soaps, disposable tissues available at all public places. 
3. Avoid usage of biometric sensors if possible.
4. Postpone or cancel all non-essential meetings/internal events / Town-Halls, that may involve large no of employee gathering at one place. 
5. Avoid non-essential travel

The government has also laid out a procedure to be followed in case any employee has returned from abroad from business or personal travel in the past 14 days.

1. Ask the returning employee to get the basic tests done at any nearby well-equipped hospital even if there are no symptoms of the virus.
2. If the local hospital advises further tests or if there are any symptoms associated with the virus that are visible, then the employee should be asked to visit Gandhi Hospital for coronavirus test. 
3. If point 2 is true, then all the employees who are in close touch with affected employee(s) should be asked to work from home for 14 days in self-isolated mode until further test results from Gandhi are available. If the test results from Gandhi are negative, the employees including the affected employee can resume work. If the results are positive for the affected employee, all the other associated employees should also get themselves tested at a nearby hospital.