Karnataka govt to issue advisory to IT companies to ask employees to work from home

Coronavirus

Three of the six cases of COVID-19 in Karnataka work in IT companies in Bengaluru.

Prajwal Bhat

Representational image/Pixcy

Karnataka government has given a strict advisory to Information Technology (IT) companies in Bengaluru to allow its employees to work from home over fears of the spread of coronavirus.  "We will ask IT companies to give directions to all employees to work from home and not office… in office, they work in a very close atmosphere and centrally air-conditioned office, which increases the chances of infection," Medical Education Minister Dr Sudhakar told reporters in a press briefing on Saturday.  He also hinted that a specific directive will be given to IT companies in this regard before Monday.   Karnataka has reported six positive cases of COVID-19, including five in Benaluru. Three of the cases in Bengaluru are employed in IT companies - Dell, Mindtree and Google. All three patients are currently in isolation and recovering. Their offices have been disinfected and the contacts they came in touch with are being traced.  Many companies in the city have already sanctioned work from home for its employees. This includes Flipkart, which offered its employees the option of working from home for three days.  IT companies in the city have also been asked to restrict employees from travelling abroad, especially to coronavirus-affected countries in a bid to ensure that the disease does not spread in the city.  The state government had also earlier asked IT companies for a list of employees who had travelled to coronavirus-affected countries for work. 

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