24 colleagues of coronavirus-infected techie asked to work from home

As many as 24 people who worked with the Bengaluru techie who tested positive for Corona virus on Monday in Hyderabad, have been asked to work from home, Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar has said.

“We have informed the company and they have asked their employees to work from home,” Sudhakar said at a press meet here on Tuesday. Officials assured that they would contact these employees to know whether they have symptoms and their samples will be taken for testing of the virus.

The department was extremely cautious about not letting out names and identifiers of the patient or the company he worked in so as to avoid a scare.

Jawaid Akhtar, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), said, “The techie lived with one roommate. So he has been quarantined. People from the 92 flats in the building where he lived will also be screened.”

However, the letter written by the techie’s roommate to his teammates, which went viral on Tuesday, said, “As per recent news, the Corona-affected Telangana techie (Bengaluru-based) was my flatmate. I’ve to get myself checked for any infection which may have occurred during his short stay here. I’ll be taking a sick leave today as this is an urgent matter. Until reports arrive, I would like to work from home for the safety of the team and site members.”

Dr B G Prakash Kumar, Joint Director, Communicable Diseases, Department of Health and Family welfare said, “Out of the 23 passengers on the Bengaluru-Secunderabad bus that he travelled in, 12 returned to Bengaluru and they have been contacted. Their samples will be taken and tested for the virus.” The rest will be traced and tested by the Telangana government, Akhtar said.