The coronavirus scare gripped Telangana on March 4 as the attention of the entire State was on the COVID-19 status of two persons , including a software employee with travel history to Italy, whose samples were tested at the Gandhi Hospital.
Though messages of a software employee testing positive for COVID-19 spread on social media platforms faster than any virus, one will have to wait till March 5 for official confirmation on whether the samples tested positive or negative.
Also read | India yet to share genome sequence data
Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender said the department had sent the two samples to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for more clarity. These two are among the 47 samples tested at the ICMR’s laboratory at Gandhi Hospital, Musheerabad, on Tuesday, The remaining 45 tested negative.
As per protocol, if a sample collected from a person in the State tests negative, it is announced by the State Health department. In case a sample tests positive for COVID-19, the sample has to be sent to NIV-Pune for confirmation. If it tests positive again, the announcement is made by the Central government. The process was followed to declare the first positive case from Telangana.
Before the Health Minister or other officials got into damage control mode, the messages on social media set off fear and trepidation among software employees in Hitech city, the hub of I-T operations in Hyderabad.
Also read | Bye-bye handshakes: how COVID-19 is changing global habits
At least four companies in the I-T hub evacuated employees from their offices. An 11-storey building in Mindspace IT Park was evacuated following messages that an employee working there tested positive for the virus. The employee, a woman, has travel history to Italy. Employees of another company in Purva Summit, where her husband works, were also evacuated.
Principal Secretary of I-T and Industries Jayesh Ranjan confirmed the developments at a joint press conference with Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar, and Director of public Health G. Srinivas Rao.
Also read | COVID-19 cases rise to 29 in India | COVID-19 updates on March 4, 2020
Mr. Ranjan appealed to all I-T companies not to take such decisions without consulting the government.
Mr. Sajjanar was appointed nodal officer. Directions were passed to I-T companies to inform him in case if they plan to shut their operations or decide to direct their employees to work from home.
“The entire building no 20 in Raheja IT Park is being sanitised and operations will be normal from Thursday,” Mr. Ranjan told reporters.
Coronavirus: Full coverage | Amazon confirms first virus case among U.S. employees | One Intel employee in Bengaluru potentially exposed to coronavirus, under quarantine
The companies were suggested to temporarily disable biometric attendance system, group meetings at conference halls. Instead, they were asked to use technology to hold meetings as there is a high risk of the virus spreading.
The Health Minister tried to infuse hope stating that four family members of the COVID-19 positive patient from Hyderabad, who lived under the same roof, tested negative for the virus.
Watch | COVID-19: Dos and don'ts from the Health Ministry
