23 Colleagues and Husband of Hyderabad Techie with Suspected Coronavirus in Self-isolation

Hyderabad: At least 23 colleagues of a woman software engineer, suspected to be Covid-19 positive, were advised home isolation for two weeks, health officials said on Wednesday.

The woman's husband working for another company will also remain in self-isolation. However, officials said other employees in the two companies or other firms need not panic.

The Information Technology department also clarified that only one building in Mindspace Raheja IT Park at Madhapur was shut on Wednesday for sanitising and that all the companies would function normally from Thursday.

The woman techie, who recently returned from Italy, is one of the two persons suspected to be Covid-19 positive. Director of Health G. Srinivas Rao said their samples were sent to National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for further testing.

Telangana's Information Technology Secretary Jayesh Ranjan told reporters that the company has 350 employees but only 23 of them were employed in the section where she was working.

The techie's husband is employed in a British firm which has its office in Purva Summit near Mindspace. This company, which has 65 employees, also declared 'WFH' (work from home) while the techie's husband was advised self-isolation as a precautionary measure.

Jayesh Ranjan said that a couple other companies also asked their employees to work from home. "This was not necessary as it creates unnecessary panic among people," he said. He asked the IT companies to consult the department, Cyberabad Police Commissioner or the Cyberabad Security Council before taking any such decision.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar said some people were spreading rumours over social media that the entire Mindspace was shut. He said all companies would function as usual from Thursday.

Srinivas Rao urged the IT companies to avoid sending their employees abroad in view of the prevailing situation due to the spread of Covid-19.