With two more cases of coronavirus emerging in the state, the Telangana government has designated Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar as a nodal officer for companies working in Hyderabad's IT sector.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Telangana Information Technology (IT) Secretary Jayesh Ranjan appealed to companies to consult the state government before taking any major steps with regard to their employees.
The announcement came hours after a building in Mindspace Raheja IT Park in Hitec city was shut for sanitising, as a woman techie who worked in a company in the building number 20 was tested Covid-19 positive in the first test at the ICMR lab in Hyderabad.
Director of Health G Srinivas Rao said that her samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for further testing and would be confirmed by Thursday morning.
Jayesh Ranjan said that the company had 350 employees but only 23 of them were employed in the section where she was working and have been asked to quarantine themselves at home until further orders.
The techie's husband is employed in a British firm which has its office in Purva Summit near Mindspace. The company, which has 65 employees, also asked its employees to work from home as a precautionary measure.
Pointing out that other companies in Raheja Mindspace had also asked their employees to work from home, Jayesh Ranjan said, "This was not necessary as it creates unnecessary panic among people. This is why we have appealed to them to consult either the IT department or the Cyberabad Police Commissioner or the Cyberabad Security Council before taking any such decision."
Authorities also said that all companies would resume function as usual from Thursday after the sanitation was complete.
Pointing out that every company had a 'business continuity plan' to ensure that work does not get affected due to such situations, Bharani Kumar, the Vice Chairman of the Society for Cyberabad Security Council said, "The panic may end up doing more damage than the virus. Our appeal is that people must respond in a mature manner and not forward posts on social media that are unverified."
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.
Stating that the privacy of the suspected patients should be respected, Sajjanar also said that action would be taken against people who were spreading rumours over social media.
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