Hyderabad’s MNCs brace themselves over coronavirus scare

Hyderabad: After India’s first Covid-19 reported in Karnataka and the coronavirus scare in Hitec City two weeks ago, Hyderabad’s companies are now temperature-screening staffers at work, sending several of them home to work.

An employee running a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit was directed to the company’s medical centre and then sent home. While there were no directives asking them to work from home, many employees were contemplating it all the same.

A Dell employee working the night shift said, “When we walked in today, we were screened for our temperatures. We were told this will continue for a few weeks.”

An employee of Google’s Nanakramguda office said they were screened for their temperature for over a week. “Due to the nature of our work, my colleagues and I are required to physically be present in the office,” she said.

“But to prepare for a possible shutdown, we were asked to submit information such as internet speeds at our home, bandwidth and so on. There has also been a pilot run to see if working from home affects our work,” she said.

Companies are continuing to cancel non-essential parties and get-togethers. They are liberally distributing hand sanitisers. A Capgemini employee said they were given free round-the-clock access to a doctor.

“We have been told that we can go to the doctor in case we exhibit any flu-like symptoms,” he said.

The Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) general secretary, Krishna Yedula, said that measures such as temperature screening have not been prescribed to any company.

“These companies say they have received instructions to do so from their head offices. We have left it to their discretion.”

Yedula said that SCSC’s coordination committee was set to meet on Saturday morning as part of its regular efforts to monitor the situation.

“We will discuss the Bangalore situation,” he said. “I don’t think day-to-day operations will be affected in Hyderabad.”