Google Employee In Bengaluru Office Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Staff Told To Work From Home

An employee at Google India’s Bengaluru office has been tested positive for coronavirus, the company said in a statement on Friday. India’s Silicon Valley has so far fended off the COVID-19 scare. “We can confirm that an employee from our Bengaluru office has been diagnosed with COVID-19. He was in one of our Bengaluru offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms. The employee has been on quarantine since then,” Google India said in a statement. The company further added that, “Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home from tomorrow. We have taken and will continue to take necessary precautionary measures, following the advice of public health officials.”  (Coronavirus Live Updates)

Google India’s news will have severe impact on India’s IT capital. Major tech companies have already started exercising caution. Meanwhile, IT industry body Nasscom has urged the government to relax restrictions regarding allowing employees to work from home, amid the coronavirus outbreak. At present, there are restrictions on WFH (work from home) under the OSP (other service providers) regime. Corporates across sectors are asking their staff to work from home and adopting technologies like telepresence and video conferencing to ensure business continuity. However, companies continue to struggle in operationalising WFH for their employees, owing to the onerous compliance and technical requirements under the prevailing OSP regime. These requirements include establishing PPVPN connectivity, sharing pre-defined locations of extended agents (employees), and providing high monetary security deposits, among others.

World over, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed over 4,700 people. Maximum number of deaths have been reported from China, though Beijing says that the peak of the infection is over. Situation remains grim in Italy with over 1,000 deaths so far. Entire country is under lockdown barring the medical facilities. With almost all major events getting cancelled around the globe, the world economy is staring at inevitable recession.

Meanwhile, Asian equities went into meltdown on Friday, extending a global rout that saw markets experience their worst day in decades as fears of a worldwide recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic wiped trillions off valuations. Shellshocked investors fled for the hills as governments across Europe and in the United States struggled to get a grip on the crisis that has swept the planet and shut communities down. Central bank moves to support financial markets have also failed to staunch the bloodletting, while Donald Trump's decision to shut the US border to European travellers added to the panic. "Markets remain in a freefall as uncertainty persists with no reliable anchor which can create near-term stability," Ben Emons, at Medley Global Advisors in New York, said.

(With agency inputs)