Bengaluru Google Employee Has Coronavirus, Work-From-Home For Colleagues

Coronavirus: Google said the man had been at its office for a few hours.

Google confirmed on Friday that one of its employees in Bengaluru has tested positive for coronavirus. The 26-year-old man had recently returned from Greece and reportedly visited several places in the Karnataka capital.

He has been placed in isolation at a Bengaluru hospital, Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu said. People who may have come in contact with him are being traced, according to the state government.

Google said the man had been at its office for a few hours.

"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. #CoronaVirus," the global software giant said in a statement.

Other employees have been asked to work from home and those who may have come in close contact with the patient have been asked to quarantine themselves.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking employees in that Bengaluru office to work from home tomorrow (Friday)," said Google.

After Dell India and Mindtree, this is the third case in India of coronavirus infecting an employee of a tech giant.

India's first coronavirus death was reported from Karnataka on Thursday. A 76-year-old man who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia died on Tuesday. After his death his samples were confirmed to be positive for COVID-19.

The state government has started precautionary measures around the Google staffer, who is believed to be the sixth virus case.

"Primary contacts (of the 26-year old man) have been traced and are asymptomatic. Home quarantine has been advised and follow-up is being done," Mr Sriramulu was quoted by news agency PTI.

The employee reportedly had no symptoms and was allowed inside the Google office as he did not have fever. When he felt unwell a few hours later, he was taken to hospital.

The man had travelled to Greece after his wedding in February. The cab in which he travelled from the airport back home has also been found and the driver and his family are quarantined at home, say reports.

There are 74 cases of coronavirus in India.