The Novel Coronavirus is highly contagious; it was first detected in China's Wuhan.
Leading IT firm Infosys temporarily shut one of its Bengaluru offices on Saturday after an employee is suspected to have been infected with the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, according to reports. Infosys confirmed it had evacuated the building, on a priority basis, and would sanitise the premises. Infosys has also requested its employees to not believe in or spread misinformation on social media. The IT major's actions come after a Karnataka government advisory to all IT and biotech firms in Bengaluru to allow employees to work from homes for a week to avoid the infection spreading. India has reported two deaths due to the coronavirus so far - a 68-year-old Delhi resident became the country's second victim on Friday. The total number of people infected with coronavirus has climbed to 85 in India. Many others who show symptoms of having contracted the coronavirus have been told to stay at home at least for 14 days, the period during which the symptoms could subside or intensify.
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"To ensure preparedness, we are evacuating only the IIPM building as a precautionary measure on receiving information that a team member from the building may have been in proximity to COVID-19 suspect," Gururaj Deshpande, the head of the IT major's Bengaluru development centre," told news agency IANS.
The US Embassy and Consulates in India have cancelled all visa appointments from March 16 in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.US President Donald Trump on Friday officially declared a national emergency that he said would give states and territories access to up to USD 50 billion in federal funds to combat coronavirus. A statement issued by the US Embassy said, "US Mission India posts, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, are cancelling immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments from March 16, 2020, onward."
With two more persons testing positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, the number of infected individuals in the state has gone up to 19, a health department official said. One of the two new patients is from Ahmednagar city, an official said. However, he did not specify the location of the other patient.
Educational institutions across West Bengal will remain shut till March 31, officials said. However, board examinations will continue according to schedule. Meanwhile, Goa is set to close down clubs, cruises, and educational institutions. Schools and colleges in Uttar Pradesh have also been shut till March 22. The Uttar Pradesh government has also shut all schools and colleges where examinations are not going on till March 22. So far, 11 coronavirus cases have been reported Uttar Pradesh.
A 68-year-old woman has died of coronavirus in Delhi, the government said on Friday, in the second death linked to the global pandemic in the country. The woman was the sixth case of coronavirus to be reported from the capital and had other conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes.
On Friday, PM Modi urged India's neighbours to join hands to fight the coronavirus outbreak that has claimed over 5,000 lives worldwide and infected more than 1.3 lakh people. PM Modi asked SAARC leaders to help chalk out a "strong strategy to fight coronavirus".
The Delhi government has banned gatherings of over 200 people at sporting activities, including Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket matches, and events like conferences until further notice "for the purpose of prevention and control of the outbreak of the epidemic disease, COVID-19".
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said it has postponed IPL matches till April 15. The announcement comes hours after the Delhi government banned all sporting events.
After the death of a 76-year-old in north Karnataka's Kalaburagi district on Tuesday due to coronavirus, the first death due to the illness in India, the state administration has decided to step up measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. In the last two weeks, India has witnessed a sharp jump in cases of coronavirus with at least 85 people infected across the country. In Karnataka, five people have tested positive, including a Google employee.
The aviation regulator DGCA has asked international airlines to consider waiving ticket cancellation fees amid the coronavirus outbreak. "In light of hardship faced by passengers, airlines may like to consider and take an appropriate call, accordingly," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular.
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