Telangana coronavirus case: Bengaluru bus off service, passengers get calls

HYDERABAD: The Bengaluru-based travel company which had transported the patient who tested positive for Covid-19, to Hyderabad has now taken upon itself to contact all passengers it carried in the said bus over the last 11 days. According to sources from the Hyderabad office of the company, the patient had boarded the bus from Bengaluru on February 21 to Hyderabad. In the 11 days until Monday, the bus has clocked 11 trips.

Though the company states that it has changed the interior upholstery of the bus and taken up thorough cleaning, panic has spread among all those who travelled on the bus in the same period.

“When we got to know about this yesterday, we got in touch with the Health Department and RTO of both Telangana and Karnataka. We have given them an exhaustive list of all the passengers we carried that day. As a safety precaution, we are also getting in touch with the passengers who travelled in the bus in the days that followed,” said an executive from the travels. They refused to reveal the exact number of passengers who travelled in this period, but considering the capacity of the sleeper coach is 30 seats, nearly 350 people might be affected.

The bus which transported the said person has presently been taken off the road and is in Hyderabad. These precautionary measures have been taken even though medical experts have stated that any virus from the infected person in the form of mucus or saliva will not survive beyond one to two hours, making the number of those possibly infected negligible.

“There is a concern that this happened in a bus shared by many and people travelled in it the next day. However, the virus is unlikely to last for more than a few hours,” noted Dr Mahboob Khan, Superintendent of Chest Hospital.

However, the fear continues even though those informed had no symptoms. Yet, some have been scared and calling the bus service to know if anyone else from the lot has had any symptoms.

MNCs amp up Coronavirus preparedness

Hyderabad: After a techie based out of Hyderabad was tested positive for Coronavirus, MNCs in the city have begun upgrading their responses to the global outbreak of COVID-19. 

It is learnt that companies like Genpact have installed infrared thermometer screens at the entry points, which monitor all the employees entering the campus. Any employee found with over 100-degree temperature, watery eyes and/or cough are being sent home.

They are asked to work from home or take rest, depending on their condition. Other MNCs are following in their footsteps.

Further, with the increase in a number of cases across the world, the companies have down on their international travel, unless mandatory and urgent.

“In terms of inbound travel, the companies are encouraging employees to work from home for up to 14 days to ensure symptoms, if any, are contained,” said Krishna Yedula, IT executive.