Corporate India takes measures to stem coronavirus; Paytm shuts Gurugram office for 15 days after employee tests positive

New Delhi: Paytm has shut its Gurugram office for up to a fortnight after one of its employees tested positive for coronavirus, the company said, as it looked to contain the spread of infection to other employees. On Wednesday, Paytm had said one of its employee in Gurugram—who recently returned from a vacation in Italy—tested positive for novel coronavirus. It had also advised employees to work from home for the next couple of days.

“We are closely working with the health authorities to take preventive measures to ensure the safety of our colleagues. Our Gurgaon office will remain closed for up to 15 days while Noida offices will be operational from Monday onwards,” a Paytm spokesperson said in an emailed query

Paytm has advised its staff to take the necessary precautions and inform the company if they require medical attention, the spokesperson added. India has reported 30 confirmed cases of coronavirus. The number of global COVID-19 cases have reached more than 90,000 across 66 countries, with over 3,000 deaths since it originated in the Chinese city Wuhan. Iran, Italy and South Korea are among the worst affected countries outside of China. [caption id=“attachment_5076101” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The headquarters of Paytm digital payments firm in Noida. Reuters[/caption] The government has stepped up efforts to contain the situation. Primary classes of all schools in the national capital will remain closed till March 31 to prevent a possibility of spread of coronavirus, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia announced on Thursday. Harshvendra Soin, Chief People Officer at Tech Mahindra, said the company has issued a detailed employee advisory and is undertaking various preventive measures. “We have mobilised a panel of doctors on standby across all locations who are educating employees, sharing information, do’s and don’ts etc. Restrictions have been imposed on domestic and international travel with immediate effect,” Soin added. He said the company has postponed all internal events which required large gatherings and everyone has been advised to adequately leverage technologies like – telepresence and video conferencing. “In case of COVID-19 symptoms, employees are being asked to avail work from home as well. All our office locations and guest houses are also being stocked with adequate supplies of sanitizers, emergency medicines, food ration etc,” he said. Electronics industry body MAIT has also postponed its Electronics Manufacturing Summit slated for 6 March here. “Electronic Manufacturing Summit stands postponed due to widespread coronavirus in China, preventing supply chain heads of key US and Chinese electronic hardware companies to make it to the event,” it said in a note. Peter Quinlan, Vice President of Unified Communications and Collaboration Product Management at Tata Communications said while the company has introduced certain travel restrictions in the current scenario, its employees are leveraging chat, voice, video and collaboration tools to get their jobs done. Anshul Sushil, founder and CEO of Wizikey, said with COVID-19 hitting Delhi-NCR, 80 percent of its teams working from home. “We are providing them with masks and sanitisers on every desk…Also, we are conducting body-temperature check in the morning for all our employees. The health of the employees is the core of any organisation, especially startups,” Sushil said.