Swine Flu affected work in Wipro

H1N1 pandemic has hit the IT sector hard, as Wipro joins the league to take precautionary steps after Google closed its Hyderabad office for two days. Wipro is now giving two days paid leaves to its employees before reporting in the office who are coming from overseas, as techies have a significant number of swine flu positives, reports Times of India.

With 22 new cases of swine flu reported, highest in a day in India, the tally of influenza A infected rises to 251. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already declared it as "unstoppable" virus.

Fresh confirmed cases were reported from Delhi (7), Jalandhar (4), Cochin (2), Thiruvananthapuram (2), Mumbai (2), Pune (2), Hyderabad (1), Ahmedabad (1) and Bangalore (1).

So far 1,293 persons have been tested according to the Union Health Ministry, of which 251 were found positive for Influenza A (H1N1). Of these infected, 141 have been discharged after treatment. Remaining 110 are admitted to the identified health facilities.

Google and Wipro have had a case each of infection in their office, and have ensured to get the entire staff quarantined and the suspect cases tested for the infection. IT majors are sending out mails daily asking their travelling techies to take precautions. Microsoft's internal website has been uploaded with the information on swine flu along with travel guidelines. Similarly, the Mahindra Satyam's management has provided power point presentations to the staff, giving instructions on how to protect themselves, and also uploaded it on company's website.

"For anyone who is going on overseas assignments, they should report to office only after completion of 48 hours. The employees who returned from Sweden, were asked to do the same since the flu symptoms develop within 48 hours," informed a senior staff member in Wipro.

Elaborating on the status of a company where one of the employees contracted the virus and is a part of the cluster, District Medical & Health Officer (DM&HO) Hyderabad, Dr. Jayakumari, said, "This company has a work force of 180. While one has tested positive, reports of another five have been sent for confirmatory tests while 56 have been given profilaxis treatment. Rest have been home quarantined."