Chennai / Bengaluru: Even as the Centre has asked the States to take a string of measures to check the spread of coronavirus in India, the Karnataka government has advised Bengaluru-based companies to allow their employees to work from home if they have flu-like symptoms.
”Those employees having flu like symptoms may be allowed to work from home with advice of standard hand hygiene and cough etiquette,” the Health Department said in its advisory.
It asked people to avoid non-essential travel to COVID-19 affected countries and refrain from travel to China, Iran, Republic of Korea, Italy and Japan.
”Employees other than those restricted countries arriving directly or indirectly from China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Hong Kong, Maccau, Veitnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE and Qatar must undergo medical screening at airport entry,” the advisory read.
The government advisory also mandated employees arriving through all international flights entering lndia from any port to furnish duly filled self-declaration form, including personal particulars – phone numbers and address in India, and travel history to health officials and immigration officials.
It also appealed to promote regular and thorough hand washing at work places and keeping sanitising hand rub dispensers (alcohol-based) in prominent places and provide access to places where staff can wash their hands with soap and water.
Companies have been asked to promote good respiratory hygiene and ensure the availability of surgical masks and paper tissues at workplaces only for those who develop a running nose or cough at work along with closed bins for their hygienic disposal.
China scenario
The death toll of coronavirus in China has crossed 3,000 with 31 new fatalities and the total number of confirmed cases jumped to over 80,400, while Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for ”undiminished vigilance”, saying the situation in virus-hit Wuhan still remains severe despite positive progress.
China’s National Health Commission said today that it received reports of 139 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection and 31 deaths on Wednesday on the Chinese mainland.
All the deaths were in the epicentre of the virus, Hubei Province and its capital Wuhan, which continued to be ground zero of the COVID-19.
Also on Wednesday, 143 new suspected cases were reported while the number of severe cases decreased by 464 to 5,952, the NHC said, adding that 522 people were still suspected of being infected with the virus.
The overall confirmed cases on the Chinese mainland have reached 80,409 by the end of Wednesday. This included 3,012 people who have died of the disease, 25,352 patients still undergoing treatment and 52,045 patients who have been discharged.
South Korea confirmed 438 more cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 5,766, according to Yonhap News Agency. Japan confirmed over 1,037 coronavirus cases, and so far 12 people have died due to the infection. Italy reported a total of 107 deaths of the deadly coronavirus, taking the total number to 3,089.
In Iran, the deadly infection claimed 92 lives out of more than 2,922 cases. The US’ death toll from the COVID-19 rose to 11 today and nationwide there are nearly 160 confirmed cases. France said that 21 new cases of COVID-19 had been identified with a total of 285 cases now diagnosed, of which 12 were cured and four have died.
Bond film delayed
The makers of new James Bond film, No Time To Die, have postponed the release of the much-awaited Daniel Craig-starrer to November this year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
No Time To Die, which is the fifth and final appearance of Craig as the iconic British spy, was earlier scheduled to hit the screens in the UK on 8 April and in North America on 10 April.
According to the official James Bond Twitter account, No Time To Die will now be released in the UK theatres on 12 November, followed by a 25 November release in the US. Dates of worldwide theatrical release will be announced in due time.