Coronavirus: Pune Collector asks IT companies, industries to give work from home option to employees

Pune 15, 2020: As part of preventive measures to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID 19), Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram today asked IT companies, BPOs and industrial units located in Pune district, to give work from home option to employees till March 31, wherever possible. The companies have to make sure that their productivity is not affected.

The State Government has issued a notification for the implementation of the provisions the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 in the State from 13 March 2020 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In this rule, the Collector has been declared as the competent authority, said District Collector Ram, who is also the chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority.

The Disaster Management Act has also been implemented for better utilisation of resources and taking action against medical shops if they sell masks, sanitizers etc, currently in demand, at exorbitant prices.

In Pune, 16 persons have been found positive till now, while the reports of 20 others are awaited.

Criminal action against people for boycotting Coronavirus patients’ relatives

“Some citizens who returned after travelling to affected countries have been kept in isolation in their homes so as not to spread the coronavirus. These citizens should not be harassed or expelled by the citizens of their housing societies, the chairman of the society, secretaries and members. In the event of such a case, action will be taken against the concerned under the Disaster Management Act and Indian Penal Code”, states the order issued by Ram, who is also the Chairman of Pune District Disaster Management Authority.

Patients have been found in countries such as China, India, Italy, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Japan, Thailand, Dubai, USA, France, Iran, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, Australia, Spain, Denmark, Pakistan. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the disease a global emergency. Patients infected with Coronavirus have been detected in many parts of Maharashtra.

Symptoms of the coronavirus are mainly associated with the respiratory system. The main symptoms are colds, coughs, shortness of breath, pneumonia, occasional kidney failure.

Screening of citizens travelling through Corona-affected countries has been started at airports in the country including Mumbai, Pune. Patients found in this screening were admitted to the isolation ward at Naidu Hospital in Pune and the YCM in Pimpri Chinchwad. Individuals who have returned from abroad are living in a separate room in their home. This has been done so that other people in the house and society are not affected, Ram said.