Coronavirus news: Half the IT workforce is working from home in Bangalore; residents conduct awareness campaigns & more

In an informal survey by the Whitefield Rising group, 570 people voted and the result was that as of March 14, 2020, 52.5% people were working from home. While the state government had requested the IT/BT companies to exercise the ‘work from home’ (WFH) option, the reality is that only a few sectors are able to afford this option, while the others cannot.

For example, it is possible for the IT industry, but difficult for the banking and finance sector. In addition, those employees who returned from international trips have been asked to work from home for two weeks, because the virus takes that much time to show up. And those who are working from home in areas like Bellandur are suffering due to internet breakdown as BBMP chooses right this moment to remove optic fibre cables lying around the roads and footpaths.

Residents are conducting awareness campaigns

The residents of Teachers Colony in Koramangala conducted an awareness campaign on Sunday where they had experts and knowledgeable people speak to passersby on COVID-19 and what measures they should take to stay safe. If you did not see the video posted above, the highlight was Dr Nataraj saying that COVID-19 cannot be carried by mosquitoes; therefore mosquito bites are nothing to be worried about as one youngster asked him this question. He stressed on hand hygiene, particularly in high-risk areas like hotels, restaurants, hospitals and public venues where there are common places where people can touch, such as toilet handles, money, swiping machines, railings, and so on. Though coronavirus is not transmitted through non-vegetarian food as the virus has mutated in humans (after the seafood transfer to humans in Wuhan, China), the doctor asked people to stay away from non-vegetarian for a fortnight due to the cholera outbreak that is seeing signs of slowing down.

Parks are allowed to be open
While malls, schools, colleges, theatres and public gatherings are banned by the government, the public parks are strangely kept open. The trouble is that you cannot sit where you could contact the others. Therefore, experts suggest that you wear a mask when you visit a park or don’t go at all. Much more safer that way. In some areas, the residents themselves have shut the parks for safety reasons.

Essential supplies
Order online, if you can. If you have to go, wear a mask even if you don’t have it, because someone else could cough in your face. Remember, a cough or a sneeze can travel anywhere between 50mph-100mph with 3,000-100,000 droplets.

How to differentiate between the usual flu, cold and coronavirus?
If you have dry cough, and high fever, you could have COVID-19. If you have phlegm, cough and fever, it could be the usual flu, according to experts. And even if you have corona, you will not suffer much if you are healthy and not a senior citizen who has a pre-existing condition like cancer, lung or heart disease, diabetes or hypertension. Remember to sneeze or cough into your shoulder to avoid the droplets from spreading far and wide. Relax, and stay aware.

Avoid bars, restaurants and seminars/workshops/meetings
Need we say more? However, people around the world are still going out like nothing has happened. It takes just one infected person to spread it to hundreds and thousands of people like it happened in South Korea. A campaign is now going online aptly titled: Stay The Fuck Home. There is a scientific study on why you should socially distant yourself. Read this report to learn more and spread it to others. While social distancing is being propagated by everyone, you have Karnataka chief minister attending public events and an American president shaking hands and not seizing to be part of any public meetings. While supermarkets are forcibly being shut by the cops in some areas of Bangalore, the pubs and bars are being kept open. Residents are warning the authorities that this is not the time to be greedy in the time of corona.  

Stay updated
To get the latest news on Coronavirus or COVID-19, you could follow Deccan Herald’s Live feed. Please do know that some people are being forced to go to work even if they are hesitant. The others, particularly the medical professionals, are working in high-risk zones, and need to be utmost hygienic. In an interesting twist, there are distance healing sessions happening on TV too.