‘Work from your home’

With the spreading H1N1 cases, a few infotech companies and medicos have advised people to work from home and abstain from any kind of travel.

“Just closing educational institutions and commercial entities is not enough. It is time that people start working from their homes and companies allow them to do so. Moreover there should also be a stop from travelling out of the city. It is essential for people to remain indoors and not go out,” said president of the Pune chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Dr Dilip Sarda.

He said the state government’s decision to keep educational and commercial establishments closed should be taken seriously. “This is not a normal holiday, but time to go for complete isolation. Parents need to be at home to monitor their children,” he advised.

“We are at a pandemic era and have to follow the instructions. Unlike Mexico, we cannot impose a curfew but proper precautions should be taken and one such can be asking people to work from home,” said Dr Jayant Joshi who runs his clinic on the Senapati Bapat Road.

Companies have started asking their employees to work from home in case they develop any flu like symptoms or whenever necessary. A few IT companies in the city have issued advisories to its employees to work from home. “One of the preventive measures we have undertaken is to request the associates who are returning from onsite (outside India) to offsite locations to undergo to undergo a check-up for detection of Influenza A H1N1. They have been advised to work from home for at least a week after their return from travel in order to complete the check up procedures and reduce the risk of spreading the virus to others in case it is detected,” said a spokesman of Mahindra Satyam.

Other IT companies who have taken a similar step are Symantec Corporation, Fujitsu Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Zensar Technologies. Symantec Pune facility employees with any symptoms of common cold and fever have been asked to work from home.