After Google, Mindtree and Dell, HCL employee found Covid-19 positive

An employee of Noida based information technology (IT) services firm HCL Technologies has tested positive for Covid-19.

The highly contagious virus Covid-19, which stands for Coronavirus disease-2019, has spread to over 150 countries within a period of 80 days since its outbreak.

India has so far reported three deaths and over 150 cases of Covid-19 infection cases. Wednesday alone saw 14 new cases being reported from across the country.

"Unfortunately, one employee from our Noida office has been tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus while he was in self-isolation after his return from international travel and hence our office is following all government and health advisory protocols. All prescribed protocols of sanitization and contact tracing have been done,” the company said in a statement.

The employee is currently in an isolation ward, the statement added.

HCL has claimed it is monitoring all of its employees and has launched a global helpline for 24*7 support. The company has also suspended all non-essential travel for its employees until further notice.

Read: Coronavirus outbreak: India’s IT services firms move to contain risk and ensure business continuity

"We have invoked our Covid-19 contingency plan in all geographies which aims at maximizing work from home to aid social distancing," the statement added.

Three IT workers, one each from technology company Dell India, IT services firm Mindtree and search engine giant Google had earlier tested positive for the disease. 

Covid-19 has infected more than two lakh and killed over 8,000 people across the world. China has about 81,000 positive cases while the tally for Italy alone stands at around 28,000.

The Indian Army reported its first case of coronavirus after a 34-year-old soldier of Ladakh Scout regiment tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.

Facebook-owned multimedia messenger app, WhatsApp has now launched WhatsApp Coronavirus Information Hub in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund, World Health Organisation (WHO), and the United Nations Development Programme to curb misinformation about the disease on its platform.

The company has also donated $1 million to the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to support the global fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.