Infosys Vacates Building in Bengaluru Due to COVID-19 Scare

Infosys vacated one of the buildings in the Bengaluru after a team member was suspected for coronavirus (COVID-19).

Infosys office.

(File Photo: IANS)

Global software major Infosys vacated one of the buildings in the city's southern suburb after a team member was suspected for coronavirus (COVID-19), an official said on Friday, 13 March.

"To ensure preparedness, we are evacuating only the IIPM building as a precautionary measure on receiving information that a team member from the building may have been in proximity to COVID-19 suspect," said IT major's Bengaluru development centre head Gururaj Deshpande in an e-mail to all Infoscions.

The IT behemoth has a sprawling campus in the Electronic City with over a dozen buildings housing its development centres and corporate house since the 1990s.

"Please note that this is only to ensure the safety of our employees and we will sanitise the place for our safety," said Deshpande in the e-mail, accessed by IANS.

Awaiting updates to share, Deshpande requested the techies to stay calm to ensure they are cautious and better prepared.

“We request you to refrain from believing in or spreading any information that is hearsay/rumours via any of the social media channels,”

Gururaj Deshpande, IT major’s Bengaluru development centre head

The official also advised the employees to reach out the company's global help desk numbers in case of emergency.

"We request your support to ensure we handle this situation with utmost responsibility," he added.

The Infosys development came on a day when the Karnataka government advised all the IT and biotech firms across this tech hub to allow their employees to work from their homes for a week to avoid risking them to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Confirming that the IIPM building was vacated early on Friday, 13 March for safety and sanitisation, an official of the company's Phoenix emergency team told IANS that the development centre in the building was free and not occupied since then.

"Nothing to worry. Infosys is safe and secure. Employees will get a text message from our (Phoenix) team to report for work on the day they will be intimated," the official quipped and snapped the phone.

A whopping 30,000 techies work in the 81-acre green campus, which houses glistening glass buildings in various shapes and designs, including one in pyramid that are eco-friendly.