Karnataka coronavirus cases rise shutting down India’s Silicon Valley

• Karnataka has a total of five cases of infected people. It also has the first person who died due to the deadly virus.
  
• Bengaluru, which is called as India’s Silicon Valley because it’s home to a majority of India’s startups, has resorted to a remote work culture.
  
• The state government has ordered all schools, malls, theatres, pubs and bars to be shut for a whole week
  
  

Coronavirus cases continue to rise in the southern state of Karnataka. The state has a total of five cases, including reporting India’s first death due to the deadly virus. So far, India has reported 75 cases of Covid-19, while worldwide there are 134,768 positive cases, and 4,983 have died from it.


Five positive cases, one dead
Karnataka has reported five cases so far. A 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi in the state's northern region died, becoming the first death to be reported from India due to the virus. On March 13, Google’s Bengaluru office confirmed that an employee had tested positive making it the fifth case of the state. He has since then been quarantined and all employees have been asked to work from home.


Karnataka shuts down
Karnataka and its capital city of Bengaluru, where most cases have been reported, have shut down due to the pandemic. The state government has ordered all schools, malls, theatres, pubs and bars to be shut for a whole week and has also advised people all to stay away from mass gatherings.

However, the government has cancelled the leaves of all health department officials. "In the light of prevailing coronavirus outbreak in the state, the Karnataka government has ordered the cancellation of leave for all health department workers and contract employees," state Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey told IANS.


India’s Silicon Valley works from home
Bengaluru, which is called as India’s Silicon Valley because it’s home to a majority of India’s startups, has resorted to a remote work culture. From Google to Flipkart, companies are giving work from options to their employees to avoid public spaces.


Called as the most congested city in the world, even the traffic in Bengaluru has slowed down. Monitoring the office commute last week, MoveInSync reported Bangalore saw about 8% of regular office goers dropping out of their regular commute by last Friday (March 6). Uber drivers in Bengaluru have claimed that there has been a 50% drop in bookings.

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