Panic in India’s tech hubs Hyderabad and Bangalore after man gets coronavirus following Dubai trip

The 24-year-old software engineer met Hong Kong colleagues in Dubai, and authorities are trying to establish how he contracted Covid-19

He came into contact with at least 90 people in Bangalore before taking a bus to Hyderabad, resulting in office closures and event cancellations

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An Indian social activist distributes face masks to pedestrians in Hyderabad after a tech worker who passed through the city was confirmed to have contracted the new coronavirus, which causes Covid-19. Photo: AP

Published: 8:30pm, 5 Mar 2020Updated: 11:59pm, 7 Apr 2020

News that a 24-year-old Bangalore tech worker had tested positive for the coronavirus in Hyderabad – after meeting with Hong Kong colleagues in Dubai – has caused panic in both Indian cities, with authorities racing to trace all his known contacts while people voluntarily check themselves into hospitals.

The software engineer, whose identity is being withheld by authorities, returned to Bangalore from Dubai on February 20. He had been in the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city from February 16.

Efforts are under way to establish how the tech worker could have been infected, and there are conflicting reports on whether the Hong Kong residents he met with were colleagues or whether they were all delegates at a conference.

People wear face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak at the Bangalore City Railway Station. Photo: AFP

The infected man stayed in Bangalore for two to three days, coming into contact with no less than 90 people, authorities said, before making the 570-km bus trip to Hyderabad, which is also a tech hub.

The people he came into contact with include his co-travellers on the flight from Dubai to Bangalore, his flatmate, family members, and passengers on the bus from Bangalore to Hyderabad.

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