ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Intimidated by the outbreak of coronavirus, the Telecommunication Companies in Islamabad have issued instructions to their employees to wear protective masks as a precautionary measure to ward off the looming threat of the virus, reflecting serious health concerns the global telecom giants have already developed about in Pakistan.
The fatal coronavirus – which was originated from the Chinese Wuhan City – has so far spread to 22 Countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, India, and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
By now the virus has claimed 170 lives while thousands further remain badly affected by it.
Meanwhile in a bid to avert the influx of the infectious virus, Russia and Hong Kong have shut their borders with China while British Airways, Air Canada and Indonesia’s Lion Air announced to suspend their flight operations to/from the virus-hit East Asian Country.
Along with it, many Countries including the United States, United Kingdom and Kazakhstan have advised their nationals against non-essential travel to China.
However, amidst the Coronavirus Outbreak, Pakistan luckily remains unaffected as no case of coronavirus has so far surfaced here; though many of its neighbouring Countries such as China, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka are battling with it.
Yet under severe panic and despairity, the Global Telecommunication Companies operating in the Federal Capital have directed their respective employees to wear masks while being in office.
The directives have caused an outrage among the employees, prompting them to appeal to their employers to demonstrate leniency and allow them to operate their work from home.
In addition to that, they have also expressed resentment over the government’s failure in foreseeing the situation, and stressed upon it to play a proactive role to defuse the looming threat.
“The government should take the notice and devise a policy to at least allow the Pakistani staff to work from home for 14 days as this is considered as incubation period for this coronavirus,” one of the employees said while talking to the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency on the condition of anonymity.
Another infuriated employee was of the view that due to an unclear policy, many locals are forced to sit in their offices with masks on their faces and do their routine office work under stressed conditions.
“The present government has outrightly failed to deliver. It must negotiate with Telecom Operators to develop a conducive environment for their employees to work; otherwise, they can’t perform their duties with mask on their faces and remaining under constant depression,” he remarked.
