Coronavirus has generally been quite damaging for corporate and business around the world. First, tech companies banned employees from travelling to China but now that more cases from the US are being reported, they are forced to take even stricter measures.

Amazon and Facebook have closed down their offices in Seattle and asked the employees to work from home.

Source: The Verge

Some workers from both the companies tested positive for COVID-19, a disease that is spread through coronavirus. So as the situation gets worse in California and New York, tech-companies are not willing to take any risk. Two deaths have been reported in Seattle, and overall in the state of Washington, there have been 70 confirmed cases and ten fatalities.

Amazon and Facebook have issued policies that instruct the workers to stay at home and remain in contact with the company, at least till the end of March. Amazon took such measures because, on 2nd March, a Seattle-based employee was put in quarantine and reportedly acquired the virus on 25th February.

Google employees have been asked to work using resources at home, and they are discouraged from bringing any guests or visitors to Washington-based offices.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Facebook office in Seattle has also been closed because a contractor was affected by the virus. So, all 5000 employees in the company have been asked to stay at home till the end of March.

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, said that all the employees are “strongly encouraged” to work from home “if able” and similar policies apply to all the offices in Washington.

All over the world, the virus continues to grow, and there have been 97,000 confirmed cases so far. It is scary because while previously only China’s economy was facing a decline, it looks like the hopes of Wilbur Ross who predicted that the epidemic would generate more jobs in the United States have been crushed.