Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Facebook shuts down London offices over Covid-19 after visiting Singapore employee tests positive

Facebook shuts down London offices over Covid-19 after visiting Singapore employee tests positive

Facebook has shut down its three London offices until Monday after a Singapore-based staff member who’d visited two weeks earlier was diagnosed with coronavirus, the social media company confirmed.
"An employee based in our Singapore office who has been diagnosed with Covid-19 visited our London offices February 24-26, 2020,” a Facebook spokesperson told Sky News on Friday, explaining that all three London offices would be closed for “deep cleaning” and employees would be “working from home” until they reopened on Monday.

While Facebook declined to say how many individuals the infected employee had potentially exposed through direct contact – some 3,000 people work for the social media behemoth in London – the platform insisted it had notified all of them. It is reportedly reaching out to other visiting employees and contractors who’ve passed through its London sites in the past few days in order to alert them to the possible risk.

Affected employees have been advised to “self-isolate” and monitor potential symptoms closely. Coronavirus can take as long as two weeks to make its presence felt, and while an infected person might feel healthy, they can still infect others. The UK saw a jump in coronavirus cases since Thursday, with 47 new diagnoses confirmed in the preceding 24 hours – bringing the total number of infected up to 163. While two deaths have been linked to the virus, according to Sky, the second victim was in his 80s and had underlying health conditions; doctors are still waiting for the return of tests to confirm the presence of coronavirus.

The total shutdown mirrors Facebook’s actions in Seattle, where an employee who was last at work on February 21 was diagnosed on Wednesday with the virus. Facebook informed its workers that the office would close until March 9, ordering them to telecommute until then. Others were informed they’d be working from home until the end of the month. The company had already curtailed social guests to its offices as a precaution, and recently called off the in-person part of its annual 5,000-person developer convention in San Francisco. The states of California and Washington have declared emergencies over the outbreak, which has sickened 233 people in the US so far and killed 14.

Facebook isn’t the first company in London to clear out offices as a precaution after an employee turned up sick. HSBC evacuated its Canary Wharf offices on Thursday, sending staff off to work from home, and Deloitte also sent employees home earlier this week after a staffer tested positive for the virus. Over 3,400 people have died since the start of the coronavirus epidemic in December in Wuhan, China, and more than 100,000 have been infected with the virus.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
EU Proposes Phasing Out Russian Oil and Gas by End of 2027 to End Energy Dependence
More Than 150,000 Followers for a Fictional Character: The New Influencers Are AI Creations
EU Prepares for War
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
×