Amid coronavirus outbreak, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft advise employees to work from home

As the world is battling against the new coronavirus outbreak, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft have advised their employees to work from home. According to reports, the recent development came after the virus outbreak in the Washington state escalated in the recent past. The announcement was made after health officials in the most affected US state instructed all workplaces to allow staff to work from isolation. 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Washington State Department of Health announced the first case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States in Washington State on January 21. Washington State Department also took to its official Twitter handle to issue advisory to all employers in the state. The advisory instructed employers to maximize teleworking wherever possible. 

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According to reports, the three digital behemoths sent internal messages to their employees recommending them to work from home until the end of March. As per reports, Amazon on March 3 revealed that one of its employees in the Seattle office had tested positive for coronavirus. Reports suggested that the employee had taken a sick leave on February 25 and has stayed out of the office ever since. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

According to reports, there are currently 144 active cases of coronavirus in the United States and the country has reported 11 deaths so far. The new coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has claimed more than 3,300 lives across the globe and has infected over 97,000 people all across the world since it first broke out in December 2019. According to reports, at least 280 people have died outside mainland China, which makes it the worst disease outbreak of the 21st century. Italy, Iran and South Korea are the most affected countries apart from China, where 148, 107 and 40 people have died respectively.

It is being said that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, where animals were being traded illegally. Hubei province in China has been most affected by the contagious disease, which is also the epicentre of the virus. 

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