Facebook, Apple and Microsoft ban employee travel to China as coronavirus spreads

Facebook, Microsoft and Apple are following the travel warning issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Department, restricting “non-essential” employee travel to China amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken steps to protect the health and safety of our employees,” Facebook spokesperson Anthony Harrison told CNBC.

Facebook said that employees have to get approval if they must travel to China and have told employees in China to work from home, CNBC reported. Other companies that have restricted travel or stopped operations in China include Disney, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Ford Motor.

Microsoft has also told its employees to work from home, Forbes reported.

”Based on the evaluation of risk communicated by global health authorities we have advised employees in China to work from home and cancel all non-essential business travel,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Forbes.

One Apple store in China has also been shut down, CNBC reported.

“We’re restricting travel to business critical travel,” CEO Tim Cook told CNBC. “For employees that are in the Wuhan area, we are providing care kits and supplying them across our employee population in China as well.”

More than 130 people have died from the coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, according to The New York Times. The World Health Organization also confirmed over 6,000 cases worldwide.

The virus has spread to the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, Macau, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, France, Canada, Vietnam, Nepal, Cambodia, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, The New York Times reported.

The White House has said it’s considering a ban on travel between the U.S. and China, USA Today reported.