Facebook is temporarily closing its London offices after a Singapore employee who visited was diagnosed with COVID-19

• Facebook says it is temporarily closing its London offices after a Singapore employee visited and was subsequently diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
• The firm's offices are only closed until Monday for a deep cleaning, with employees working from home until then.
• The firm is asking anyone who had contact with the affected employee to self-isolate and monitor their symptoms.
• In the US, Facebook has asked its Bay Area employees to work from home as the coronavirus spreads.
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Facebook has temporarily shuttered its London offices until Monday, March 9, after a Singapore-based employee who visited in February was subsequently diagnosed the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The unnamed employee visited Facebook's London offices between February 24-26, the firm said. That person was later diagnosed with COVID-19.

Facebook said it had shut its offices from 3pm Friday for a deep clean, with employees working from home through the weekend.

"An employee based in our Singapore office who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 visited our London offices February 24-26 2020. We are therefore closing our London offices until Monday for deep cleaning and employees are working from home until then," a spokesman said.

Facebook is briefly closing all three of its London offices. The company is asking anyone who came into contact with the affected employee to self-isolate and monitor for any symptoms of the novel coronavirus. Facebook is also reaching out to staff in other offices who may have visited London in the last few days.

According to the latest figures from the WHO, there are more than 98,000 confirmed coronavirus cases globally, with a death toll of more than 3,000. In the UK, there are 163 confirmed cases and there have been two deaths.

In the US, Facebook has asked employees at its Bay Area and Seattle offices to work from home to reduce the threat of potential infection. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Twitter have taken similar precautions, with Twitter asking all 5,000 of its global employees to work from home.

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