Google has become the latest tech firm to ramp up measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus among its employees in China.
The company confirmed Wednesday that it is temporarily shutting down all of its China offices due to the outbreak, The Verge reported.
The shutdown includes all offices in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Google is also restricting employees from traveling to the countries and urged any employees currently in China and Hong Kong to return home and spend two weeks working from home before returning to the office.
Google has become the latest tech firm to ramp up measures to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus in China. The company confirmed Wednesday that it is temporarily shutting down all of its China offices due to the outbreak, including the Beijing office (above)
Passengers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus as they arrive on a flight from Asia at Los Angeles International Airport, California, on Wednesday. The death toll for coronavirus reached at least 132 by Wednesday morning, all of them in China
This comes as the death toll for coronavirus stood at at least 132 by Wednesday morning, all of them in China.
Almost 6,000 others have been infected worldwide.
The tech giant’s China offices are already closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, which the Chinese government announced on Monday it was extending to February 2 in the hope that this will encourage people to stay in their homes, reducing the spread of the disease.
The holidays had been due to end on January 30.
Google’s decision to close down its offices indefinitely comes as several other tech firms have also taken steps to protect their workers in the region.
Electronics firm LG issued a blanket ban on employees traveling to China and instructed all employees currently in China to return home Wednesday.
This followed Apple CEO Tim Cook’s announcement on Tuesday live on an earnings call with investors that it was suspending travel to China, is measuring employees’ temperatures regularly, and that at least one Apple store in China had been closed.
Almost all of the big players have offices in China, given the country’s rapid growth in the tech industry over the last two decades and its large manufacturing hub.
According to Google’s website, it has at least three offices in China based in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai, and one office in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
According to Google’s website, it has at least three offices in China based in Guangzhou, Beijing (above) and Shanghai, and one office in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The shutdown includes all offices in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Google is also restricting employees from traveling to the countries and urged any employees currently in China and Hong Kong to return home and spend two weeks working from home before returning to the office
A couple wears a face mask to prevent infections at a street market in Hong Kong. Several other tech firms have started taking steps to protect their workers in China and Hong Kong, with electronics firm LG and Apple both suspending travel this week
The offices in mainland China focus on sales and engineering for its advertising business, CNBC reported.
Google has had something of a tumultuous relationship with China over the years.
In 2010 the tech firm ended its search product in China and was effectively blocked from the country.
It then emerged in 2018 that the company was planning to launch a censored version of its search engine for China, to comply with the countries laws.
Google employees protested against the plans and demanded more transparency from their employer to understand the ethical consequences of their work.
The company then announced it was axing the plans.
Google’s decision to take steps to protect its employees from contracting coronavirus was announced the same day as an evacuation flight bringing 201 Americans home from the Chinese city at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak landed at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California.
More than 6,000 people have been infected globally with the virus traced to a seafood market in the central city of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife and 133 people have died
Passengers are seen deplaning after arriving at March Air Force Base in Riverside, California, on an evacuation flight from the coronavirus outbreak epicenter in Wuhan on Wednesday morning
The plane chartered by the US government to fly diplomats and private citizens back from Wuhan touched down at the air base just after 8am PST Wednesday.
Officials in hazmat suits were seen approaching the plane on the tarmac before passengers – including a number of small children – began filing out and stepping into awaiting buses.
The passengers will now undergo health screenings and be quarantined at the base for 72 hours as they complete the repatriation process.
They’ve already undergone four screenings over the course of the journey – two before departure in Wuhan and another two during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, late Tuesday night.
The plane was originally scheduled to fly to Ontario International Airport in Ontario, California, but was diverted to the air base 25 miles away without explanation late on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile in China, the death toll continues to rise and several countries – including the US and UK – have advised against non-essential travel to the nation.
More than 6,000 people have been sickened by the deadly strain in at least 18 countries amid an international effort to stop the spread.
China has cut off access to Wuhan and 16 other cities in Hubei province to prevent people from leaving and spreading the virus further. In addition to the United States, countries including Japan and South Korea have also planned evacuations.
There are said to be 1,000 Americans living in Wuhan – but only 201 ended up on the flight which could hold up to 240. Officials have not said why the plane was not full.
The CDC and Department of Health and Human Service says screening will take place at 20 airports, for the deadly coronavirus that has sickened five patients in the US and three in Canada
The State Department announced (pictured) that it is evacuating US citizens from Wuhan on Tuesday
Sources earlier said the US could suspend flights from China to the States amid the outbreak. CNBC reported that the White House has told airline executives that it’s considering suspending flights.
Government officials reportedly made phone calls to executives at major US carriers Tuesday and said a temporary ban is possible.
United Airlines, which has around a dozen daily flights, on Tuesday said it would cancel more flights to China and Hong Kong as the outbreak worsens.
British Columbia’s first victim is a man in his 40s, who ‘travels regularly to China for work and was in Wuhan city on his most recent trip,’ and developed symptoms after returning to Vancouver earlier this month.
The North American cases include five diagnosed in the US, where screening has been expanded to 20 airports, authorities from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a press conference on Tuesday.
‘Right now, there is no spread of this virus in our communities at home,’ Dr Robert Redfield, director of the CDC told reporters on Tuesday.
‘The coming days and weeks are likely to bring more cases including the possibility of person-to-person spread. Our goal is to contain this virus and prevent sustained spread of the virus in our country.’
Since the outbreak began in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan, more than 6,000 cases have been confirmed in at least 18 countries and territories and 132 people, all in China, have died – up from the previously reported 106.
Five people in the US have fallen ill already and officials say there is evidence of human-to-human transmission, although new concerns have been raised that the virus can spread even when patients don’t have symptoms.
Encouragingly, Dr Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said the agency is studying a ‘candidate vaccine,’ modeled after an experimental one developed amid the 2003 outbreak of SARS, a coronavirus cousin of the current infection.
But the first stage of human testing isn’t expected to begin for several months.
He added that several drugs are being used in China to try treat coronavirus patients under ‘compassionate use,’ but there is no proof of the efficacy that the medications will work.
The US Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday that they will begin trying to identify sick passengers from China at 15 other ‘quarantine stations.’ Pictured, left to right: CDC director Robert Redfield, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Nancy Messonnier from the CDC and Anthony Fauci from the National Institutes of Health at a press conference on Tuesday
Several drugs are being tried to treat people with coronavirus but there is no evidence of their efficacy Pictured: Medical staff wearing protective clothing to protect against a previously unknown coronavirus arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital
The National Institutes of Health is working on a vaccine, but warn it will be months before one will be tested on humans. Pictured: Paramilitary officers wearing face masks at Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on Monday
During the press conference, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the US was urging more cooperation from China with international health organizations.
‘We are urging China – more cooperation and transparency are the most important steps you can take toward a more effective response,’ he told reporters.
Azar said that the US had tried three times to send assistance to China, but that the government declined.
‘On January the sixth, we offered to send a CDC team to China that could assist with these public health efforts,’ said Azar.
‘I reiterated that offer when I spoke to China’s minister of health on Monday, and it was reiterated again via the World Health Organization’s leadership today in Beijing.’
As Azar made these statements, the WHO revealed that China has agreed to allow the agency to send international experts there ‘as soon as possible.’
In a tweet, the WHO said its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the two men discussed ‘collaboration on containment measure, public health measures in other cities and provinces, and conducting further studies on the severity and transmissibility’ of the virus.
First reported in China in December 2019, the strain, known as 2019-nCov, is believed to have emerged from illegally traded wildlife at a seafood market in Wuhan, a city 700 miles south of the capital of Beijing.
Aside from China and the US, cases have been confirmed in Australia, Cambodia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the UAE and Vietnam.
Cases are also suspected in Mexico, Colombia, the Philippines and the UK.
China has urged its own citizens to delay trips abroad, with at least 15 countries having confirmed cases of the disease.
The United Arab Emirates reported the first known case in the Middle East on Wednesday.
British Airways was the first major airline to announce a total suspension of flights to and from China, citing the travel advice of the UK foreign office.
‘We apologise to customers for the inconvenience, but the safety of our customers and crew is always our priority,’ the airline said in a statement.
Indonesia’s Lion Air Group, Southeast Asia’s biggest carrier by fleet size, then said it would halt services to and from China from Saturday ‘until further notice’.
Meanwhile Kazakhstan, an important China trade partner, announced it would halt cross-border passenger train traffic, suspend regular flights between the neighbours, and stop issuing visas to Chinese citizens over the coming days.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the US has offered to send medical experts to China three times, but the government has declined. Pictured: Medical staff in Wuhan wear protective clothing and escort a patient (second from left) to a hospital
Travelers are screened on a thermographic monitor at the Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport in Aceh Besar Regency in Indonesia for coronavirus on Monday
On Tuesday, the WHO said China was finally allowing international experts to visit ‘as soon as possible.’ Pictured: Patients undergo treatment at Wuhan Central Hospital on Saturday
Members of the medical team communicate with a coronavirus patient at Hankou Hospital in Wuhan on Monday
Experts say the difficulty of containing the coronavirus is that so many patients have mild, cold-like symptoms and don’t realize they have the infection
HEALTH OFFICIALS INVESTIGATE 110 CASES IN THE US
It appears that all of the US patients currently awaiting test results showed symptoms consistent with the virus – such as fever, cough and runny nose – had either visited Wuhan recently or were in contact with someone who visited the city.
Those patients are believed to have all been isolated either in hospitals or in their homes to reduce the risk of exposing others.
US health officials warned on Friday that the flu or other respiratory illnesses could complicate efforts to identify additional cases.
‘We’re really working to understand the full spectrum of the illness with this coronavirus,’ Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Messonnier, said at a briefing.
‘The problem with this time of year is it’s cold and flu season and there are lots of cold and respiratory infections circulating.’
The CDC recommended that anyone with symptoms contact a health-care provider before seeking treatment so the appropriate precautionary measures can be put in place.
The agency is trying to expedite screenings by providing up tests to state health officials.
It currently takes the CDC about four to six hours to make a diagnosis once a sample arrives at its lab.
Two people from Minnesota and three people from Michigan are currently being tested.
The patients from Michigan have reportedly agreed to remain in isolation until their tests results return, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Also being monitored are two college students, one from Texas A&M University and another from Tennessee Tech University.
The Tennessee Department of Health said it decided to test the TTU student because he or she had ‘very mild symptoms’ and had a recent concerning travel history that met the criteria for testing.
No results have been confirmed and the student is being kept in isolation.
For the Texas student, Brazos County Health District officials said the male had ‘mild’ symptoms that resembled the coronavirus and had traveled to Wuhan recently.
Results of tests will be announced to the public if the patient tests positive for coronavirus.
Officials said the patient is currently being kept isolated at home and that it is safe for student to attend classes.
‘This patient did travel to the area of concern in China within the last 14 days and thankfully had mild upper respiratory symptoms, and he was improving,’ said Dr Eric Wilke with the Brazos County Health Department.
‘I believe the time the patient presented at the emergency department, it was more out of concern,’ said Dr Eric Wilke with the Brazos County Health Department.
Medical supply stores around the Brazos Valley, where Texas A&M is located, are reportedly experiencing a medical mask shortage after the possible case was reported.
Genese Smith, who works at MediCare Equipment in Bryan, just a few miles off campus, told KBTX that an influx of customers came to the store looking for masks on Thursday.
‘Within about 30 minutes of word getting out, we started getting phone calls asking if we have the masks, what kind of masks did we have, and how many we had available,’ Smith said. ‘Quite a few people started coming in, asking, and purchasing.’
Smith said the store typically stocks about 50 masks but has already ordered more.
Other stores in the area, including Texas A&M’s Health Services Department, are also awaiting new shipments of masks after their current stocks ran out, per KBTX.
In California, Los Angeles International Airport has been on high alert after a passenger who arrived on Wednesday was sent to hospital after he or she appeared to be ill.
The unnamed passenger arrived on an American Airlines flight from Mexico City around 7pm, CBS Los Angeles reported.
However, it remains unclear if the passenger is from Mexico City, or if they originated from another city.
Several people in the state, particularly in Alameda County and the Bay Area, are also being examined to see if they have the virus that resembles SARS.
On Friday, North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services also reported that it is investigating a case.
The suspected patient arrived at Raleigh-Durham International Airport on January 23 after having traveled to Wuhan but not to the seafood market to which many early cases have been linked, according to a news release.
Four other potential cases are also under investigation in New York state.
In Colorado, a patient with respiratory symptoms was placed in isolation at Lakewood’s Centura – St Anthony Hospital after they were found to have recently traveled to Wuhan.
In Washington state, where the first US case was confirmed, the Northwest Chinese school in Bellevue called off weekend classes for preschoolers through adults amid concerns about the virus.
‘We take the health of our students and families very seriously and think that this is the best course of action,’ officials wrote in an email announcing the cancelled classes.
On the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, a Chinese student association has been distributing face masks and asking students to contribute to efforts to send supplies such as face masks and protective suits to China.
Public health entry screenings are currently taking place Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, John F Kennedy International Airport in New York and San Francisco International Airport.
So far, 2,400 people have been screened from Hubei province and the CDC is continuing to track airline passengers who took connecting flights now that direct flights are no longer available.
The screening begins with a survey to determine whether a traveler shows possible coronavirus symptoms and whether they visited the meat or seafood markets in Wuhan that have been tied to the outbreak.
If they appear to have any symptoms associated with coronavirus, travelers are taken to on-site triage for further examination and a temperature check.
On Monday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city will be activating its emergency operations center in case any coronavirus patients are confirmed to be in the Bay Area, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.
Preliminary research suggests the virus was passed to humans from snakes or bats. But Chinese health officials report that cases have been caused by human-to-human transmission. Pictured, left and right: The coronavirus strain