What just happened? More companies are taking precautions against the Coronavirus by restricting travel to China. Facebook and Razer have stopped all non-essential travel to the country, while LG has introduced a complete ban.
With more than 4,000 people infected across the world and the death doll having surpassed 100, the United States has advised Americans to "reconsider" visiting all of China---most cases have been in the city of Wuhan. Following the warning, Facebook asked employees to halt non-essential travel to the mainland and told any workers who had traveled there to work from home. Despite being one of many western websites banned in the country, Facebook has offices in China and local suppliers manufacture its Oculus headsets and Portal devices.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we have taken steps to protect the health and safety of our employees," a Facebook spokesman told Reuters.
Another US tech firm, Razer, is implementing similar protective measures. A spokesperson told The Verge: "Our company has already been restricting travel and advising employees to work from home." South Korean giant LG, meanwhile, has banned all workers from traveling to China, advising those on business trips to the country to return as soon as possible, and Korean chipmaker SK Hynix is also urging employees to avoid non-essential travel.
Last week brought news that companies across China were taking extra precautions, including Huawei, which postponed its annual developer conference in Shenzhen.
Following the Coronavirus outbreak, simulator game Plague Inc. experienced a surge in popularity, leading the devs to issue a statement reminding people that "it's a game, not a scientific model."