Facebook employee in Seattle diagnosed with coronavirus

The company alerted employees about the infection on March 4 and said the Seattle office will be closed to all employees until March 9, 2020. PHOTO: AFP

SAN FRANCISCO (BLOOMBERG) - Facebook Inc said an employee in Seattle has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the first known infection within the company as the pathogen continues to spread in the region.

The employee, a contractor, was last in Facebook's Stadium East office in Seattle on Feb 21.

The company alerted employees on Wednesday night (March 4) and said the Seattle office will be closed to all employees until next Monday.

Employees in Seattle are also being encouraged to work from home until the end of the month.

"A contractor based in our Stadium East office has been diagnosed with the Covid-19," a company spokesman said in a statement.

"We've notified our employees and are following the advice of public health officials to prioritise everyone's health and safety."

Nations around the world are grappling with the coronavirus epidemic, which erupted in China but made its way to Europe and the Middle East.

California, the most populous US state, has declared a state of emergency, while the House of Representatives green-lit a US$7.8 billion (S$10.8 billion) spending package to fund measures to combat the outbreak.

This week, Amazon.com Inc also notified employees of the first confirmed case of coronavirus among its US workforce, at its South Lake Union office complex in Seattle.

Two Amazon employees in Italy were previously confirmed to have contracted the virus.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.