Tech Companies, Universities, Send Workers and Students Home Amid Coronavirus
The trains and streets of New York City will be a lot emptier in the month of March. Lawmakers, companies and universities in New York City and around the country are making changes in the race to contain the rapidly spreading Coronavirus.
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that state workers that have been diagnosed or exposed to the virus will be asked to stay home with pay.
In an effort to protect its employees, Amazon is asking its employees in New York and New Jersey to work from home.
“We continue to work closely with public and private medical experts to ensure we are taking the right precautions as the situation continues to evolve,” an Amazon spokesperson told ABC News. “This includes recommending that employees who are able to work from home in Seattle/Bellevue, the Bay Area, New York, New Jersey and the Lombardy region/Asti province of Italy do so through the end of March.”
Mark Benioff, founder and CEO of Salesforce announced via Twitter that staff in multiple areas of the country would be working from home. Shopify announced that it will give its employees $1,000 stipend to cover supplies and expenses to work from home. Twitter and Google also announced work from home mandates for employees across the globe.
Among the nations top University closures NYU, CUNY, SUNY, Columbia, and Fordham Universities have all opted to provide remote distance learning classes where students can take classes from home to avoid large crowds and further spread of the coronavirus on campuses.
The COVID-19 disease, referred to as the Coronavirus, has infected thousands of people worldwide including more than 1,000 deaths. An estimated 48 cases have been reported in New York City with 212 cases recorded for New York State.
“As New York City continues to see more cases of community transmission, I am reminding New Yorkers to remain vigilant and take the necessary steps to protect themselves,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.”We are continuing to do everything in our power to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy, and are asking our federal partners to help us increase testing capacity so we can get the job done faster.”
New York City has also launched a COVID, SMS text notification system to keep citizens updated. To sign up text COVID to 692-692.
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