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Microsoft is recommending that all of its Seattle-area employees who can do their jobs from home do so for the next three weeks, through March 25, in the latest effort to thwart the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The company employs nearly 54,000 people in the Seattle region, most of them at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The guidance, issued Wednesday by Microsoft executive vice president Kurt DelBene, excludes workers in data centers, retail stores, and other jobs that require being on site.

Microsoft also updated its global travel guidance, recommending that people postpone travel to the company’s Seattle or Bay Area campuses “unless essential for the continuity of Microsoft.”

DelBene said the new work-from-home plan is based on guidance from King County health officials. The tech giant is the latest company to institute new guidelines as Washington state grapples with the spread of the novel coronavirus, which causes the flu-like disease known as Covid-19.

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