Twitter encourages employees to work from home amid coronavirus concerns

FILE - Evening traffic passes the headquarters of Twitter headquarters in downtown San Francisco on August 13, 2019. FILE - Evening traffic passes the headquarters of Twitter headquarters in downtown San Francisco on August 13, 2019. Photo: GLENN CHAPMAN/AFP Via Getty Images Photo: GLENN CHAPMAN/AFP Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Twitter encourages employees to work from home amid coronavirus concerns 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

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As COVID-19 continues to spread, San Francisco tech company Twitter is asking its more than 5,000 employees around the globe to stay home.

Workers in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea have been ordered to work remotely, and employees in other locations, including San Francisco, are encouraged to protect workplaces from the coronavirus strain that originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and is now multiplying around the world.

"We are working to make sure internal meetings, all hands, and other important tasks are optimized for remote participation. We recognize that working from home is not ideal for some job functions," a statement from the company read.

The company also announced they're "increasing deep cleaning and sanitizing in all spaces, as well as more visual reminders for personal hygiene best practices and pre-packaged, pre-composed, and pre-plated food options."

Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey explained the directive in a series of tweets: "Out of an abundance of caution and care, both @Twitter and @Square are taking significant measures to help lower the probability of spread of #coronavirus #covid19, including strongly encouraging all of our employees globally to work from home if able.

Dorsey is also the co-founder of the S.F.-based financial services company Square and its employees are also being encouraged to work remotely.

Before taking this step, Twitter banned non-essential business travel and events for its workers and pulled out of the South by Southwest media conference in Austin, Texas. A statement on the new travel policy stated it "will continue until the World Health Organization or Centers for Disease Control deem it appropriate to step back from pandemic precautionary measures or when a vaccine becomes available."

Amy Graff is a digital editor for SFGATE. Email her news tips and photos at agraff@sfgate.com.

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