The New York Stock Exchange trading floor. (NYSE)

The New York Stock Exchange is preparing for the possible escalation of the novel coronavirus crisis that might include closing the trading floor in Lower Manhattan, according to Fox Business.

Should the outbreak of COVID-19 escalate into a global pandemic, as is expected, then markets and firms are concerned that traders and other employees might not be able to get to work.

"New York Stock Exchange is beginning to prepare for the possibility that the floor might not be able to open. It's a mixture of both humans and an automated trading system, computerized trading system," Charles Gasparino of Fox Business said on The Claman Countdown on Friday. "So they're planning for a possibility that the… floor traders, the brokers, the designated market makers can't make it in because they have to stay home."

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Gasparino, citing his sources, said the NYSE will have "some sort of a test run" in a few days.

Major Wall Street firms are also telling their employees to get ready for the situation to get worse. Those firms are already restricting travel to areas that are hit hard, such as China and other parts of Asia, Gasparino reported.

"'Be prepared to work from home, test your systems out, make sure your computer works, make sure you can get into the company system to trade,'" Gasparino said firms are telling their workers.

Stocks sank again on Friday, leaving Wall Street with its worst week since October 2008. Investors appear to be worried that the coronavirus outbreak will derail the global economy.

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