KEY POINTS Amazon tells employees to work from home if they can

The company has asked employees in the New York and New Jersey offices

Due to coronavirus outbreak, several companies are offering work-at-home options to their employees

Amazon informed employees based out of New York and New Jersey that they should consider working remotely for March. The company told the employees of this policy on Monday. Currently, various tech companies are offering work-from-home arrangements to their employees as they tackle the coronavirus outbreak in their workplaces.

Audible, Amazon’s audiobook company, is located in Newark, New Jersey and thousands of employees work in New York City.

An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC about the latest development.

“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,” the spokesperson said.

“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.”

Last week, after an employee tested positive for coronavirus, Amazon asked its Washington, Seattle, and Bellevue, offices to work from home till the end of March. Moreover, the company restricted any unimportant travel in the U.S.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, several companies have been encouraging their workers to work from home if they can.

On March 4, Kurt DelBene, Microsoft executive vice president, wrote in a blog post that all employees who can perform their tasks from home should work remotely through March 25. He stated that this will ensure that Microsoft will make the workplace safer for those who need to be onsite.

Coronavirus-related deaths continue to rise as the number crossed the 4,000 mark. The spread of COVID-19 is not slowing down in the U.S. as positive cases went beyond 750. The number of deaths in the U.S. rose to 26. Meanwhile, the Washington state recorded at least 22 deaths. In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, several events across the globe are either canceled or postponed. Recently, SXSW 2020 was canceled, which was scheduled to happen in Austin, Texas.

Photo: AFP / Philippe LOPEZ