The bank cleared out its entire research department and part of the trading floor (Picture: AFP via Getty)

HSBC evacuated part of its UK headquarters after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.

More than 100 staff from the bank’s research department were sent home from the 45-floor skyscraper in Canary Wharf while a section of the trading floor was also cleared out, according to Financial News.

It came after an employee in the research department informed the bank over the weekend that they had been diagnosed with the virus.

Staff who came into contact with him were sent home and the affected area is being deep cleaned.


The bank employs around 40,000 workers in the UK, with a quarter based in its Canary Wharf offices (Picture: Getty Images)

HSBC employs roughly 40,000 people in the UK, with around a quarter of those based at the office block in the docklands.



A spokeswoman said: ‘We have been informed that one of our employees at 8 Canada Square has been diagnosed with Covid-19. This colleague is under medical supervision and has self-isolated.

‘All staff whose roles allow remote working have been told they can work from home if preferred.’

It comes a day after workers at accounting giant Deloitte were sent home from its London offices after a colleague tested positive for coronavirus following a trip to Asia.

As of Thursday morning 90 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK after Scotland reported three more cases overnight, but the number is expected to increase again within hours.

England’s chief medical officer earlier announced that the UK has now mainly moved into the ‘delay’ phase of tackling coronavirus.

Professor Chris Whitty, who is being grilled by MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee, said community transmission between people who had no connections to overseas cases or returning travellers is now ‘highly likely’.

Professor Chris Whitty said the UK is now mainly in the ‘delay’ phase of tackling the virus (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

He added: ‘We have moved from a situation where we are mainly in contain, with some delay built in, to we are now mainly delay.’

It means measures to tackle coronavirus are ramped up to delay its spread.

The Government’s battle plan says of the delay phase: ‘Action that would be considered could include population distancing strategies (such as school closures, encouraging greater home working, reducing the number of large-scale gatherings) to slow the spread of the disease throughout the population, while ensuring the country’s ability to continue to run as normally as possible.’

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