Facebook is closing its three London offices and telling staff to work from home after an employee was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The number of coronavirus cases worldwide has now passed 100,000, according to Johns Hopkins University, as the outbreak intensifies.

There have been 47 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the UK over the last 24 hours, taking the total number to 163, with two deaths.

A Facebook employee who was normally based in Singapore was diagnosed with the virus after visiting the company's London offices between 24-26 February, a spokesperson told Sky News.

Facebook has just over 3,000 employees in London. Sky News was unable to learn how many individuals had been in direct contact with the person who was diagnosed, but Facebook said that the company had been in contact with them all.


These individuals are being asked to self-isolate and be vigilant in monitoring whether they develop symptoms. COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, is believed to gestate for up to two weeks before symptoms develop.

The company is now also reaching out to any employees and contingent workers based in other offices that visited London over the past few days to warn them.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Facebook told Sky News: "An employee based in our Singapore office who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 visited our London offices 24-26 February 2020.

"We are therefore closing our London offices until Monday for deep cleaning and employees are working from home until then."

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It follows another diagnosis of a Facebook worker in Seattle, prompting the company to close its offices there in order to handle the risk posed to other staff.

On Thursday, a woman reported to be in her 70s became the first person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with coronavirus.

The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading said the woman had been "in and out of hospital" for other reasons but was admitted on Wednesday evening and tested positive.

Meanwhile, two British Airways staff tested positive for coronavirus on Friday and are recovering at home in isolation.

"Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed that two members of our staff have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus," it said in a statement.