Entertainment

Sony Pictures temporarily shuts offices in London, Paris and Gdynia, Poland, over coronavirus

Key Points
  • Sony Pictures said it is temporarily closing offices in London, Paris and Gdynia, Poland, after a London-based employee may have been exposed to coronavirus.
  • This is not the first instance of a company shuttering an office temporarily or instituting a new sick policy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which began in China.
  • Google and Amazon, among other companies, have restricted nonessential travel and asked employees to stay home if they begin to exhibit symptoms. 
Pedestrians are seen wearing a surgical masks in London's China Town on January 25, 2020.
Niklas Halle'n | AFP | Getty Images

Sony Pictures said Wednesday it is temporarily closing offices in London, Paris and Gdynia, Poland, after a London-based employee may have been exposed to coronavirus.

"The health and well-being of our employees is of the utmost importance," the company said in a memo to employees. "We thought it was important to share with you that one of our London employees may have been exposed to coronavirus COVID-19 given recent travels to an affected area. Out of an abundance of caution, the London, Paris and Gdynia offices will be closed for the remainder of the week, and employees should work from home."

This is not the first instance of a company shuttering an office temporarily or instituting a new sick policy in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which began in China.

On Tuesday, Amazon said an employee who works in one of its Seattle, Washington, offices tested positive for the coronavirus.

Amazon notified employees in a memo, saying the employee went home on Feb. 25 and has not been in the 9th Avenue office since. It is not Amazon's headquarters office, which is located on 7th Avenue.

The tech company has asked employees who are experiencing symptoms to stay home and seek medical attention. Additionally, Amazon has started restricting all nonessential employee travel in the U.S.

Similarly, a Google employee tested positive for the coronavirus at an office in Switzerland last week. In response, the company began restricting staff travel to Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea, which have all seen the virus spread. Google's Zurich office remained open.

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