Cargill Bans Employee Travel Over Coronavirus
Cargill Inc., the largest private U.S. company, has banned all non-essential travel for its employees the next two weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Cargill spokeswoman April Nelson told Reuters Thursday that any essential international travel would need approval from a member of the company’s executive team. Cargill also asked that employees that have traveled to outbreak areas in China and Italy work from home the next two weeks as a precaution.
“This is in the interest of our employees and out of an abundance of caution. We are trying to do our part to limit the spread of coronavirus,” Nelson told Reuters. The travel restrictions do not affect domestic travel.
The coronavirus was first discovered in China in December and has infected more than 82,000 people worldwide with more than 2,800 deaths. To date, the virus has been identified in 44 countries.
Also on Thursday, Facebook said it will cancel its F8 developer conference slated for May in San Jose, California. The f8 conference is Facebook’s biggest event of the year, drawing 5,000 developers, creators and entrepreneurs from around the globe.
Speculation has also surfaced the International Olympic Committee is considering if it should cancel the 2020 Olympic Games scheduled for July in Tokyo. However, NPR reported Thursday that organizers of the Tokyo Olympics were pushing back on such speculation and that "preparations for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 continue as planned."
