Google shuts down offices in China as coronavirus epidemic deepens

• Google employees currently in China have been advised to leave as soon as possible and then work from home for a minimum of two weeks.
• China reported its biggest single-day jump in novel coronavirus deaths on Thursday.

Search engine giant Google is closing all its offices in China and Hong Kong on temporary basis amid the break out of coronavirus in the country.

The Cupertino-based search giant Google has stopped its staff travelling to China and Hong Kong, while employees currently in the country have been advised to leave as soon as possible and then work from home for a minimum of two weeks.

As per BBC, the Alphabet-owned Google has four offices in mainland China, however, it does not have a search engine available in the country, the offices focus on sales and engineering for its advertising business.

China reported its biggest single-day jump in novel coronavirus deaths on Thursday, as confirmation that three Japanese evacuated from the outbreak's epicentre were infected deepened fears about a global contagion.

The World Health Organization, which initially downplayed the severity of a disease that has now killed 170 nationwide, warned all governments to be "on alert" as it weighed whether to declare a global health emergency.

Airlines have suspended services to China meanwhile, global companies from Starbucks to Tesla have shuttered stores and production lines.