Apple is joining other tech companies in encouraging employees to work from home amid the coronavirus’s spread in the United States.
The technology company advised 12,000 employees in Cupertino, California, to work from home in a memo issued on Friday, describing it as an “additional precaution.” Apple is affording the option to its employees in Santa Clara County, where there are 20 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and in Seattle, where the disease first began in the U.S.
The company joins other technology entities, such as Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp., in the efforts to limit the spread of the infectious disease.
In a February announcement, Apple acknowledged the outbreak affected its supply of iPhones after many of its manufacturing facilities closed, saying “supply shortages will temporarily affect revenues worldwide.”
There have been over 100,000 global cases of COVID-19, killing 3,405. In the U.S. thus far, 126 cases have been confirmed. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that at least 10 people have died nationwide.
