TAKING PRECAUTIONS

Google Cancels Major Conference Over Coronavirus Risk

A spokesman for the company said the event “would have brought thousands of employees together from across two continents.”

Google announced on Friday that it has canceled an internal sales and marketing conference that was scheduled to take place in March in Las Vegas amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. “In light of the evolving coronavirus situation we made the decision to cancel an internal event that would have brought thousands of employees together from across two continents,” a Google spokesman said. On Thursday, Facebook canceled the “in-person component” of its annual F8 conference in May over “growing concerns” about the spread of coronavirus, which has reportedly been detected in at least 55 countries and regions. Google also confirmed on Friday that one of its roughly 120,000 employees—who recently worked in the company’s Zurich office—has a confirmed case of the virus.