Two Seattle-area Microsoft employees diagnosed with COVID-19 coronavirus
Microsoft disclosed on March 5 that two of its Washington state-area employees have been diagnosed with COVID-19 coronavirus. One of them worked on the company's main Redmond campus; the other worked remotely for Microsoft's LinkedIn subsidiary.
Also: Coronavirus Update: All the tech conference cancellations and travel bans so far
The news comes just days after Microsoft officials issued guidance to its Puget Sound (Seattle area) and Bay Area employees to work at home through March 25 if possible. Microsoft also announced this week that it would be paying full wages to its hourly workers in those areas who work for vendors, staff the company's cafes, drive shuttles and do on-site tech support so they also can stay home.
Microsoft has yet to announce it is canceling its in-person Build 2020 event which is currently slated for mid-May in Seattle, but many of us Microsoft watchers are expecting that to happen soon. Microsoft has canceled several other smaller in-person conferences already including its MVP Summit, WSLconf, and GitHub Summit, replacing them with online-only events.