Coronavirus Hits London Financial Center Forcing Evacuation
March 05 2020 - 3:50PM
Dow Jones News
By Simon Clark and Sarah McFarlane
U.S. information giant S&P Global Inc. evacuated 1,200
employees from its London office Thursday as a precaution against
the coronavirus after a person diagnosed with the illness visited
the building in the Canary Wharf finance district.
Employees were asked to work from home until further notice, an
S&P spokesman said.
The sick person who visited was an HSBC Holdings PLC employee,
S&P told staff in an internal memo reviewed by The Wall Street
Journal. HSBC, Europe's largest bank by assets, said Thursday that
an employee at its headquarters in Canary Wharf was diagnosed with
the coronavirus. An HSBC spokeswoman declined to comment on whether
the affected employee visited S&P.
"Following confirmation that a person who recently visited
S&P Global's offices at 20 Canada Square has been diagnosed
with COVID-19, as a safety precaution we have decided all S&P
Global employees based in Canary Wharf should work from home until
further notice," S&P said in a statement. The company said it
has a "robust business continuity plan to ensure there are no
disruptions" to its operations.
The affected HSBC employee "is under medical supervision and has
self-isolated," the bank said in a statement. "We are deep-cleaning
the floor where our colleague worked and shared areas of the
building. Colleagues on that floor, and others who came into
contact with him, have been advised to work at home. Based on
medical and official advice the building remains open and operates
as normal."
HSBC's global research department was the area affected,
according to a person familiar with the situation. HSBC, which has
extensive operations across Europe and Asia, said last month that
it could take up to $600 million in additional loan loss provisions
if the coronavirus crisis extends into the second half of this
year.
S&P said in the internal memo to employees that it "will
perform a thorough deep clean of the entire office and will monitor
the condition of employees who may have had contact with the
affected individual."
Write to Simon Clark at Simon.Clark@WSJ.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 05, 2020 15:35 ET (20:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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