Some banks in Hong Kong have required their employees who recently visited China to work from home after the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China and its spread to other locations inside and outside of the country.
HSBC said early today that it has stopped all business trips to Hong Kong till Feb 11 and cities in China till further notice.
The bank added that all staffers in Hong Kong should work from home . While the bank's operation in Hong Kong remains normal, HSBC said employees who need to be in touch with customers must wear protective masks.
The bank also requires employees who visited China or were in touch with people from Wuhan in the past 14 days to work from home for 14 days.
Credit Suisse UBS Group AG have similar policies, having told their staffers in Hong Kong to work from home for two weeks if they have just visited China, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Employees should discuss with their division manager and human resources before returning to work after that time, the report quotes an internal memo from Credit Suisse as saying.
Anyone with fever or flu-like symptoms is required to work from home until a doctor certifies the person can return to work, according to the memo while both banks implement travel restrictions.
At Credit Suisse’s Hong Kong main office in the International Commerce Center, the bank was cited in the report as saying that it’d start temperature checks.
Deutche Bank has asked employees in Hong Kong to work from home for seven days after any visit to China, the report says.
Citibank in Hong Kong also said it has required employees to report travel to Wuhan or surrounding areas and to work from home for two weeks after returning. The bank has also implemented travel restrictions to Wuhan.
The stock exchange in Hong Kong has also cancelled a ceremony scheduled for Wednesday to mark the first day of trading day of the Lunar New Year.
