The coronavirus outbreak has upended office life in Asia, as many work from home or undergo temperature checks while others fear losing their jobs
- Since the coronavirus spread from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, more than 1,000 people have died as a result of the disease.
- Many businesses have asked professionals to work from home for the last two weeks to protect against spreading the virus. Mass working from home created a supplies shortage.
- Offices in China that adapted to the virus installed temperature screeners in front of buildings, leading to long lines and heightened anxiety.
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Two weeks after the initial coronavirus outbreak in East and Southeast Asia, workers returned to offices lined with hand sanitizers and temperature readers.
The virus initially spread outward from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, and the city established a quarantine on January 22 after an upswing in the local death toll as a result of the virus. As of February 11, more than 1,000 people in China have died after contracting the virus, and the virus has spread to at least 25 other countries.
The country quarantined 13 cities total, and residents of major cities like Beijing and Shanghai stayed at home for weeks, turning urban areas into "ghost towns."
Businesspeople in China and throughout Asia have been forced to quickly adapt. Due to the sudden outbreak, Chinese residents were suddenly asked to work from home, leading to reports of food and supplies shortages. Meanwhile, employees stranded in different countries have feared losing their jobs. For those who did return, offices set up ways to screen employees for coronavirus.
Mass working from home leads to reports of food, supply shortages in some places
Since around late January, many offices have shut down, forcing workers in East and Southeast Asia to stay at home. Joanne Chan, the director of business at a travel marketing website, wrote on LinkedIn that widespread working from home has spurred a food and supplies shortage, as more people stay home yet stores remain closed.
The country initially closed stores in the Wuhan area following the Chinese New Year, and then extended the shutdown to other parts of the country. The Economic Times reported that the country has acknowledged shortages of "daily necessities" in cities including Shanghai and Beijing.
Offices install temperature scanners and plastic-wrapped elevator buttons
For those who have gone to the office, many employers began taking the temperature of everyone entering the building to screen for the virus. Coronavirus symptoms include fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing. Workers for Huawei, for instance, have had to get their temperature checked and to disclose their whereabouts since the last week of January, CNN reports. The company dispensed face masks and hand sanitizers all around its Shenzhen headquarters.
In Shanghai, Edward Lawrence, a BBC camera journalist, tweeted that the elevator in his office covered buttons in plastic wrap that had been uncovered before the outbreak. Twitter users also report having to go through temperature readers before entering government offices in Singapore and Beijing, creating long lines for those waiting to enter.
Workers stranded outside China fear losing their jobs
Some non-Chinese passport holders face the additional barrier of being unable to fly into the country where they have jobs. The restrictions on flying in and out of China began around the Chinese New Year holiday, one of the busiest times for travel.
Filipino passport-holders who work in Hong Kong have been stranded in the Philippines, unable to return to their families. The Philippines had one of the two only known deaths from coronavirus outside of China. Joms Ortega, a kindergarten teacher in Hong Kong, created a Facebook group for those stranded, which as of this writing stands at 240 members. Ortega told Business Insider that he has talked to many domestic workers who say they have not been paid since the ban was imposed on January 27 and they risk losing their jobs. Other stranded workers had to purchase computers and other equipment to work away from their homes, Ortega said.
"In Hong Kong, work is work; if you cannot be there to work, you will be replaced," Ortega said. "We are figuring out how to pay for our exorbitant rents without this month's income, especially since most workers live paycheck per paycheck."
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