African states, including the continent’s biggest economy Nigeria, on Wednesday said they had begun to introduce measures aimed at stopping the spread of the new coronavirus.
No verified case of coronavirus has been reported to date in sub-Saharan Africa, but elsewhere countries have stopped flights to China and airlifted their citizens out of the area where the virus emerged.
Nigeria issued a travel advisory advising “all Nigerians and persons intending to travel to China” to delay their plans unless the trip is “extremely essential.”
People arriving from China or any country with a “major outbreak” of the coronavirus are advised to stay at home for at least two weeks if they develop any symptoms, according to the advisory issued by Health Minister Osagie Ehanire.
Google is temporarily shutting down all of its China offices due to the coronavirus outbreak, the company confirmed to The Verge on Wednesday. The shutdown includes all offices in mainland China, as well as Google’s offices in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Currently, the offices are closed for the extended Lunar New Year holiday, a measure the Chinese government took to help reduce the spread of the virus by encouraging residents to stay inside and avoid travel.
Although Google does not operate many of its most popular web services in China due to historic tensions with the Chinese government, the company does maintain four official offices in the country.
Google also maintains a strong presence in China with regards to its hardware efforts, as many Google product teams responsible for devices like Pixel phones and Google Home speakers work with Chinese suppliers and factories for manufacturing.
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