General Motors and Ford will limit travel and/or forgo Lunar New Year traditions in China in a bid to protect employees from the spread of the deadly coronavirus.
The respiratory illness caused by a novel Coronavirus, which has already killed at least 25 people and sickened over 650, is centered in the Chinese city of Wuhan and extraordinary measures are being taken to help stop its spread. Most notably, all outward travel from the city of over 11 million people will be canceled from Thursday.
In a statement emailed to Auto News as concern for the crisis grows, GM said it would limit travel to and from the city where it has employees from its local joint venture partners.
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“We have issued a global travel advisory for Wuhan. If someone needs to go there, travel has to be business critical and they must get managerial approval,” the car manufacturer said.
Ford is keeping a close eye on the outbreak of the virus too stating that it is “watching the issue and will adapt, as necessary.” Ford’s local Chinese operations are found in the cities of Nanjing and Chongqing, 650 km (403 miles) and 900 km (550 miles) away from Wahun respectively.
A number of other large corporations are also doing what they can to protect employees from the coronavirus. Volkswagen, for example, has issued employees advice on how to avoid the virus, urging them to wash their hands. Production at the company’s joint ventures in China remains unaffected.
