Google UK and Ireland staff urged to work from home amid coronavirus concerns

Google is recommending UK and Ireland employees work from home from Thursday in response to the coronavirus outbreak, the PA news agency understands.

The move comes after the tech giant told staff in its North American offices they could work from home if their role allowed it.

Last week, Google asked employees at its European headquarters in Dublin to work from home after an employee reported flu-like symptoms – though it was not confirmed as a case of Covid-19 – which the company used as a chance to test its ability for staff to work remotely.

In the UK, the firm has more than 5,000 members of staff, mostly in offices around London.

A number of tech companies have adopted similar precautionary measures, with Twitter encouraging all staff to work from home where possible and suspending non-essential business travel.

Facebook has temporarily halted social visitors to all its offices.