Banks, financial firms advise caution in travel to high-risk areas as Wuhan coronavirus outbreak worsens
- Wuhan officials have banned travel to and from the city in central Hubei province as death toll rises
- Standard Chartered tells staff to defer all business travel to Wuhan until February 3 in view of the current situation
Banks and financial companies are advising employees to use caution in visiting high-risk areas and practice good hygiene as concerns over a viral outbreak in Wuhan has caused local authorities to ban travel to and from the capital of central Hubei province.
Since the severe respiratory acute syndrome (Sars) outbreak in 2003, global financial firms have taken extra precautions when it comes to such outbreaks, with several adding pandemic outbreak planning as part of their business continuity plans. The Sars epidemic afflicted more than 8,000 people in 37 countries and killed 299 people in Hong Kong.
The latest coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan has infected more than 500 people and resulted in 17 deaths, with confirmed cases reported in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
On Thursday, all public transit in and out of Wuhan, including trains, buses and ferries, was stopped at 10am local time as authorities issued a quarantine to contain the spread. Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, is one of the four major railway hubs in China as well as a river shipping hub.
CLSA, the Hong Kong-based research arm of Citic Securities, had already asked employees to refrain from conducting business for the time being in the Hubei province and issued guidelines for employees who have travelled there, according to a person familiar with the matter, but not authorised to discuss it publicly.