Food giant Nestle delays all business trips over virus

Swiss food giant Nestle, owner of KitKat and Nespresso, on Tuesday, said it was postponing all business trips until March 15 at the earliest because of the new coronavirus epidemic. "We have asked all of our employees worldwide not to travel for business purposes until March 15 2020. We will review this measure in light of external developments," a company spokesman told AFP, quoting an internal note.

The spokesman said that the company was not calling back expatriate employees but added: "We monitor the situation closely to ensure the safety of our employees." Nestle, which owns a range of household brands including also Nescafe, Maggi and Perrier, employs 291,000 people.

The epidemic, which began in China at the end of 2019, has now spread to dozens of countries and infected tens of thousands of people, killing more than 2,600.