Amazon tells employees to defer all non-essential travel due to coronavirus

Amazon.com Inc said all employees should defer non-essential travel including within the United States, in a significant escalation by the world's largest online retailer to guard against the spread of the coronavirus among its ranks. Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, notified employees of the change on Thursday, which Amazon confirmed to Reuters. The coronavirus has caused at least 2,797 deaths globally, and new reported infections around the world now exceed those from mainland China, where the flu-like disease arose two months ago out of an illegal wildlife market.

Amazon last month said it was putting in place travel restrictions to China.