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Panic gripped big tech firms like Facebook and Twitter which decided to close their offices from Seattle to London as more employees tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Facebook shut its three London offices till Monday after an employee was diagnosed with COVID-19.

The social networking giant told nearly 3,000 employees in London to work from home after an employee, who is based in Singapore but visited the London offices between February 24-26, was diagnosed with the new coronavirus, Sky News reported on Friday.

"An employee based in our Singapore office who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 visited our London offices on February 24-26.

"We are therefore closing our London offices until Monday for deep cleaning and employees are working from home until then," the company said in a statement.

There have been 163 cases of coronavirus so far in the UK.

Earlier, Facebook recommended all its Bay Area employees in the US to work from home. The latest precautions come after San Francisco announced its first two coronavirus cases on Thursday.

Facebook has also shut its Seattle office until Monday after one of its contractors was confirmed to be infected with the virus. The infected contractor last visited the Facebook office on February 21. King County health officials said all Facebook sites should work from home until March 31.

Twitter shut its Seattle office for a 'deep clean' after an employee developed COVID-19 like symptoms though final result was still awaited.

"A Seattle-based employee has been advised by doctor about likely COVID-19, though still awaiting the final testing," Twitter said in a tweet on Friday.

"While the employee has not been at a Twitter office for several weeks and hasn't been in contact w/others, we're closing our Seattle office to deep clean," the company added.

According to The Seattle Times, at least 14 people have died due to COVID-19 in Washington State till date.

Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Facebook have advised their employees in Washington State to work from home.

Apple has reportedly suggested its employees at California campuses to work from home as an "extra precaution" while new coronavirus cases spread on the west coast in the US, especially Seattle area.

Apple's flagship developers' conference WWDC 2020 in June is also at the risk of getting cancelled as the Santa Clara public health department has warned against large public gatherings. The event draws nearly 5,000 developers from across the world.

The US death toll from the new coronavirus has climbed to 14, according to Johns Hopkins' tracker, with 329 cases reported across the country.

Los Angeles, Apr 30: Los Angeles will begin offering coronavirus">coronavirus testing for free to all citizens regardless of whether they have symptoms, Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Wednesday, adding that LA is the first major US city to take such an initiative.

During the press conference, Garcetti announced that all county residents can now get free coronavirus">coronavirus testing. 

He said the announcement will only apply to city residents for now, but that a similar plan is in development for Los Angeles County,
Garcetti also took to Twitter to announce the same. "Announcing that L.A. is now the first major city in America to offer free COVID-19 testing to all residents. 

While priority will still be given to those with symptoms, individuals without symptoms can also be tested. Sign up at Coronavirus.LACity.org/Testing," he said
Under the new guidelines, priority for the same- or next-day testing will still be given to people with symptoms, such as a fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The free testing will also be prioritized for certain critical frontline workers who interact with the public.

Until now, only residents with symptoms as well as essential workers and those in institutional settings like nursing homes could be tested.

On Wednesday, the LA County reported 1,541 new cases, bringing the total to 22,485 - a seven per cent increase since yesterday.

This includes a backlog of cases that were processed. In the city, there were 683 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 10,380 -- a 7 percent increase since yesterday.

Beijing, May 18: China has reported 25 new COVID-19 patients, the health authorities said on Monday, as 14 asymptomatic cases were detected in Wuhan, the first epicentre of the coronavirus where officials are doing mass testing of the city's entire 11 million population, taking the number of such cases in the city to 337, the highest in the country.

The death toll in China remained at 4,634 on Sunday with no new fatalities reported.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) reported seven new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18 asymptomatic cases on Sunday.

Jilin province where the government has implemented strict control measures in the last few days following reports of clusters of cases in Jilin city reported two cases on Sunday, while Shanghai city has reported one.

As of Sunday, the overall confirmed cases in China had reached 82,954, including 82 patients who are still being treated, and 78,238 people who have been discharged after recovery.

Also on Sunday, 18 new asymptomatic cases including two from abroad were reported in China, taking the total number under medical observation to 448, the NHC said.

Asymptomatic cases pose a problem as the patients are tested COVID-19 positive but develop no symptoms such as fever, cough or sore throat. However, they pose a risk of spreading the disease to others.

Wuhan which is undergoing mass testing of the city's entire over 11 million population to determine the prevalence of the virus has reported no new confirmed cases, but 14 new asymptomatic infections, taking the number of such cases in the city to 337, the highest in the country, according to the figures released by the local health commission on Sunday.

The death toll in Hubei province stood at 4,512, including 3,869 in Wuhan.

The province so far has reported 68,134 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total, including 50,339 in Wuhan, according to the officials figures.

As the cases dropped, China on Sunday exempted people in Beijing from wearing masks, signalling that the virus is under control in the national capital.

As the virus is abating in the country, China is opening up all its business including entertainment centres like Shanghai Disneyl and to show that it has managed to control the dreaded virus while the world is struggling with it with lockdowns and massive casualties.

The novel coronavirus which originated in Wuhan in December last year has claimed 315,185 lives and infected over 4.7 million people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University data.