Visit our Covid-19 microsite for the latest coronavirus news, analysis and updates
Follow the latest updates of the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak on our timeline.
Mastercard has closed its office located in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and an annex office in New York after one of its employees tested positive for coronavirus.
The infected employee is based in Brazil and had recently visited the annex site in Purchase, New York, which is in proximity to its New York base.
The two locations are currently being sanitised.
“While it is believed that there is a low risk of this being transmitted to most of our employees who were not in close contact with this individual, we have notified our team members and they are taking the necessary actions to monitor their own health,” Mastercard was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
Mastercard has made 14-day work-at-home arrangements for those employees who have come into contact with the infected staff and are developing symptoms, reported Reuters citing the firm’s spokesman.
Coronavirus updates
The latest news comes shortly after Mastercard revealed that the coronavirus outbreak’s negative impact on cross-border e-commerce and travel may hit the firm’s revenue growth in Q1 2020.
Visa too lowered its revenue outlook due to the outbreak.
To prevent the spread of the virus, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently advised consumers to switch to contactless payments.
The outbreak, which started from the Chinese city of Wuhan, has now spread worldwide with the resultant death toll increasing to 3,800.
More than 110,000 positive cases have been reported globally so far.
Last month, Singaporean bank DBS evacuated 300 employees after one of them was found infected with the coronavirus.