Netflix has now been impacted by the coronavirus. The offices in the Los Angeles, California area of the streaming giant are reportedly on lockdown it was announced on Thursday. According to Deadline, a Netflix employee is confirmed to have COVID-19, who was identified as having come in close contact with people.
The company has roughly 1000 employees that are potentially at risk, and in response, the company has temporarily emptied one of its Sunset Blvd buildings. The employees will be working from home until further instructions are given.
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The building itself a 14-story structure that directly overlooks Sunset Blvd and is home to many of Netflix’s executive offices. The cleaning and disinfecting of the offices is expected to take about a week.
Netflix has offered no comment on the matter as of Thursday evening.
The outlet also notes that the production of Ryan Murphy‘s upcoming Netflix feature, The Prom, has been temporarily suspended production due to coronavirus concerns. More of the streamer’s original productions will likely face similar shutdowns.
However, the “Netflix is a Joke” comedy event is still slated to carry on. The event involves the likes of Dave Chappelle, Ali Wong, Jerry Seinfeld, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin for a multi-city venue spectacle from April 27 through May 3.
The move comes as a number of major organizations are dramatically adjusting to address growing anxieties about the disease, which has infected over 120,000 people around the globe and was officially classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on Wednesday. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stressed at the time that this was “not a word to use lightly or carelessly.”
“It is a word that, if misused, can cause unreasonable fear, or unjustified acceptance that the fight is over, leading to unnecessary suffering and death,” he added.
Among those organizations, the NBA has canceled the rest of the season, while the NCAA will forbid fans from watching any of its upcoming March Madness events. Films including the latest Fast and the Furious installment, F9, as well as A Quiet Place 2 and the 25th James Bond movie, No Time To Die, have seen their release dates pushed back several months. Or in some cases, indefinitely.
As far as what individuals can do to help slow the spread of the disease, check out the WHO website for more information.
