Santa Clara County asks Apple and Others to Cancel Events, Avoid Travel

Santa Clara County has published a request asking big companies residing in the larger area to avoid travel and postpone events in order to avoid the possible spread of coronavirus. Apple, Google, and other major tech companies are based in the area.

On Thursday, Santa Clara County posted a list of recommendations per new guidance the county has in place. This extends to surrounding areas such as Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, and San Jose. As reported by The Verge, many of the major tech companies have headquarters and offices in the area. Apple has a headquarters location in Cupertino, while Google is located in Mountain View. Furthermore, both Intel and Nvidia are located in Santa Clara, while Adobe has an office in San Jose. The guidance may even affect other companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook due to being stationed in the extended areas around California.

The new guidance in place specifies that workplaces should suspend non-essential travel. It goes on to suggest employers reassess sick leave policies and consider remote work options. Additionally, Santa Clara County recommends postponing or cancelling mass gatherings or large-scale community events. This comes after six new cases of coronavirus were confirmed, bringing the total number of those affected in the area to 20.



Many of the aforementioned companies have already begun to pull out from industry events and prioritize the health and safety of its employees. Intel, NVIDIA, and Amazon all decided not to attend MWC prior to the event being cancelled. Microsoft, Amazon, and NVIDIA did the same for GDC prior to the organizers announcing it would be postponed until the summer. Google also cancelled its I/O 2020 event for concerns regarding coronavirus.

This leads many to begin speculating on whether or not an event such as Apple’s WWDC event later in June will be cancelled or postponed. E3 is also a possible event that may be cancelled seeing as though it takes place in Los Angeles.