Twitter encourages all 5,000 employees to work from home

Twitter has told its 5,000-strong workforce globally to work from home - making it mandatory for employees based in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea offices - as new coronavirus (COVID-19) spread in new territories.

The micro-blogging platform which has already put restrictions on non-essential travel, said that US offices would still be open for employees who feel the need to come in person.

"We are strongly encouraging all employees globally to work from home if they're able. Our goal is to lower the probability of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus for us - and the world around us," the company said in an updated statement late Tuesday.

"We are working to make sure internal meetings, all hands, and other important tasks are optimized for remote participation," Twitter added.

Working from home will be mandatory for employees based in Twitter's Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea offices due in part to government restrictions.

"While this is a big change for us, we have already been moving towards a more distributed workforce that's increasingly remote," Twitter said.

Earlier, Twitter said that it would also restrict all nonessential business travel for its employees and partners.

"We have continued to monitor the situation closely and are adjusting our internal policies to respond to this rapidly-evolving situation. On February 29, we informed our people and started notifying partners that we are suspending all non-critical business travel and events," the micro-blogging platform said in a statement.

"Our goal is to reduce the risk that anyone at Twitter might contract or inadvertently spread the virus. It is important that we take these proactive steps to protect ourselves and others and minimize the spread of COVID-19," it added.