German Car Supplier Suspends Corporate Travel to China Due to Coronavirus

BEIJING, CHINA - JANUARY 27: Chinese visitors wear protective masks as they tour the Templ
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

The German auto supplier Webasto has suspended all of its corporate travel to and from China due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a spokesperson for the company.

The spokesperson told Reuters that one employee had been infected with the virus and confirmed a local media report that said Webasto CEO Holger Engelmann suspended travel to and from China for two weeks.

A Chinese employee from Shanghai who had been at the company’s German headquarters between January 19 and 22 tested positive for the virus on January 26.

Engelmann said it was unclear when the employee first became infected.

Webasto has 11 locations in China, including in Wuhan, where the heart of the coronavirus outbreak is taking place.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning on Monday urging Americans to reconsider travel to China because of the coronavirus, which has killed 81 and infected thousands of other people.

The State Department issued a “do not travel” warning to the Hubei province of China, where the virus originated in the city of Wuhan.

President Donald Trump also said Monday the U.S. is “strongly on watch” regarding the coronavirus’s spread in China and its potential reach to the U.S.

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