Google tells staff to work home due to coronavirus

Google's parent company Alphabet has asked its North American staff to work from home to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus.

Last week the tech giant sent a memo to staff recommending that employees in Washington state work from home.

It has now expanded that request to all of its almost 100,000 workers across 11 office in the US and Canada.

Alphabet is the latest company to make such an announcement as US coronavirus cases have risen to almost 1,000.

"Out of an abundance of caution, and for the protection of Alphabet and the broader community, we now recommend you work from home if your role allows," Chris Rackow, Google's vice president of global security, wrote in an email to workers.

Alphabet said its offices in North America will remain open for those whose jobs require them to come in.