“No handshakes, please”: The tech industry is terrified of the coronavirus
Although public officials in the area say the virus is contained for now, some in the tech industry fear the virus will spread out of control.
One of the most prestigious venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, Andreessen Horowitz, recently put up a sign on its door, cautioning eager startup founders and business partners who walk into its offices: “Due to the Coronavirus, no Handshakes please. Thank you.”
It’s unclear how long Andreessen Horowitz — an investor in the likes of Facebook, Airbnb, and Slack — has been greeting visitors with the sign. The move by the firm to put it up, however, is just one example of how some of the most powerful institutions and figures in the tech industry are taking measures to protect themselves from the deadly virus. The new coronavirus disease, now officially known as Covid-19, has taken the lives of nearly 1,400 people so far — most of them in the Hubei province of China, where the outbreak started.
So far, out of 13 total in the United States, four confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Northern California region, including Silicon Valley. Public health officials in the area have said there’s currently a low risk to public health; the cases, they say, have been contained to those who have recently traveled to Wuhan and their direct family members.
