A well-known and prestigious venture capital firm called Andreessen Horowitz has put up an awkward sign on their offices that state "due to the coronavirus, no handshakes please" and it says a lot about the current situation of the Coronavirus from Wuhan and the recent Covid-19.
Handshakes are quite inevitable in the business world because of how this contact creates trust and is sometimes even the measurement of one's strength and reliability during the old days but because of the Coronavirus from Wuhan, Tech Industries like the famous Andreessen Horowitz have put precautionary measures to avoid physical contact.
Who is Andreessen Horowitz and what do they mean to tech industries?
For a questionable but long time so far, the Andreessen Horowitz has had their money in other tech companies like Facebook, Airbnb, Slack, and other tech companies but because of the widespread panic of the Coronavirus from Wuhan, they themselves have been limiting their contact even within their workplace.
What is the Covid-19 and how serious it has become
The Covid-19 has been growing aggressively and has already claimed the lives of about 1,357 people and most of them are from the Hubei province located in China where the origin of the outbreak is pinpointed.
The coronavirus on the other hand has already hit the United States with four confirmed cases from the Northern California region which includes Silicon Valley. Even public health officials have been telling civilians that they should be careful with how the Coronavirus from Wuhan could be contagious especially to direct family members.
The growing anxiety within the tech industry
Even though the tech industry does not require as much physical contact among one another, the widespread of panic and anxiety is still very obvious. There have been several tech companies like Apple who are limiting the amount of travel between branches and with clients. These are measures being strictly observed especially between the San Francisco Bay Area and China.
Why tech companies are scared of the Coronavirus from Wuhan and Covid-19
The danger with these viruses is that they show up after two weeks and they cannot be sensed before that time period and this is what companies are afraid of. Instead of looking at profits, companies are looking at the safety of their staff as the ultimate priority. Apple and Google are already in the process of pulling out their operations from China and if big tech companies like them can do it, other smaller companies may be able to do it as well.
Read Also: BlueDot: Fighting the Deadly Coronavirus Outbreaks with AI
So far this virus has not yet penetrated strongly in the United States which is a relief for its citizens but the amounts of travel and contact with other countries are to be limited as this virus is still on the loose. The Coronavirus from Wuhan was a shocking event and even more now that the Covid-19 has emerged. The only thing the tech industry can do now is avoid physical contact like how Andreessen Horowitz avoids handshakes.
