Apple confirms Coronavirus case at its Cork campus in Ireland

The first case of coronavirus at Apple's Cork Campus in Ireland has been confirmed.

According to Adrian Weckler:

Apple confirms case of Coronavirus in its 6,000-worker Cork campus
- Employee involved now in isolation
- Apple "deep cleaning all offices"
- Some other workers asked to stay at home while further assessement done

— Adrian Weckler (@adrianweckler) March 10, 2020

As the tweet notes, the affected employee is now in isolation and Apple is planning to deep clean all of its offices. Other employees have also been asked to stay at home whilst further assessment is carried out.

In a statement Apple said:

"One of our employees in Cork has been confirmed to have Covid-19.

"We are closely coordinating with the local health authorities who feel the risk to others is low, and the individual remains in self-isolation.

As a precaution, we have asked some of our team members to stay at home while we work with the Health and Safety Executive to assess the situation. We are continuing to regularly deep clean all our offices and stores and will take all necessary precautions in accordance with guidance from health authorities."

The news would make this the 25th case of coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland, and all St Patrick's Day parades across the island have been canceled as a result of the outbreak.

Whilst Cork employees had reported concerns about the outbreak last week, one Apple employee at its Hollyhill campus was also diagnosed with the country's first case of rubella in 11 years.

From that report:

According to the report, staff described an air of "unease" due to the situation. It is reported that most staff who are feeling unwell have chosen to stay at home due to concerns about coronavirus, however, "there does remain an unease around the building but no further development of rubella cases".

As that report mentioned, many Cork employees had chosen to work from home out of fear concerning the coronavirus outbreak and the spread of rubella, meaning many of Apple's employees there may not have been exposed to this latest case.

Apple's Cork campus controls nearly all of Apple's operations in Europe, including product distribution and customer support, it is likely that any extended period of closure could have big knock-on effects across the rest of Apple's business in Europe.