San Francisco, March 6 (IANS): At a time when the world is reeling under the threat of coronavirus, tech giant Facebook has recommended all its Bay Area employees to work from home.

The social media-giant said it is "strongly recommending" all its workers in the Bay Area to work from home Friday due to the new coronavirus, formally named COVID-19. The company has several offices and thousands of employees across the region, according to a report in CNBC.

However, some of the platform security teams will be asked to remain onsite, reports added.

Earlier this week, Microsoft allowed employees in Seattle and San Francisco to work from home till March 25 as the novel coronavirus outbreak continues to spread in the US.

The tech giant has also recommended that those who are feeling sick, have a compromised immune system, or have had contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 should work from home.

The company employs nearly 54,000 people in the Seattle region.

The latest precautions come after San Francisco announced its first two coronavirus cases on Thursday.

The company previously said it was closing its Seattle, Washington office until Monday after one its contractors was confirmed to be infected with the virus.