The death toll from the coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak in mainland China reached at least 1 868 as of the end of Monday, with an additional 93 deaths from Hubei and five more in other parts of the country.

Wuhan, where the virus was first discovered, is a ghost town. Flights, trains and buses leaving Wuhan have been cancelled, highways out of the city blocked and all intra-city public transports suspended.

Here’s a real-time map of confirmed cases of the coronavirus around the world

Businesses have been severely affected by the outbreak, and not just in China – some South African industries have taken a knock as well.

Meanwhile, millions of people in China are confined to their homes, in what CNN describes as the “world’s biggest work-from-home experiment”.

[There is] pressure for companies to get back to work, with Chinese President Xi Jinping warning this week that the country needed to stabilize its economy.

In an attempt to limit social contact to slow the spread of the virus, known officially as Covid-19, millions of employees in China and other affected areas are currently working from home.

A friend of mine, teaching English in China, has been confined to his apartment since December. He conducts classes via Skype, and has his temperature taken if he tries to leave his flat.

Conducting classes online is not easy, FYI.

But in other sectors, this unexpected experiment has been so well received that employers are considering adopting it as a more permanent measure. For those who advocate more flexible working options, the past few weeks mark a possible step toward widespread — and long-awaited — reform.

You know we’re huge fans of remote working here at 2OV, so let’s see what this accidental experiment has shown us so far.

Remote working hasn’t panned out well in the education sector. Converting a class that relies on face time with students to relay information, doesn’t translate easily into an online environment. This is especially hard for educators who teach children with special needs.

“We use a lot of hands-on learning, so it’s been really challenging trying to make our online learning meaningful for the kids when we’re not in a classroom environment,” said Karen, a special education teacher in Hong Kong, who requested a pseudonym to avoid identifying the school.

Obviously, schooling that was already based online, has continued as usual.

For other sectors, especially those that are more digital-based, working from home has been surprisingly effective.

“It’s a test run that we didn’t really choose to implement, but we’re quite happy with it,” said Brice Lamarque, sales and accounts director at a web and branding agency in Hong Kong. Nearly all the agency’s employees have been working from home this month — and will continue for as long as the Hong Kong government advises, he said.

Before the lockdown, the company preferred the team to be in the office to facilitate collaboration. What they found after a few weeks of remote working, is that the team collaborated well even if they weren’t in the same room.

The past decade has seen expanding opportunities for remote working and increasing remote job listings — and this shift is largely due to new technologies and changing family demographics.

The movement has been embraced by many parents who say the ability to work from home makes it easier to juggle childcare and a career. Many families who can’t afford nannies or day care face a difficult decision when they have a baby, with one of the parents — often the woman — having to sacrifice career advancement to care for their child.

This model doesn’t just empower women, it also allows men to take up more childcare responsibilities.

In South Africa, remote working has been increasing in popularity, especially in the metropolitan areas.

Who knows? Maybe this is the future of the workplace, and bosses shouldn’t wait for the threat of a deadly virus to give it a trial run.

[source:cnn]