Thomson Reuters halts employee travel to China and South Korea over coronavirus outbreak

Media giant Thomson Reuters has canceled non-essential business travel for its employees to mainland China, Hong Kong and South Korea over mounting fears of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC. 

“Thomson Reuters has halted all non-essential travel to China, Hong Kong and South Korea. All other travel remains under constant review,” the spokesperson said. 

The parent of Reuters News joins a growing list of major corporations that are halting employee travel due to virus concerns, including Amazon, Facebook and News Corp. The company is headquartered in Ontario, Canada, and has roughly 25,800 employees worldwide. 

Companies are canceling international travel and conferences and hotels are reporting a significant rise in group cancellations. Alaska Airlines and JetBlue have also scrapped flight cancellation fees as more people grow reluctant to travel. 

There are more than 87,000 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide and at least 2,990 confirmed deaths, most of which are in China, where the virus originated.

The virus last week wiped out  $1.7 trillion in U.S. stock market value in just two days as investors fled riskier assets amid growing fears of a global growth slowdown.