BNY Mellon Pershing is asking employees on one floor of its Jersey City facility to work from home for the next 10 days. The request comes after one staff member tested positive for coronavirus. A company spokesman said: “The employee is under medical care, and we continue to monitor the situation closely.”
The company has closed the impact floor of its Pershing Square facility until March 23. During that time, the firm will deep clean the possibly infected area as well as “all high-touch surfaces in the building,” added the company’s spokeswoman.
Employees of many of the world’s banks have been infected with the current strain of the coronavirus, COVID-19. Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and RBC all previously announced infections of staff members.
As of Monday afternoon, March 16, at least 4,118 people in 49 states (no reported cases in West Virginia), plus Washington, D.C., and three U.S. territories, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a New York Times database, and at least 73 patients with the virus have died. New York has now passed Washington as the state with the most reported cases.
Many financial services companies have cancelled corporate conferences. Raymond James has postponed its Elevate conference (originally scheduled for April), and Edward Jones stated it would cancel large events and encouraged advisors to have virtual meetings with clients and suspend business travel through May. Pershing, meanwhile, is still set to proceed with its June 2020 Insite conference. Though that could change if there is no progress with the virus in the company weeks.
Seattle and Westchester County, New York are the two areas dealing with the largest amount of outbreaks. And cities across the United States have closed schools, bars, restaurants, and gyms to the public.
