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The hotel at the center of most of Massachusetts’ confirmed coronavirus cases and an office in Boston's tallest building have both closed down due to concerns of the pathogen spreading.
Boston Marriott Long Wharf General Manager Ed Rocco sent a letter to guests of the waterfront hotel Thursday saying the hotel would close “in the best interest of health.” The hotel was host to a February Biogen conference tied to 77 of Massachusetts’ 95 presumed positive cases of the coronavirus. The hotel’s closing is temporary, but a timeline on its reopening wasn’t made public, WBUR reports.
“In consultation with the Boston Public Health Commission, we have made the mutual decision to close the hotel,” a Marriott International spokesperson said in a statement to Bisnow. “This decision comes as a result of new information and is made in the interest of public health. We appreciate and support the efforts of our public health authorities as they continue their important work to mitigate potential spread of the novel coronavirus. The safety and well-being of our guests is of paramount importance to us.”
Marriott is the biggest hotel chain in the world, and has had to temporarily close nearly 100 hotels in China as the coronavirus spread from its epicenter in Wuhan. As of Thursday morning, Marriott's stock price had lost more than a third of its value from its peak in 2019.
The Long Wharf closing comes one day after Bain Capital announced it was indefinitely closing its Boston headquarters at 200 Clarendon St. after an employee received a preliminary diagnosis of the coronavirus.
The employee had recently returned from an international trip, but had not been in the office for six days. While that case is not yet confirmed, a Bain Capital spokesperson told Bisnow it was closing down the office and telling employees to work from home as a precautionary measure.
Bain employs about 700 people in a 263K SF office at 200 Clarendon St., Boston’s tallest building.
Boston Properties, which owns 200 Clarendon St., did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the impact to the rest of the building.
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