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More multinational companies have announced worldwide business travel bans for their employees while encouraging home-based work over fears of contracting the coronavirus, which seems to accelerate its pace of global spreading.

The restrictions are not likely to have a major impact on operations during a short period since some work can be conducted online, yet potential threats exist if the restrictions have to continue in the long term, analysts said.

In a statement sent to the Global Times on Wednesday, Ford China said its top leadership has announced a new global travel restriction that will remain in place until March 27 in a bid to protect its employees and to avert COVID-19 infection. For critical trips, there will be a strict review procedure, a PR representative told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Ford's Chinese factories gradually resumed normal business operations starting from February 10.

Two Ford-related staff in China hospitalized with the coronavirus infection recovered and were discharged from hospitals one week and two weeks ago, respectively.

"The employee was quarantined immediately and received expert medical care. The employee has since recovered and has been released to home quarantine. Another confirmed case was from an affiliate company and was not a Ford employee. That individual has also fully recovered," the company said.

German automaker Volkswagen has also halted all in-country and international business travel as a precaution.

"The delayed resumption of supply chains across China and the business travel ban on the group's staff pose dual challenges for us, but we are actively preparing for resumption and our business will gradually get back on track," said a note that Volkswagen sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

US-based Apple has restricted employee travel to China, Italy and South Korea, according to Bloomberg.

Nestlé, the Switzerland-based food and drink giant, has asked employees worldwide not to travel internationally for business purposes up to March 15 while domestic travel should be replaced by alternative methods of communication where possible, the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times Wednesday.

"We are working with our supply chain, distribution and retail partners to implement appropriate infection control measures and ensure continued production and delivery of products," it said. 

Multinationals have shown their responsibility by rolling out travel restrictions in time of a health crisis, which should be encouraged amid the quick spread of the virus worldwide, Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based independent analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Confirmed cases of coronavirus outside China had exceeded 12,000 as of Wednesday of which 80 percent were from South Korea, Iran and Italy. Total confirmed cases have exceeded 120 in the US, official data showed. 

"Working from home amid the epidemic can help reduce some losses but it won't be a long-term policy," said Liu, adding that if the epidemic doesn't subside in the next three months, businesses that are heavily reliant on on-site transactions and deliveries will take a sharp hit.

A Chinese employee of another German automaker BMW told the Global Times on Wednesday that she is working from home as the company has issued a notice to ban non-essential business trips.

"My work is travel-oriented in the country. The outbreak of the coronavirus has made that impossible. Since the movement of business online, conferences and training took the majority, but I think somewhere we still need face-to-face business interactions," she said.

BMW has put about 150 employees under quarantine in its global headquarters in Munich, Germany, after one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

As more companies issue business travel bans, the aviation and hotel sectors could sustain heavy blows, said Liu.

The International Air Transport Association has predicted that China's domestic flight market could see losses of $12.8 billion, affected by the virus, and the Asia-Pacific region could see a $27.8 billion revenue loss in 2020 for carriers.

Several major industry events have been scrapped recently due to the virus including the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco and the 2020 Geneva International Motor Show, after large companies said they would not attend.