As the COVID-19 outbreak widens it is spreading fear and a level of uncertainty that the mobile and technology industry at large hasn’t faced in decades. The most valuable companies in the world — Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft — are assembling with U.S. CTO Michael Kratsios at the White House today to coordinate a response to the coronavirus, according to Reuters and other news outlets.

Now that the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the coronavirus is a global pandemic, disturbing developments are being reported at an increased pace. Organizers of the RSA Conference, the world’s largest annual gathering of information security professionals, reported that two individuals that attended the event less than two weeks ago have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on the trade show circuit, forcing dozens of events to cancel, postpone, or alter to an online affair. To the surprise of many, RSA Conference organizers held firm and decided against canceling the event even after plans were scrapped for the annual MWC Barcelona event, which was supposed to happen the same week. 

“No official governing body has communicated with RSA Conference that these individuals had symptoms at the RSA Conference event or attended during the COVID-19 incubation period,” organizers wrote in an update sent to all attendees.

However, because much is still unknown about the virus, the various ways it can be transmitted, and how long it takes for symptoms to surface, there are likely thousands of attendees out of a total of 43,000 people that were at the event that are now closely monitoring their health and weaving through bouts of paranoia.

One of the attendees, a 45-year-old engineer at Exabeam, came down with symptoms after returning home to Connecticut. He is now in the intensive care unit at a hospital in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator, according to a GoFundMe set up to help pay for medical bills and other necessities for his wife and twin infants. 

Many technology companies have encouraged or outright demanded that employees work from home for the foreseeable future, and yet the virus continues to spread at a disturbing rate. Daily and sometimes hourly reports warn that employees in warehouses and offices at some of these companies have tested positive for the disease.

The uncertain outlook is also forcing organizations to make contingency plans and consider the potential for a widening negative impact on their business and employees. Some of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, including AT&T and Telefónica, are now responding to questions about their near- and long-term plans. 

During an interview at an investor conference, AT&T CFO John Stephens said the foremost concern for the company is the safety of its employees and customers. Measures including new guidance on travel, making arrangements for employees to work from home, and deep cleaning of its retail stores are underway, he said. 

“We're spending a lot of time working with authorities. We’re used to doing that in the sense of being a network operator who deals with storms and acts of mother nature,” Stephens said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript. “We are dealing with them in that same type of way with the same processes.”

He added that the company hasn’t experienced any significant issues with its supply chain, but noted that AT&T will remain in contact with suppliers as it and others grapple with potential impacts amid an uncertain timeline for a return to normalcy. 

AT&T, along with Verizon and IBM, was among the major companies that dropped out of the RSA Conference in the days leading up to the event.

Telefónica CEO José María Álvarez-Pallete also noted that this isn’t the first crisis that the nearly century-old company has faced. The operator, like others, is now encouraging all of its employees in Spain to work from home. It has also canceled business trips, limited meetings, and adopted measures to promote hygiene and prevention.

“We believe that this is one of those moments when companies must strive more than ever to act with values and responsibility in the service of society,” he said.