MANILA - Staff at the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) headquarters in Manila, Philippines, are temporarily working from home from Thursday following advice that a visitor to the bank has tested positive for the COVID-19.

In a statement released on Thursday morning, the ADB said its Manila headquarters facility will be closed from March 12 to undertake cleaning and disinfecting.

"Bank operations will continue. ADB Management will make a decision in coming days on when to reopen the Bank premises," the statement read.

"The safety of staff, visitors to the Bank, and their families is of utmost importance to us. We are providing support to staff who interacted with the visitor," said Deborah Stokes, ADB Vice President for Administration and Corporate Management.