Mark Zuckerberg, in a conference call on Wednesday on how Facebook is responding to the coronavirus pandemic, said that the volume of voice calls on WhatsApp and Messenger in Italy and other countries hit hard by the coronavirus is now double normal levels. This is likely due to the fact that people are relying more on virtual communication and socializing as they are quarantined and leaving their homes little or nothing. This has boosted the amount of data flowing through Facebook’s servers . As a result, Facebook has had to improve its infrastructure and server capacity, noting that it has already doubled the capacity of WhatsApp ’s server .
Zuckerberg said Facebook must continue to take measures in case platform , considering that the Coronavirus is spreading rapidly around the world, also affecting countries whose citizens rely on the WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram for their communication.
According to Zuckerberg, most countries haven't seen a massive outbreak of the coronavirus. But if that happens, then the teams behind the apps will need to make sure they have infrastructure that can respond to the coronavirus pandemic and won't "collapse."
Zuckerberg specifically mentioned the volume of calls made in Italy via the WhatsApp app, as the country remains on lockdown to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus. He explained that a high volume of calls is usually seen on New Year's Eve.
Finally, he stressed that the coronavirus pandemic poses a new challenge for Facebook employees, whose job is to maintain the infrastructure. He also added that Facebook will implement a telework starting Thursday, however, among the employees who will remain in the offices, as they have important roles in the company, are those responsible for servers and security.
