March 13 (Reuters) - The Associated Press is temporarily closing its office from Friday in Washington, D.C. after one of its staff journalists, who had direct contact with a possible coronavirus patient, showed some symptoms of illness, the AP reported https://apnews.com/19440c62974c20593bde6a34f861c55a.

The staffer was one of hundreds of journalists at a journalism convention last week in New Orleans where an attendee later tested positive for the coronavirus, the news agency said in a news report.

A colleague of the journalist in the D.C. office also showed some symptoms and the AP told staffers there to work from home until at least Tuesday, according to the report. (Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis)