Avista Corp. announced Tuesday it plans to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including asking employees who can to work from home and encouraging customers to pay their utility bills online rather than in person.

The moves are designed to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, even though Spokane County does not yet have a confirmed case in the worldwide viral outbreak.

“We have no confirmed cases among our employees and are taking a preventative approach to minimize risk and honor our company’s unique role,” Avista CEO Dennis Vermillion said in a prepared statement. “We are prepared to manage through this evolving situation and appreciate the support of our employees and all those we serve.”

Among a list of steps, the company is trying to determine how many of its roughly 1,700 employees can work from home, spokeswoman Casey Fielder said. But she couldn’t yet say how many that entails. Employees would be asked to work from home through March 27.

“We are encouraging employees to work with their managers to determine if work from home is feasible,” Fielder said. “Those evaluations will be going on through the end of the week.”

The company also is postponing large Avista events through the end of March, encouraging employees to exercise social distancing and limiting “non-essential visitors” into Avista facilities.

Asked to define non-essential visitors, Fielder said that might include “family members of employees, vendors or groups of tours,” she wrote in an email in response to questions about the guidelines.

As for customers, Avista will remain open and its crews will continue to respond in the field “for the safe, reliable delivery of service,” the company’s statement reads.

While Avista’s lobbies and district offices will remain open, company officials are asking customers to use online accounts at myavista.com or the Avista Mobile App to check their balances and pay their bills.