Coronavirus: AT&T Store Employee In Chula Vista Tests Positive

CHULA VISTA, CA — A Chula Vista AT&T store employee who lives in Orange County has tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The city of Chula Vista announced Thursday that the person recently tested presumptive positive for the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, and had "close, yet minimal contact" with people within the city.

San Diego County health officials informed the city Wednesday about the case. The person had recently traveled to a high-risk region as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, according to the city.

People who came into contact with the patient will be monitored for 14 days.

"The city of Chula Vista is providing this information out of an abundance of caution," city officials said in a statement. "The city of Chula Vista believes the current risk to our community is low and will continue to coordinate with the county of San Diego to monitor the on-going situation."

The positive test for the patient, a female AT&T employee who had recently traveled to Italy, prompted the closure of several of its retail stores in the area.

"A retail store employee in San Diego has received a 'presumptive' positive test for COVID-19," company spokesman Fletcher Cook said in a statement. "The positive test has not yet been confirmed by the CDC. Out of an abundance of caution, yesterday we closed and deep-cleaned several stores in the area that this employee or colleagues in close contact to this employee may have visited recently. Those stores will reopen today."

The affected stores were in Chula Vista, Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside, National City and Vista, he said.

County officials advised all involved people to follow the CDC guidance for self-quarantine.

"If you're sick, stay home," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, at a midday news briefing. She added that Eric McDonald, the county's medical director of the epidemiology and immunization branch who was scheduled to speak at the news conference, had stayed home after feeling ill.

The first U.S. death from the disease was reported Saturday in the Pacific Northwest. Public health officials said the victim was a man in his 50s and a resident of King County, Washington, who had underlying health issues. As of Wednesday night, 11 people have died in the United States from the illness, including a person near Sacramento, the first U.S. death outside Washington.

"The appearance of this novel coronavirus in our community is very likely and regional efforts to prepare and respond are on the rise," according to a county statement.

In a report from San Diego County health officials updated Friday, a total of 390 people were being monitored for the disease, but 305 of them have completed their monitoring. The remaining 85 are monitoring their health under the supervision of public health officials, Wooten said. She said remote monitoring is being done on several San Diego residents who are on the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was carrying the first person to die of the illness in California and is now being held offshore while passengers and crew are tested.

The county previously had two confirmed cases involving people who were under federal quarantine at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar following repatriation flights that arrived from Wuhan, China, on Feb. 5 and Feb. 7. Both of those patients have since been treated and released.
Test results in San Diego County are still pending for five people, including some detainees of Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Thirteen patients tested negative in the county, according to the report, for a total of 18 people tested.

The county Board of Supervisors last week unanimously reaffirmed and extended a local health emergency declaration in response to concerns about the outbreak. But county officials stressed that the risk of contracting the virus locally remains low.

On Thursday morning, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, introduced Assembly Bill 3123, which would protect workers from retaliation if they take leave during public health emergencies.

President Donald Trump gave a televised update on the outbreak Saturday, when he announced new travel restrictions involving Iran and warnings about travel to parts of Italy and South Korea, where high virus activity has been reported.

More than 95,000 cases of the illness and 3,250 deaths have been reported, with the vast majority of those in China.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The COVID-19 strain that emerged in China in late 2019 is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There currently is no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

By City News Service; Patch editor Kristina Houck contributed to this report.