Amazon says worker in Seattle has contracted coronavirus

Amazon informed its workforce Tuesday that one of its employee in Seattle tested positive for the coronavirus.

In an email to employees that was reviewed by The Seattle Times, Amazon said the worker was in the company’s downtown Seattle office and went home sick on Feb. 25. The employee has yet to return to work.

The company said it received confirmation Tuesday that the employee tested positive for the coronavirus.

Amazon confirmed the situation to The Hill, saying in a statement it is “supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine.”

The message to the Amazon employees said the tech giant had notified employees who had worked in close contact with the affected employee and that the risk of transmission to employees who had not been in close contact “is assessed to be low.”

The company quantified “close contact” as having worked closer than 6 feet to the sick employee for a prolonged period of time.

“Your health is our top priority and we are continuing with enhanced deep cleaning and sanitization in the office,” the message said.

Two Amazon employees had previously been diagnosed with the coronavirus in Italy. 

Washington state has seen the largest surge of cases of the virus, with the total number of confirmed cases in the state standing at 27. Nine people have died thus far in the state.