San Diego County AT&T store worker's initial coronavirus test comes back positive

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Six San Diego County AT&T stores were closed and deep-cleaned on Wednesday after an employee’s initial test for the coronavirus came back positive.

An AT&T official told 10News that a female employee from the Chula Vista Center location recently spent time in Italy -- considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an area “high risk” for the virus -- and returned to work earlier this week.

According to the official, the worker felt ill on March 2 and was sent home. The worker was tested for the coronavirus and it came back with a “presumptive” positive result, but the CDC is looking over the result to fully confirm the diagnosis.

The official told 10News that “out of an abundance of caution, yesterday [March 4] we closed and deep cleaned several stores in the area that his employee or colleagues in close contact to this employee may have visited recently.”

Stores that underwent the deep cleaning were reopened on Thursday. The stores closed on Wednesday for cleaning are in Chula Vista, National City, Escondido, San Marcos, Oceanside, and Vista.

The AT&T official noted that some workers that may have had close contact with the employee “are in self-quarantine and avoiding any contact with others until further notice.”

10News learned the diagnosed employee does not live in San Diego County and is under a self-quarantine; she also did not have direct contact with customers. 10News was told that Orange County health officials are handling this case.

The AT&T official, citing local authorities, said that possible exposure to store visitors “represents an extremely low risk.”

The City of Chula Vista issued a statement on the possible case:

"On March 4, 2020, the City of Chula Vista was informed by County of San Diego health officials that an individual recently tested presumptive positive for COVID-19 and had close, yet minimal, contact with persons within the city of Chula Vista. The individual is a resident of another CA county and had recently traveled to a high-risk region as defined by the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC). County health officials have made contact with those persons believed to have been in close contact with the individual. Although County health officials indicate the risk to other persons is low, County officials advised all involved persons to follow CDC guidance to self-quarantine. These persons will continue to be monitored for 14-days. The City of Chula Vista is providing this information out of an abundance of caution. 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."