Chronicle Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19
Staff member self-quarantined on first symptoms
By the News Staff, 9:16PM, Wed. Mar. 18, 2020
Today’s Austin case count for confirmed COVID-19 infection raised to 23 today, and sadly, it includes one of our own.
A staff member has tested positive for the new coronavirus. The staffer began feeling symptoms on Saturday and self-quarantined. They received confirmation late today. Chronicle Publisher Nick Barbaro emailed all staff to inform them. The email read, in part:
"An individual who has been in the Chronicle workplace within the past 14 days – we must assume pretty much everywhere in the office – tested positive this evening for the Covid-19 coronavirus.
"The best advice I've seen is that all employees should consider that they may have been exposed to the virus, and should see their doctor to determine what to do, including whether to self-quarantine, and whether testing may be available and/or advised."
He stated the office would be shut down for at least 14 days and that the recommended protocols for cleaning would also happen in coming days.
In a separate email, he added that the papers themselves come directly from the printer in Houston to a separate distribution facility, which the affected employee has never visited.
See the CDC's website for the latest information on coronavirus.
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