Someone at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California was exposed to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that broke out in 2019, local media reported last week.
A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) employee exposed to someone with the disease is now self-monitoring at home, along with more than a dozen other people, both Patch.com and the Pleasanton Weekly reported. The outlets quoted a LLNL spokesperson confirming the information.
A spokesperson for the lab on the West coast did not immediately return a request for comment Monday morning seeking further details about the situation at LLNL, or whether the lab intends to take additional measures to forestall further spread of the virus.
Patch reported that the exposed employee later reported symptoms of COVID-19, which is not influenza, but has similar symptoms, including coughing, shortness of breath, and fever.
COVID-19 broke out in China last year and has since spread throughout Asia, and to parts of the Middle East, Europe and the U.S.
According to the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, which has aggregated data from multiple national and international health organizations, there are just over 110,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally. The vast majority of these are in Asia, primarily mainland China, with Europe and Iran also showing advanced outbreaks.
The U.S. has more than 550 confirmed cases, according to the Hopkins tracker. Confirmed cases only reflect people who have been tested for COVID-19. More than 20 people had died due to the disease at deadline Monday, the majority of whom were elderly people in Washington State, according to the Hopkins tracker and the King County government in Washington state.
So far, nearly 4,000 people have died globally from COVID-19, while an estimated 62,000 or so have become infected with but recovered from the disease, according to the Hopkins tracker. The elderly and those with chronic illnesses including heart disease, diabetes and lung diseases are at higher risk “of getting very sick” from the disease, according to the Center for Disease Control.
