A Costco store in Yakima County, Washington, recently had an outbreak of the Chinese communist virus (Wuhan pneumonia) that infected at least 145 employees. health officials say the rapid increase in cases at the store is similar to a “super-spreaders event” in which multiple people are infected at the same time.
The Yakima County Health District announced on Wednesday (Dec. 30) that 145 employees were infected with the virus after testing the entire store at Union Gap’s Costco on Tuesday (Dec. 29), and that the employees have either been quarantined or are in quarantine. The Costco store, which is still open, has a total of 383 employees throughout the store, district officials said.
The number of confirmed cases at the Costco location has spiked rapidly in recent days, rising from 68 to 145 between Dec. 24 and Dec. 28, said Melissa Sixberry, director of disease control for Yakima County. She said, “As (health personnel) continue to test throughout the Costco site, we expect test results to be released in the coming days that will show the number of cases continuing to rise.”
Under health district regulations, Costco locations are required to test all employees on site, regardless of whether the individual has had close contact with a reported infected person.
Lilian Bravo, director of the Yakima County Public Health Partnership, said the store’s operators are now implementing the health district’s recommendations to slow and stop the spread of the virus, so for the time being the operators are allowed to remain open. Health officials will continue to investigate the outbreak to see if Costco can “demonstrate that they are following safety precautions” or if there is “evidence of ongoing transmission.
Costco announced a strict mask policy in November to help slow the spread of the virus in its stores, requiring shoppers who are too unwell to wear a mask to wear one instead before entering the store.
Larry Jecha, interim Yakima County health officer, said the outbreak at the outlet is not an isolated incident and that “COVID-19 outbreak levels continue to rise throughout the county. We need the community’s help to also follow COVID-19 safety recommendations so that we can keep our workplaces safe, our schools safe and each other safe and not overwhelm our health system.”
As of Dec. 31, Yakima County has reported 19,281 confirmed cases and 314 deaths, according to the health district.
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