Two UCSC Genomics Institute staff members may have been exposed to Coronavirus
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Two staff members with UCSC's Genomics Institute may have been exposed to the Coronavirus through a contract worker while in Redwood City.
UC-Santa Cruz sent out a notice that each person was at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative offices in Redwood City on February 27th.
The contract worker who was there that day tested positive for coronavirus.
Genomics Institute employees, despite not being close enough to the infected contract worker for direct transmission of the virus to occur, are self-quarantining and working remotely.
They are also pursuing options for testing.
Employees at the Genomics Institute were advised to work from home this week.
UCSC says they will continue to monitor and inform the community of any additional information.
ADDITIONAL CORONAVIRUS TEST AT UCSC
In a separate incident, a UCSC graduate was tested after experiencing respiratory symptoms on March 4th for coronavirus.
“Thank God there’s no student here that tested positive,” UCSC student Mark Rebuyon said.
The test came back negative the following day, however steps were taken to make sure the student's two roommates were quarantined after learning about the testing.
After the test came back negative, those students were returned to their on-campus residence.
UC Santa Cruz is not planning to cancel classes or suspend or modify operations at this time.
“People are like trying to not come in if they’re sick. I don’t know if it's the end of the quarter, but our class sizes have been a lot smaller lately,” UCSC student Jesus Huerta said.
UCSC says they will continue to work closely with Santa Cruz County and the California Department of Public Health.
