Amazon bosses have warned employees to self-isolate if they are feeling unwell after a worker at the company's headquarters tested positive for coronavirus.
The infected employee works at the delivery giant's Seattle base, just 12 miles from the Life Care Center of Kirkland which has been linked to six of the nine Covid-19 deaths in the US.
The company ships over 45 million items to over 100 countries and regions outside the US.
In an email, seen by the Seattle Times , employees were told their infected colleague works in the Brazil office building, at Ninth Avenue and Republican Street in South Lake Union.
“We’re supporting the affected employee who is in quarantine,” the company said in a statement.
The employee went home unwell over a week ago on February 25 and has not been back to work since, according to the internal email.
Fellow Amazon employees who have been working within six feet of the infected person for a prolonged period of time have been sent a separate email, said the message.
It emphasised the risk of transmission for those who don't work closely with the patient "is assessed to be low".
“Your health is our top priority and we are continuing with enhanced deep cleaning and sanitization in the office,” the email adds.
Amazon has more than 50,000 employees in Seattle, and more than 275,000 full-time workers across the US.
Last week, the company banned all non-essential work trips in an attempt to help contain the spread of the virus - becoming one of the first in the country to do so.
The number of confirmed cases in the US went above 100 yesterday, with those infected spread across at least 15 states, with Washington proving to be an early hotspot with 27.
Dr Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said: "What is happening now in the United States may be the beginning of what is happening abroad."
Twenty-seven firefighters and paramedics responded to calls at the infected nursing home in Seattle were tested for the disease yesterday using a pop-up system in a hospital car park.
The Life Care outbreak has been confirmed as the source of the first case in North Carolina, with a Wake County man having tested positive following a visit to the Washington care home.
There are now over 90,000 global cases with more than 3,100 people having died since the initial break out in Chinese city Wuhan in December.
In the UK, meanwhile, the number of cases jumped up to 51 from 39 on Tuesday, though 12 patients have recovered.
England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said up to 80 per cent of Brits could catch the virus in a worst case scenario and one per cent of those infected may die.
Meanwhile, supermarkets have drawn up "feed the nation" plans to cope with panic buying.
Sick leave rules could also be changed to allow people to sign themselves off work for two weeks in response to coronavirus fears, Health Secretary Matt Hancock indicated.
