LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Louisville-based Humana Inc. told employees Thursday that one of its workers based at the Waterside building in downtown Louisville had preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.
The worker has been out of the office since March 2, the health insurance company said, but Humana is taking precautions to prevent the spread of the disease, including ordering Louisville-based employees to work from home if possible.
If confirmed, it would be the second case of the novel coronavirus in Jefferson County and the ninth in Kentucky. The virus, for which there is no treatment or vaccine, originated in Wuhan, China late last year.
Gov. Andy Beshear said shortly after noon on Thursday that the Humana case has not been verified by the state's testing lab.
Workers in proximity to the infected person on 12th floor of the Humana Waterside building have been given paid leave to stay home, the company said.
"Our standard guidance to employees is to stay home when sick, and this employee followed that guidance and sought appropriate medical care," Humana spokeswoman Kate Marx said in an email to WDRB.
Humana learned of the positive test "last night," according to the Thursday morning company-wide email from Humana chief medical officer Dr. William Shrank and William Fleming, segment president for clinical and pharmacy solutions.
All of Humana's roughly 12,000 Louisville-based employees who are "able" to work from home "should begin" to do so, according to the company-wide email.
For those who cannot work from home, Humana is "creating safe spaces with appropriate social distancing as recommended by the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)," according to the email.
"In recent weeks, we’ve responded quickly to this evolving situation, including cleaning and disinfecting our work spaces, supporting good hygiene practices, raising employee awareness, restricting travel, and allowing employees to work from home—all in an effort to keep our people healthy," Marx said. “Humana will continue to coordinate closely with public health authorities and take appropriate steps to protect our employees and members.”
Officially declared a "pandemic," the virus has infected more than 118,000 in 114 countries, and 4,291 people worldwide have died from it, according to World Health Organization statistics as of Wednesday.
This story will be updated.
