One of Amazon's Seattle Employees Has Coronavirus

The nine Americans who've died from COVID-19 have been in Washington state, and the spotlight is intensifying on the state with the news that an Amazon worker has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The Wall Street Journal reports the employee is one of 55,000 people who work for the company in Seattle. In a statement to the Verge, Amazon confirmed the employee, who went home on Feb. 25 after not feeling well, is in quarantine. CNBC reports the employee worked out of the company's Brazil building, which is on Ninth Avenue in Seattle; the HQ office is on Seventh Avenue.

Colleagues who may have had contact with the person have been alerted by the company, which confirms the infected employee hasn't reentered Amazon's offices since Feb. 25. Two other Amazon employees, both based in Italy, have tested positive for the virus. All nonessential travel has been canceled for the company's almost 800,000 global workers. The latest figures from Johns Hopkins University show there are 127 novel coronavirus cases in the US. (Some 54,000 inmates got temporarily released because of the outbreak.)