A worker at the Hollywood Burbank Airport tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said Monday.
The person works as a ramp agent at the Burbank airport and is employed by an airline support company. It’s unclear whether other employees were exposed and if they’ve been told to self-quarantine.
“Our team member is recovering at home and doing well,” GAT Airline Ground Support CEO Mike Hough told KTLA in a statement.
Hollywood Burbank Airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf said they found out about the test results Friday, quickly notified all airport tenants and took measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Burghdorf declined to comment further on the case.
The employee was last at the airport on March 15, and was responsible for handling luggage for airlines that the company provides ground-support for at the airport, the Los Angeles Times reported. The airlines include Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines and United airlines.
The airport had previously announced that it would be operating normally but also stepping up sanitation, especially of high-touch areas, and adding more hand sanitizer dispensers throughout the airport.
As of Sunday, there were 409 COVID-19 patients in Los Angeles County, including two known cases in Burbank.
Public health authorities have urged residents to stay home if they can and stay at least 6 feet away from others while outside.
Airports across the country have stepped up cleanings and are screening travelers arriving from countries with large numbers of COVID-19 cases.
At Los Angeles International Airport, at least two screeners who worked in the quarantine station and one LAX police officer have positive for the virus in the first week of March.
Around the same time, many LAX workers said they lacked training and proper protective gear to clean planes from countries with coronavirus hotspots.
