Officials: 4 Cherry Hill Urgent Care Workers Under Self-Quarantine After Exposed To Confirmed Coronavirus Patient
CAMDEN COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) -- Camden County officials say four health care workers from Cooper Urgent Care on Marlton Pike in Cherry Hill are under self-quarantine after being exposed to the confirmed coronavirus case at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital. A man in his 60s is currently quarantined and being treated at the hospital for the COVID-19 virus.
He is in stable condition.
Cooper University Health Care says when the patient visited the urgent care on March 3, he did not have symptoms or a travel history consistent with the virus.
"The State of New Jersey Department of Health informed Cooper that a patient who tested presumptive positive for Coronavirus COVID-19 visited our Cherry Hill Urgent Care Center on Tuesday March 3, 2020. The patient did not have symptoms or a travel history consistent with Coronavirus COVID-19 and, therefore, a diagnosis of Coronavirus COVID-19 was not suspected," they said in a statement.
Several people in the waiting room were also notified but officials say they do not need to quarantine because they were not in close proximity to the man.
"I know that the urgent care centers were all notified, and that they undertook their own notification of not only their health care workers, and people that were in the waiting room when this case was in the waiting room," New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said.
Persichilli also spoke about the possibility of more and more people needing to self-quarantine, or staying away from people in general.
"Self-quarantine and social distancing are important public health measures. They help to contain COVID-19 illness that may occur in a community. Social distancing interventions can include things like work place accommodations, telecommunicating, school closures and/or dismissals," she said.
The urgent care is functioning under normal operation conditions.
Camden County Officials say two people are also currently being tested in the county and both are hospitalized at Cooper Hospital.
Officials added that a patient at Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital was tested over the weekend and that test came back negative.
There are currently 11 presumed positive coronavirus patients in New Jersey.
CBS3's Cleve Bryan contributed to this report.
