Intel reports first coronavirus case among Oregon employees
Intel notified employees Saturday that someone working in a lab at its Ronler Acres campus in Hillsboro has tested positive for the coronavirus.
Workers at several large Oregon employers have tested positive previously, highlighting a dilemma for businesses and for the state, which has allowed many companies to continue operating during the outbreak. Gov. Kate Brown indicated last week she is trying to balance the health care imperatives of a pandemic with Oregonians' economic needs.
Intel is Oregon's largest corporate employer, with 20,000 people working at its Washington County campuses. Many of those employees are working from home but some researchers in the company's labs and technicians in its factories have continued to report to work.
Earlier Monday, March 30, Intel CEO Bob Swan said its factories in Oregon and elsewhere "continue to operate on a relatively normal basis" during the outbreak.
The positive coronavirus test in Hillsboro is the first Intel has disclosed among its Oregon employees. Intel has acknowledged positive coronavirus tests among employees in California and Arizona, and last week the company said a construction contractor working on its Hillsboro factory expansion had tested positive.
Intel did not identify the employee diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease cause by the coronavirus. The company said the employee hadn't been to work since March 17 and that the person's workspace had been cleaned since then.
This Oregonian/OregonLive story is shared as part of a local media project to increase COVID-19 news coverage.
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