145 employees have tested positive at Washington state Costco
In Yakima, Washington, 145 employees at a Costco have tested positive for COVID-19, the Yakima Health District said.
The outbreak was first announced on Christmas Eve with 68 staff members testing positive. Once testing was expanded to all employees, the number grew to 145.
“After reviewing the number of cases, and the timeline in which they were identified, there is evidence to show that this sharp increase in cases mimics the type of activity that happens after some sort of super- spreader event where multiple people are infected at the same time,” the health district said.
“For Costco specifically, site-wide testing was recommended given the large number of infected employees. When site-wide testing is recommended, the organization provides testing to all employees, regardless of whether they were identified as an initial close contact to a positive COVID-19 case or not,” the health district continued. “Costco will continue to provide on-going site-wide testing for their employees moving forward to monitor the outbreak.”
ABC News' Matt Fuhrman contributed to this report.