The Philippines' Permanent Mission to the UN said on Thursday that a female staffer had tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). She last visited the UN headquarters on Monday, spending around 30 minutes there. The Philippines' mission is now closed, and all the employees are quarantined.
Dujarric told reporters that the infected woman had not been in contact with UN officials but had met with two delegates from another mission. According to him, the UN medical service is now establishing contact with these people.
Dujarric specified that the Philippine diplomat had been inside only one location in the UN headquarters, where cleaning had been conducted three times since then.
The female diplomat has become the first known COVID-19 case at the UN's headquarters in New York. The United States' death toll from COVID-19 has reached 40, and the total number of confirmed cases in the state of New York nears 330. A state of emergency has been declared in the New York City, and public gatherings of 500 people or more have been banned in the state of New York.
In the meantime, the total number of those infected has surpassed 127,000, with almost 5,000 dying due to the disease.