Southern Nevada Health District worker contracts coronavirus

A Southern Nevada Health District employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, the first confirmed case at the agency. 

The worker, who had “some limited interaction with patients in a clinical setting,” began feeling symptoms of the virus over the weekend and stayed home to self-isolate, the health district said Wednesday. The agency didn't say in which department the employee worked. 

But investigators were contacting the worker's close contacts and any patients who might have been exposed.

“As essential public health workers, our staff members are on the front lines of this response,” the health district said in a news release. “The health of our staff and patients is of utmost importance to us.”

The agency employs 500 people, offers clinical services, and inspects environmental health, such as eating establishments. 

Its community health branch is at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic in Clark County, where 961 have tested positive for the novel virus, which had claimed 28 lives as of Wednesday evening.