Nationals employee tested positive, completed quarantine

A Nationals employee who was with the club during spring training in West Palm Beach tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home, has completed quarantine and is now symptom-free, general manager Mike Rizzo revealed today during his regular, weekly conference call with reporters.

The male employee, whose name was not revealed, tested positive "well after we shut down the facilities in West Palm Beach and D.C.," Rizzo said. "And fortunately he's home and resting and doing well. His quarantine has ended, and he's been fever-free and symptom-free since then."

Rizzo said no Nationals players have displayed any symptoms of the coronavirus, thus none have been tested, though he didn't say whether any other club employees have been tested.

"We feel really good about where we're at and how we handled the virus," he said. "And we feel we've got a good handle on all our players, staff and everybody else as far as moving forward and also isolating and staying and distancing from people. We feel we've done a good job of that. We've seen the results have been very positive."

The Nationals closed down their complex in West Palm Beach to all but 13 players, plus Rizzo, manager Davey Martinez and a few other staffers and medical personnel after Major League Baseball announced March 16 it informed clubs to adhere to the CDC's recommendation of no gatherings of more than 50 people. The complex was completely closed around roughly March 27 after a drive-through testing facility opened in one of the parking lots.

The employee who contracted COVID-19 had already returned home before that and didn't become symptomatic or test positive for the virus until after leaving West Palm Beach.

"The person has been taken care of, gone through all the protocols and procedures," Rizzo said. "He's been quarantined, he's through with quarantine and he's on the road to getting better."

The Nationals have been in contact with their employees throughout the process and have been given no indication anyone else is in danger.

"We've been checking in on a daily basis with every player, every staff member, according to MLB protocols," Rizzo said. "Our medical people have been very, very diligent in doing so. We alerted on our TeamWorks site about the employee and followed all the protocols that we had to follow to ensure the safety of everybody involved."