Coronavirus cluster linked to 2 McDonald’s in Hawaii, health officials say

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A new cluster of a dozen coronavirus infections in Hawaii has been linked to two McDonald's locations on the state's Big Island, according to health officials.

The Hawaii Department of Health said Tuesday that an employee who contracted COVID-19 infected six other workers at McDonald's locations in Kailua-Kona on the island of Hawaii.

"Once confirmed, the establishment closed its operations at both locations and is currently performing enhanced cleaning," the health department said.

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All seven employees who tested positive at the McDonald’s locations on Makala Boulevard at Kona Commons and Walmart in Kailua-Kona are now in isolation and potentially exposed employees without symptoms are still self-quarantined.

A new cluster of a dozen coronavirus infections in Hawaii has been linked to two McDonald's locations in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. (Google Street View)

In addition to the McDonald's employees, five family members exposed to two of the restaurant employees also contracted the virus. Health officials said there are 12 cases connected to the Big Island cluster.

"The investigation is ongoing at this time and more cases may be identified related to this cluster," the health department said.

Health officials said that they don't believe this outbreak poses a risk to the general public.

"Fortunately, the restaurant, like many other food establishments, had previously implemented social distancing measures to protect customers and prevent exposure prior to an employee testing positive," the department said. "These measures included protective clear barriers between employees and customers during all transactions. These efforts may have helped to reduce the total magnitude of this cluster."

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McDonald’s franchise owner, Patrick Lim, said the company has closed the locations for "deep cleaning to conduct a comprehensive sanitization of the restaurant. He added the organization is continuing to make changes to "serve food safely and conveniently with the health and well-being of restaurant employees top of mind.

“The health and safety of our employees and customers is our Number One priority," he said. " Our thoughts are with our crew members who have been impacted by COVID-19 and we look forward to re-opening when it is safe to do so and with the assistance of the Hawaii Department of Health in accordance with CDC regulations"

Health officials said that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has thus far found no evidence of food or food packaging being associated with the transmission of COVID-19.

Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim told KHON2 that the county will ramp-up prevention methods like sanitization and he will continue to encourage residents to wear masks when they are out in public.

“We will not back down on this because it can blossom any time, and we want to go until we’re absolutely sure it is gone," he said Tuesday.

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As of Wednesday, there are 511 cases of COVID-19 in Hawaii with at least nine deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Fox News' Lee Ross contributed to this report.

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