A University of Colorado Boulder employee has tested presumptive positive for the novel coronavirus, campus leaders announced today, the first confirmed case with direct impact on the Boulder County community.

The employee was in the Center for Community from 8 a.m. to noon Monday in “limited areas,” according to a university statement.

“We ask that people not assume the employee worked at the C4C,” said spokeswoman Deborah Mendez Wilson. Wilson declined to say where on campus the employee worked, citing privacy concerns.

The Center for Community houses the largest dining center on campus and many university offices, including career services, student affairs and counseling and psychiatric services.

“We are working with Boulder County Public Health department, which is connecting with individuals who have been in contact with this employee and are asking them to stay home for 14 days and to monitor their symptoms per (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines,” CU Boulder said in a statement.

CU Boulder leaders learned about the presumptive positive test result on Thursday, Wilson said. A campus wide alert was sent out at 5 p.m.

The employee was not a Boulder County resident, said Boulder County Public Health spokeswoman Chana Goussetis. The department is working to confirm how many people the employee came into contact with.

The department’s investigation includes finding all of the people the employee may have come into contact with and interviewing them, Goussetis said.

“If the team believes any of those people may need to be isolated, quarantined or tested, they will do that,” she said.

CU Boulder is following public health guidelines for cleaning and sanitation to prevent further spread of the virus, according to the university statement.

“We are continuously monitoring this evolving situation and will take additional actions to protect the health and safety of our campus community as necessary,” the statement said.

Chancellor Phil DiStefano announced this week that all CU Boulder classes will be online-only starting Monday as part of a wide-ranging effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There will be no in-person classes for the rest of the semester, and university employees will work remotely if possible. DiStefano announced the campus will remain open, including residence halls, dining halls and student centers.

“Based on current information available, we do not believe a campus closure is warranted,” CU Boulder said in Thursday’s announcement confirming the employee’s illness.

CU Boulder is taking other precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including cancelling university events of more than 150 people, suspending study abroad to high-risk countries and cancelling all university-funded travel.

CU Boulder was among many Colorado universities and colleges to announce this week the switch to online-only education in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, including Front Range Community College, Naropa University, Colorado State University, University of Colorado Denver and Metropolitan State University.

The Colorado Department of Public Health confirmed 15 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the statewide total to 49. None of the cases have been connected to people who live in Boulder County.

The department would not confirm whether the CU Boulder case was among those it has already confirmed.

“Although we appreciate the distinction, in saying whether this case is in the current case count, we would be tacitly confirming its existence, which we cannot do because we are protecting patient privacy,” the department said in an email. “Your local public health agency may make those details available in order to protect the public health.”