A Health Canada employee who works at Tunney's Pasture in Ottawa has tested positive for COVID-19 and is in self-isolation.

A Health Canada spokesperson said Wednesday certain colleagues have been contacted by public health officials and asked to stay home unless it's absolutely necessary to leave.

An area of an unspecified building in the large federal government complex has been cleaned. It includes common work spaces shared with Statistics Canada.

As of Wednesday noon Ottawa had 14 confirmed cases of the respiratory illness, which comes with cold- and flu-like symptoms. There's no treatment and no vaccine.

It's not known whether the Health Canada employee has been included in that number.

Federal government departments have been told to let staff work from home whenever possible.