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One of Lincoln’s largest employers closed its O Street headquarters Tuesday after learning an employee had been diagnosed with COVID-19, though the case had not yet been confirmed by the city.

Employees at Ameritas, 5900 O St., were told of the closure by email.

“Anyone still working in the headquarters office building is directed to go home now and not return to work in any Ameritas office building until further notice,” the message said.

The insurance and financial products company typically employs about 820 people at its headquarters just west of Gateway Mall, but the majority have been working from home since March 16 — leaving fewer than 250 people in the building this week, the company said in a release.

The employee diagnosed with COVID-19 worked in the headquarters from March 11 to March 16, when they began displaying symptoms and went home.

The company was told of the diagnosis Tuesday.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department later Tuesday announced one new confirmed case — a male in his 50s who was diagnosed with the virus that afternoon, but said the Ameritas employee's diagnosis was not yet confirmed by a laboratory.