Building disinfected and employees sent home until confirmed clear of symptoms

A floor of the One Sansome building was closed Tuesday after two employees were found to have had contact with coronavirus patients. (Kevin N. Hume/S.F. Examiner)

UPDATE: A Citigroup spokesperson on Wednesday said the incident had turned out to be something of a false alarm and the affected floor had reopened.

“While we took precautionary measures, after consulting with the San Mateo Department of Health, it has been determined that these two employees didn’t have direct contact with anyone of concern and normal operations have resumed,” spokeswoman Jennifer Lowney said.

Original story is below.

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The 23rd floor of the One Sansome building was closed Tuesday because two employees had contact with a Northern California coronavirus patient, according to a letter from building management.

The employees “have no reported signs or symptoms of Coronavirus but are reported as ‘Contacts’ of someone who is diagnosed with Coronavirus in Northern California,” according to the letter sent to tenants and staff Tuesday.

(San Francisco officials said Monday that The City has begun testing locally for the novel coronavirus)

Citibank Private Bank Branch is located on the 23rd floor of the building, which is also known as Citigroup Center.

General Manager Jim Albrecht, of the property management firm Barker Pacific Group, said in the letter that he didn’t “know the exact definition of ‘contact’ relative to this situation.”

Assistant Property Manager Scott Spaulding said, “I don’t have any information,” when called for comment on the letter.

The two employees were sent home and won’t return to work until they are cleared. The 23rd floor, the groundfloor lobby, common areas and mid-rise bank elevators were disinfected overnight, according to the letter.

Albrecht said in the letter that building management is asking for daily updates from the 23rd floor tenant regarding the health of those two employees.

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