An Anchor Hocking employee posted Tuesday on Facebook that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. His is one of four new cases in Beaver County.

BEAVER FALLS — Four more cases of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, were detected Monday in Beaver County, bringing the total to seven.

One case was detected during the first day of Heritage Valley’s drive-thru testing site at its medical neighborhood in Center Township, Heritage Valley spokeswoman Suzanne Sakson said.

Dr. Stacy Lane, founder of Central Wellness Outreach Center, said that five of the 50 tests administered at the center’s drive-by testing site in Aliquippa came back positive. Three of those cases were Beaver County residents, while two reside in Allegheny County.

The patients reside in the Aliquippa, Ambridge and Beaver Falls ZIP codes, according to the center.

"The virus is here," Lane said. "We do have secondary transmission in Beaver County — I think more here than in Allegheny County."

One of those patients who tested positive shared his story Tuesday morning on Facebook and is an employee at the Anchor Hocking glass plant in Monaca.

Steven Robinson of Beaver Falls posted publicly on Facebook that he was told he needed medical proof for calling off of work, which spurred him to get tested after his primary care doctors wouldn’t see him because he wasn’t exhibiting a fever.

The Times received a copy of the memo sent to Anchor Hocking employees about the situation. Anchor Hocking representatives could not be reached for comment, and representatives from the United Steelworkers, who represent employees at the plant, declined to immediately comment.

The plant employs about 300 people. Sources told The Times that Anchor Hocking has been making contingencies to figure out how to handle an infection before Robinson’s positive test and have since reached out to employees who work near him urging them to contact their healthcare providers.

Anchor Hocking is planning to close the site this weekend. In a separate memo sent to employees on Tuesday, The Oneida Group management said declining sales and concern for staff safety have prompted the company to close the plant from March 28 to April 9.

During the shutdown, the company will not issue any vacation pay in accordance with union contracts.

"We will keep the furnace hot during the shutdown and will be carrying essential employees to control the furnace operations as well as some maintenance personnel to verify that the plant stays in a condition to resume operations," the memo said. "We also plan on continuing our shipping operations to service our customers from the inventory in our warehouses."

In his posts, Robinson encouraged friends, family and coworkers to get tested.

"Knowing is half the battle," Robinson said in a public post. "I rather know someone has it than not know so we can stop this."

Getting tested is a challenge for many, Lane said. There is criteria from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention that doctors are required to follow before they can administer testing. She said Central Outreach doesn’t physically take a patient’s temperature, but asks if they have a fever.

Robinson said he had a headache since last Tuesday, slight chills and slight wheeze and, after losing "95% of smell" on Sunday, decided to call his doctor on Monday. When they told him that because he didn’t have a fever he couldn’t be tested, he decided to drive to Aliquippa for testing at Community Wellness Outreach.

Robinson said he "faked" a fever so he could get the test and was called Tuesday morning with positive results.

"I now have had COVID-19 the coronavirus and I can’t leave my place if I wanted to," he wrote. "I’m so scared."

Sakson confirmed that the health system is not treating any additional patients at Heritage Valley Beaver. The county’s first patient, an Aliquippa school employee, was being treated at the hospital.

Lane echoed what so many health professionals and government leaders have said in the past two weeks — stay home, especially if you’re sick.

"There’s probably a lot more cases circulating in the community," Lane said. "Act appropriately and accordingly. We’re still seeing more COVID negative tests. Not every time someone sneezes is it COVID."