DMV worker at Eastridge Mall in Gastonia tests positive for COVID-19

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Just hours before shoppers were allowed to walk into Eastridge Mall after it reopened last Friday, the mall’s DMV location was quickly closed after a worker there tested positive for COVID-19.

Last Friday, Channel 9 was there as people packed the mall minutes after opening. On Wednesday, the outside entrance to that part of the mall is locked with signs warning the office is closed until May 18.

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The license plate shop issues vehicle registrations and license plates so there are hand-to-hand exchanges.

A viewer who was at the office last week said a worker who waited on him was not wearing a mask or gloves and only a few people inside used them.

Channel 9′s Gaston County Ken Lemon learned the office was shut down Friday morning when they were informed that a worker tested positive.

The mall opened for business for the first time in weeks later that evening, but the office was already closed. Wednesday morning, we found several people going to the doors trying to get inside.

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“I hope I wasn’t exposed,” said driver, Vincent Mates.

Last week, Mates went to the license plate office to get a tag for a car. Now, he worries he may have been exposed to the virus.

“I was there Thursday and it was closed on Friday because of coronavirus,” he said.

Mates is one of the drivers who found the gates unexpectedly closed Friday morning.

“I had no idea until I met you this morning that there was even a positive case at the mall,” another driver, Frank Johnson, said. “I’m very surprised that a government agency like the DMV would have a COVID case inside the facility.”

Mates said the sign on door last week said the office was closed for cleaning and disinfecting. Channel 9 didn’t see that on Wednesdya, but did see a sign that said, “closed until Monday May 18th for health and safety concerns.”

There was no mention of COVID-19.

The sign on the door recommends drivers complete their work online, which helps when you need a new registration, but there are some cases where you have to be in the office in-person.

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The office is a public place, but they are privately operated and the state forced them to shut down.

There is a glass partition between staff and customers, but they have to pass money, paperwork and license plates back and forth. Mates and others we spoke with said staff didn’t wear masks or gloves. Channel 9 was told the other workers will be tested.

Channel 9 has reached out to the health department about contact tracing to see if anyone came in contact with that employee and if they are being tested. The health department says they are looking into it.

They are trying to find people who may have been exposed, but they said patient confidentiality limits them on what they can share.

Health officials said the partitions, even without gloves or a mask, meet CDC recommendations.

They advised that people wear a mask at all times, even nobody is around.

Eastridge Mall was one of several local malls that opened this weekend once Phase One of the state’s reopening plan went into effect. Southpark Mall, Concord Mills and Charlotte Premium Outlets also reopened.

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