CINCINNATI -- The Reds announced on Wednesday that an Arizona-based employee tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and has self-quarantined. The club recommended that all staff that came into direct contact with the infected employee get tested and also self-quarantine.

Unrelated to the positive test, the Reds closed access for their players and coaches to both Great American Ball Park and the Spring Training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. Also unrelated to Wednesday’s development, the team closed its offices to all non-essential employees until at least April 13.

• Opening of regular season to be pushed back

“We’re holding up well,” Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams said Wednesday evening on the club’s Hot Stove show on the Reds Radio Network. “I think it’s so important at a time like this that we all talk about the things we’re doing to prevent the spread of this.

“I’m so proud of our organization and how proactive we’ve been -- both sides, the baseball and business side throughout this situation,” Williams added. “We’re being as careful as we can. Stressful times tend to focus the mind and get us to pay attention to what’s important. … We just don’t want that to flip over into panic where your judgment gets clouded.”

The front office has been communicating with its players and coaching staff daily to keep them apprised of developments.

The infected employee, who works in Goodyear year-round, is feeling better. He learned of his positive test on Tuesday.

“I had a good conversation with the employee this afternoon,” Williams said. “They were experiencing symptoms over the weekend and went and got checked. He tested negative for the flu and strep. His symptoms were very mild, but because of the nature of the job, and the exposure to a lot of players from international locations, we decided to go ahead and do a test.”

Most Reds players had already departed Goodyear after Spring Training was halted by the coronavirus pandemic last week. Many went to Cincinnati, while some went to their offseason homes and others remained in Arizona. The club’s first Japanese Major Leaguer, outfielder Shogo Akiyama, went to Los Angeles to train with Twins pitcher Kenta Maeda.

Major League Baseball is adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to halt of any gatherings consisting of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks in response to the coronavirus outbreak. That has put the start date of the regular season into limbo, as well as any discussion of what a potential resumption of Spring Training might look like.

In the meantime, the Reds directed their players to keep up with their workouts and training.

“Our coaching staff and medical staff have been hard at work developing for each and every Red an individualized plan,” Williams said. “We’ve got the healthy players in one bucket and the rehab players in another bucket. We need to give them tools to get ready. We’re individualizing those workloads and we are aggressively deploying an in-home workout kit that will be tailored for each player.”