The North Georgia Premium Outlets in Dawson County, along with hundreds of other malls and outlets nationwide owned by Simon Property Group, will close until the end of March due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). 

The closure will include all Simon Property Group mall locations in the U.S. starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and ending on March 29, the group announced in a press release on Wednesday. 

"The health and safety of our shoppers, retailers and employees is of paramount importance and we are taking this step to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities," David Simon,  Simon's chairman, CEO and president said in the release.

Simon also owns the following malls in Georgia: Mall of Georgia, Sugarloaf Mills, Town Center at Cobb, Phipps Plaza, Lenox Square, Calhoun Outler Marketplace. 

This announcement comes just days after the North Georgia Premium Outlets released that a part-time employee tested positive for COVID-19.

According to a previous statement made by the outlet, the employee, who was employed at an undisclosed “tenant” of the outlet mall, recently tested positive for coronavirus but hadn't been on-site at the mall since March 4. 

Attempts by the Dawson County News to reach a spokesperson at North Georgia Premium Outlets for further comment on the situation were unsuccessful. On Monday a Georgia Department of Public Health Spokesperson said that they could neither comment on or verify the outlet's statement.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Dawson County, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s daily coronavirus update.