This is not a topic any of us who adore animals, especially cats, wants to discuss, read about or know about. Yet the question and the concern exists. Evidently cats can contract the virus. Antibodies have been found in several cats in China after the huge outbreak. And there have been a few reports of cats, including some big cats, testing positive for the virus.
Because they don’t know enough about how the virus
affects our pets, they’re recommending that we do not interact with them if we’re sick. It seems to me that at the very least, you could pass it to other family 
members by petting the cat.
So can cats catch the virus outside of the house? Certainly if your cat roams and digs around in trash containing contaminated food or leavings of any kind, or if someone with the virus interacts with them, it seems they could catch it or at least carry it back home. Another reason to keep your cats inside and close, right?
Here’s a site with more information about cats and covid.
https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200911/covid-19-may-strike-more-cats-than-believed
