Lexington, Ky., Emergency Management Staff Facing Quarantine

 (TNS) - More than half of a city department that oversees Lexington’s coronavirus response is in quarantine after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, Lexington city officials confirmed.

 
Six employees of Lexington’s emergency management division are quarantined after being exposed to the employee, who recently traveled out of state, said city spokeswoman Susan Straub. Of the department’s 10 employees, seven, including the infected worker, are in isolation or quarantine.
 
Straub said emergency management staff, who help oversee mobile coronavirus testing sites, are able to work from home and the city’s coronavirus response will not be affected by the quarantine.
 
“These employees are able to work from home and provide support to the mobile testing sites,” Straub said. “The city also has additional plans to address any future needs to ensure this valuable service to the community continues as planned.”
 
The employee did not travel to a state deemed a “hot spot” that would require quarantine after the employee returned.
 
“We recommend quarantine for employees who travel to states identified by the governor’s offices and/or the CDC as has having a high positivity rate,” Straub said. “Whenever possible, we encourage people to work from home.”
 
Lexington is not the only Central Kentucky city that has had most of or an entire department felled by a coronavirus outbreak.
 
The city of Richmond will be without a public works department for two weeks after one employee in that department tested positive for COVID-19. Local health officials recommended 21 other public works employees quarantine for 14 days after coming in close contact with that employee, Richmond city officials confirmed.
 
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, the Lexington Fire Department has had 28 employees who have tested positive with four currently in isolation. The police department has had 14 employees who have tested positive. No employees are currently in isolation.
 
The Fayette County Detention Center, which had a coronavirus outbreak in August and September, has had 15 employees who have tested positive. Three of those employees are currently in isolation or have active cases, city officials confirmed.
 
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