Infection control prioritized as Manatee COVID-19 outbreak spreads to sixth employee
Officials are prioritizing infection control after an outbreak of COVID-19 at Manatee County’s Administration Building spread to a sixth person who tested positive for the virus.
County Administrator Scott Hopes said the government’s downtown Bradenton headquarters has confirmed another case of the novel coronavirus. Last week, county leaders were forced to temporarily shut down the building after five staffers in the Information Technology Department caught the virus and two of them died.
The sixth case in the building is not an IT employee, Hopes said, but the person does work on the same floor as that department. He said he learned about the employee’s positive test on Monday night.
According to Hopes, the employee works on the CARES Act rental assistance program. They first tested positive on June 15. While their current condition is unknown, Hopes added that he did not believe the staffer had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We’re in an active outbreak stage,” Hopes said. “Right now it’s really about infection control.”
As many as 700 county employees report to the nine-story administration building every day, according to a county spokesman. The building also houses a number of public services for county residents.
After shutting down the building early Friday afternoon, maintenance crews worked over the weekend to disinfect and sanitize the entire building. The building reopened Monday at 8 a.m. and county leaders encouraged staff to receive a vaccine or wear a protective mask.
Cases have also been reported at a separate county facility. Port Manatee confirmed Monday that three non-vaccinated security personnel also tested positive sometime last week. One of the employees has already returned to work and the two others are expected to return after receiving a negative test.
Hopes said Tuesday that the port’s three cases are thought to be an outbreak independent from the one at the administration building. County staff are also examining work orders and security logs to determine where the infected IT workers may have traveled in the past 30 days.
“We’re getting the work order report, but they were in a number of different buildings and floors of the administration building,” Hopes said.
In order to control the outbreak, Hopes has offered non-vaccinated IT staff the opportunity to work from home for the next two weeks. He said the same offer will apply to employees in different departments if additional cases are reported.
On Tuesday morning, the county hosted a testing and vaccination clinic at the administration building. Hopes said that about 20 employees took advantage of the opportunity to be tested for COVID-19 and three of them received a dose of a vaccine.
As of Friday’s weekly report, the Florida Department of Health said about 55% of Manatee County’s eligible residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
While masks, social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures are not required, any non-vaccinated employees and visitors are asked to wear an N-95 mask to protect themselves and others.
On Friday, Manatee County will host a drive-thru vaccination clinic for employees and their families at 10 a.m. at the Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the two-dose Moderna vaccine will be available.
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 2:08 PM.
