Although some precautions were taken early on, the recent rise in the number of positive COVID-19 cases did not leave the essential workers of the city and county government untouched.
Reportedly, at least three Sunflower County employees have tested positive for the virus, one at the county courthouse and possibly two others at the sheriff's department.
County Administrator Gloria McIntosh and Sheriff James Haywood were part of a group of city and county officials who met on Friday to discuss strategies for handling the spread and disclosed what steps have been taken with regards to protecting the other workers from possible exposures.
McIntosh said, "We had an incident in the courthouse and that person went to get tested and all the other person's who have been in close proximity with them went and got tested too and they were allowed to stay home until they got their results back.”
She said the affected office was cleaned and disinfected and everyone in there was allowed to return to work after receiving negative test results. She said they have been following the prescribed medical advise.
Haywood said he has had his staff and the inmates tested at the county jail. “I have five people right now, due to not social distancing, being young, wanting to go to parties and everything. What I'm doing is encouraging all my employees during this time to stay away from people.” Haywood added that he knows it is hard, but he cautions people to recognize how serious this is.
Additionally, he is asking that city police departments be selective when bringing violators to the county jail. He emphasized that minor infractions such as contempt of court or other misdemeanors may not need to be brought there.
Haywood said he is in constant communication with judicial officials to see who can be let out of jail and who can possibly receive fine reductions. "In the last few weeks we (the county) have gone up and what you're looking at is only the tip of the iceberg. We have cases out there that haven't been diagnosed,” he said.
In addition to those who have tested positive, another issue is how to handle those who live with or have been in close contact with persons who have tested positive. McIntosh said she is also implementing practices for those employees who live with people who have tested positive. “I'm allowing my staff to stay in for at least seven days, depending on how long the contact was, until we feel like they can come back without contaminating the office.”
During Friday's session, someone asked if the county could provide masks to the municipalities for the citizens and Sunflower County Board of Supervisors Attorney Johnny McWilliams said that it is legal to purchase masks to be distributed to the people since an emergency has been declared; however, the problem would be in finding enough.
Haywood suggested that they not just rely solely on the county for support, but also reach out on the state level. "We're trying to survive right now too," Haywood said.
Moorhead mayor, George Holland said his city too has experienced a situation where an employee got sick; however, he did not specify that it was COVID-19, and the person was tested along with other citizens who came out to a free testing site last week. “We had a big test in Moorhead and so many people showed up,” Holland said.
He stressed that they are requiring that employee to be off until he receives his test results and they are paying him for the time that he is required to stay away from the job.
On Tuesday, McIntosh said jail and courthouse personnel were tested on Friday, including her, and they are awaiting their results. “I haven't gotten my results back yet, but I am looking for my phone call today,” she said. The courthouse already has other safety measures in place. McIntosh said, “You have to get your temperature checked when you walk in and you have to have a mask.”
Also, after some city leaders questioned the lack of communcation and information regarding who has actually tested positive, it was revealed that the sheriff's department receives a list of addresses where persons have tested positive and if an emergency call comes in from that particular address, then the dispatchers issue a special code to alert first responders that there are COVID-19 persons in that household.
It was explained that due to the HIPAA laws, that information was confidential and there are extreme measures in place to protect the identity of those that test positive and to adhere to the HIPAA laws.
