Since May, 41 County Workers Positive For COVID-19: Official

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — As COVID-19 surges throughout the state, Manatee County government has struggled with an outbreak among county workers.

From May 3 through July 30, there were 41 positive coronavirus cases among county employees, Dr. Scott Hopes, county administrator, said during a Friday afternoon news conference.

The county’s utilities department was hit hardest by the virus with 16 workers testing positive. Vaccine hesitancy was an issue in that department, Hopes said. “In addition to that, there was a lot of resistance to wearing a mask.”

The county administrator also noted that members of the department met with staff from Waste Pro and Waste Management, the county’s third-party contractors for waste removal, earlier in July to plan for Hurricane Elsa.

Garbage collection in the county was recently impacted when these companies faced unexpected employee illness, though it was never said whether they were ill with coronavirus. Hopes said this meeting ahead of Elsa was “a source of one of the outbreaks” in the county’s utilities department.

The county’s information technology department also dealt with a COVID-19 outbreak in June when five employees fell ill and two died.

All 41 COVID-19 cases reported in Manatee County workers include the following departments:

• Utilities: 16 workers
• Information Technology: 5 workers
• Public Safety: 5 workers
• Parks and Natural Resources: 2 workers
• Neighborhood Services: 2 workers
• Financial Management: 2 workers
• Public Works: 2 workers
• Property Management: 2 workers
• County Administration: 1 worker
• County Attorney’s Office: 1 worker
• Human Resources: 1 worker
• Redevelopment and Economic Opportunity: 1 worker
• Building and Development Services: 1 employee

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Through contact tracing, there have been 105 exposures among county employees. The county administrator said he’s “not aware” of how many members of the public might have been exposed to the virus through county staff.

There have also been three deaths. The most recent death was a utilities department employee who died over the weekend.

And five of the positive cases were breakthrough cases in vaccinated workers, Hopes said. All other cases were reported in unvaccinated employees.

Calling Manatee County “a community of choice,” Hopes said county leaders are unlikely to require masks at county buildings for workers or visitors or mandate that they get vaccinated.

Instead, he urged workers and residents to get vaccinated against the virus, noting that “the vaccine works. It worked in the beginning. It still works.”

“People need to take personal responsibility,” the county administrator added. “We each have a responsibility for our own health and our neighbor’s health…Vaccinations work. If you don’t want to be vaccinated, reduce your risk by staying away from people you know may not be vaccinated and if you’re sick, don’t come to work and don’t come to school.”

Manatee County has updated its quarantine policy for employees exposed to COVID-19. Regardless of whether they test positive or negative for the virus, those determined to have been exposed through contact tracing are required to stay home for at least 10 days. Those who have coronavirus symptoms, will need to stay home until their symptoms have improved and they’ve had no fever for 24 hours without using any fever-reducing medication.

Watch the entire news conference about COVID-19 among Manatee County workers here: