MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A COVID-19 outbreak that started in May continues to impact Manatee County's workforce, according to County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes.
During a press conference Friday, Hopes said 41 employees have tested positive across 12 of the county's departments. Additionally, the county says there have been 105 exposures to the virus and a total of three deaths.
"We have changed our protocols, we have identified why we were having spread in various departments and we have mitigated that and we have developed new quarantine guidelines in collaboration with the Manatee County Department of Health."
Other reported updates to buildings include disinfection protocols and the installation of a UV light system to help sanitize the air daily.
RELATED: 'Get vaccinated, get tested': COVID-19 cases continue to climb in Manatee, Sarasota counties
According to Hopes, preparing for Hurricane Elsa was one of the driving forces behind the outbreak among county employees. He adds that the utilities department saw the largest spread of COVID-19 with 16 positive cases and one death.
"The individual was home on quarantine, became ill rapidly. His spouse is also a utilities worker and found the employee deceased. Subsequently, the spouse has become ill with COVID but fortunately was home on quarantine," Hopes said.
The other department most heavily impacted was IT. In June, five people were reported to have contracted the virus at the county's administration building. The cases involved people between the age of 30-50 years who Hopes said had not been vaccinated against the virus.
Moving forward Hopes says the county is planning another vaccine event for employees.
Florida's surge in COVID-19 cases appears to be happening faster and more dramatically than previous increases throughout the pandemic, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
The state reported a total of 16,038 new cases to the CDC for Tuesday, July 27. It was back on Jan. 15 when the state last reported a day with more than 16,000 cases.
The seven-day moving average of new cases tops 13,502 cases — a moving average not seen since the middle of winter when Florida experienced its worst outbreak of reported coronavirus cases.
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