Illinois Secretary Of State's Diversey Express Driver Services Facility Closed After Employee Tests Positive For COVID-19
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Illinois Secretary of State's office Diversey Express Driver Services Facility in Kelvyn Park will be closed until Monday, Aug. 10, after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
The Illinois Department of Public Health has been notified about the COVID-19-positive employee, and has confirmed that the public is not directly impacted, according to the Secretary of State's office.
Employees who work at the facility are being quarantined for 14 days, and the facility will be cleaned and sanitized according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
The office noted that Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has extended all expiration dates to Nov. 1 for driver's licenses, state IDs, and license plate stickers, and encourages people to go online to www.cyberdriveillinois.com rather than come to a facility.
Masks are required at all facilities, and people are advised to prepare to wait outside in various weather conditions.
The nearest facilities to the Diversey Express Driver Facility are the Chicago North facility at 5401 N. Elston Ave., the Chicago West facility at 5301 W. Lexington St., or the Melrose Park facility at 1903 N. Mannheim Rd. in Melrose Park.
Earlier this week, the Secretary of State's office announced that an employee also tested positive for COVID-19 at the Chicago South facility, at 9901 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. in the Roseland community, formally known as the Charles Chew State of Illinois Motor Vehicle Facility.
That employee works in the Driver Services area of the facility, which will be closed until Wednesday, Aug. 12. But the rest of the building – the Vehicle Services and Administrative Hearings sections – remained open.
Some employees told CBS 2's Tara Molina they walked off the job because of the building remaining partially open. They said they did not even know about the positive case until they showed up to work on Tuesday.
Secretary of State's office spokesman Dave Druker said the IDPH had advised that other employees and customers were not at risk.
But the workers said it is not possible that only the Driver Services side was exposed, with all of the shared spaces and movement through the building.