Beaver Co. Courthouse Employee Tests Positive For Coronavirus After Returning To Work
BEAVER, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Beaver County courthouse employee says she has tested positive for Coronavirus after returning to work.
Verlene Horton says all courthouse employees returned to work on May 11, while Beaver County was still in the red phase.
She worked the week of May 11-15 in the assessment office.
Horton said the following week she began having stomach pains and called off work for three days. She returned to work last Thursday before falling ill again and getting a positive COVID-19 test from her doctor over the weekend.
"The whole time I was at work, I wore a mask," Horton said. "I was one of the only employees who wore a mask, no one else wore a mask. People were constantly in and out of the office."
BREAKING NEWS: A Beaver County Courthouse employee says she has tested positive for Coronavirus after returning to work.
We talked to her about the shock when the test came back positive. Hear from her and county commissioners at 5 on @KDKAhttps://t.co/N2vy0eDLyB pic.twitter.com/S8RDtofj3W
— Nicole Ford (@NicoleFordTV) May 25, 2020
Beaver County officials tell KDKA they were notified of Horton's positive test over the weekend and released this statement in part:
"Officials were not aware this individual was being tested or ill. Over the last 10 days, this employee has physically been in the courthouse approximately four hours."
"Our human resources department has reached out to all of those individuals who work in that office and is taking information down to see if anyone needs to self-quarantine," Beaver County Commissioner Chairman Daniel Camp told KDKA's Jennifer Borrasso.
Officials say temperature screenings to enter the building were not in place, but all employees in that office will be temperature screened starting Tuesday.
"I think everyone is concerned. But right now ... every day we stress if you don't feel well, please do not come to work. We don't penalize anyone," Camp said.
Camp said desks in the assessment office are 6 feet apart, and there are barriers between the employees and the public.
He also said they encourage people to wear masks but cannot enforce it because it is a public building.
"The whole time I was at work, I wore a mask," Horton said. "I was one of the only employees who wore a mask. No one else wore a mask. People were constantly in and out of the office."