Safety & Health

Coronavirus-Infected Firefighter Total for CA City Jumps to 10

March 16, 2020

Two more San Jose firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19, and the city is tracking the status of nearly 60 other firefighters who might have been exposed to the virus.

By Maggie Angst

Source The Mercury News

San Jose Fire Dept Apparatus Ca 5e6fe33bc7e51

Editor's note: Find Firehouse.com's complete coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic here.

Two more San Jose firefighters have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the fire department to 10, the city said in a report Friday.

The city said it is also tracking the status of 57 other firefighters who may have been exposed to the respiratory disease.

In another notable case within San Jose, a person who volunteered at the Bascom Community Center has also tested positive for COVID-19, according to the San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department.

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The volunteer was working at the Battle of Bay Power Soccer event March 7 at Bascom Community Center and later tested positive for the disease, according to a release from the city.

The volunteer was asymptomatic on the day of the event but the city has ordered a deep cleaning of the community center to eliminate any opportunity of community spread, according to the city.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES:

As of Monday, more than 100 people in Santa Clara County have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which is the highest number of cases in any county in the Bay Area. The county has also seen two people die in connection to the virus, including a woman in her 60s with chronic health conditions and a woman in her 80s.

On March 12, city officials announced four firefighters had tested positive for COVID-19, and 80 of the department’s 750 sworn personnel may have been exposed to the virus. The city announced the following day that the number of firefighters who had tested positive doubled to eight.

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