Three Jacksonville firefighters have tested positive for the coronavirus and 77 are in self-isolation, Mayor Lenny Curry said Monday.
Fire Chief Keith Powers said the transmission of the virus — to all three — occurred at Station 28 on Hogan Road. One of those firefighters testing positive had worked a shift at Station 54 on Philips Highway, he said.
Station 54 remains open although one shift composed of 10 firefighters are self-isolating.
That brings the total to 77 JFRD first responders self-isolating. That includes Station 28 firefighters already self-isolating.
Powers discussed the situation including an update of the firefighters' condition Monday during the city's virtual news conference led by Curry.
Along with Curry and Powers, Sheriff Mike Williams and emergency management officials provided updates on the virus's impact on the city and efforts to stop its spread.
"As it relates to the firefighters who have tested positive, one of them is on the road to recovery and is doing a lot better," Powers said.
One of them is one of the kind that shows the person is asymptomatic, Powers said.
"The last person is still struggling, having some pretty difficult times right now," Powers said.
Nearly four dozen JFRD first responders were self-isolating last Thursday after a firefighter at Station 28 — Jacksonville's largest fire station — tested positive for the coronavirus.
Powers, at that time, said the firefighter who had tested positive was pulled from duty at Station 28 on April 4 and sent home to get tested after showing coronavirus symptoms.
That appeared to be the first confirmed COVID-19 case among the fire department's ranks.
All three shifts of the Station 28's firefighters and paramedics — 47 first responders — were being asked to self-isolate, Powers previously said.
Powers also has said that as soon as firefighters get tested for the virus and are cleared by doctors, they will return to work.
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