FL Fire Department Quarantines over 230 Personnel
By Clayton Freeman
Source The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
More than 230 employees in the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department are now in self-quarantine and 33 have tested positive for COVID-19, city officials announced Monday during a press conference on the coronavirus pandemic.
JFRD Fire Chief Keith Powers said that 232 employees of the department have now gone into quarantine, under the protocols of the Centers for Disease Control.
That represents a further increase from Friday, when Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said 214 JFRD employees were in quarantine and 14 had tested positive.
Powers said that JFRD conducted 328 tests in the past two days. The number of positive tests, he said, could grow further as additional test results come in.
The quarantined firefighters represent a rising percentage of the department's overall force, which is estimated at 1,550. In all, Powers said these quarantines now account for about 77 vacancies per shift.
However, he said, JFRD is expected to be able to compensate for their quarantined status during the July 4 weekend, in part because of colleagues accepting voluntary overtime assignments.
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