COVID Exposure Quarantines Three Dozen NC Firefighters

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Three dozen North Carolina firefighters are quarantined because of COVID-19, according to the union.

Five Durham Fire Department stations across three shifts have been quarantined after possible exposure to the virus, the firefighters union told WNCN-TV. The quarantines haven't hampered service, according to a city spokesman.

“Response time has not been affected by the number of members who have tested positive or been quarantined,” Durham spokesman Chris Iannuzzi WNCN.

The city is taking measures to reduce COVID cases in the department, Iannuzzi added. 

“To keep our members safe, we have instituted a number of general orders that cover use of PPE, three times per day wellness checks, multiple times per day station cleaning, no visitors are allowed at fire stations including family and off-duty firefighters, limits on the number of people in a station, eating in shifts, social distancing, and mask use,” he told WNCN.