2 City Hall workers test positive for COVID-19

An unknown number of City Hall employees have been self-isolating since two employees working in separate departments tested positive for COVID-19 last week, Mayor Dean Mazzarella confirmed Tuesday.

While Mazzarella would not speak to which departments had the employees who tested positive, the Sentinel & Enterprise has confirmed from city officials speaking on background that the City Clerk’s office, which is on the first floor of City Hall, and the Building Department, which is on the second floor, are the two departments affected.

“They will be back next week,” Mazzarella said about the employees under self-isolation, but he declined to provide the number of employees citing HIPPA regulations.

He also said the two employees had their contacts traced in an attempt to determine the initial source of the infection without any definitive results.

Since then, the building was deep cleaned last weekend to ensure the safety of City Hall employees, Mazzarella said.

He said all the employees, who returned to work on May 4, are following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to minimize exposure.

“We’re maintaining a 6-foot distance between all employees in the departments,” Mazzarella said, adding that employees are having their temperatures checked each day when they arrive at work and are required to wear face masks interacting with one another.

In addition to the employees at City Hall, two firefighters working out of the North Main Street station tested positive for COVID-19 about three weeks ago, Fire Chief Robert Sideleau II said last week.

Ten firefighters self-isolated and have since returned to duty, including the two who tested positive.