The Brown County Courthouse was closed and employees were moved to remote work only July 16 after an employee was diagnosed with COVID-19, and other county employees later tested positive.

The courthouse is back open this week, though, with limited entry.

Brown County commissioner Diana Biddle said that the person who initially tested positive worked in the courthouse, but would not give any more information about where in the courthouse. When asked if this person had contact with the public regularly, she consulted with other county and health leaders and issued a statement on July 17 that “Due to recent COVID activity in the Brown County Courthouse, anyone who conducted business inside the Courthouse building within the last two weeks (beginning 7/7/2020) should consider taking advantage of the free local ISDH Test Site located at the Brown County Music Center.”

Free testing for anyone who wants it is available Tuesday to Saturday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The end date for the clinic isn’t certain yet.

On July 17, Biddle said that “more than one” county employee had tested positive.

Judge Mary Wertz and “limited court staff” continued to be in the office during business hours to answer phones and deal with emergency matters while the building was closed.

The courthouse underwent a deep cleaning and remain closed through the weekend.

The courthouse and County Office Building are now both under a “limited entry” plan, Biddle said — operating with fewer staff members physically in offices and discouraging the public from interacting in person with those staff unless absolutely necessary.

County staff will be asked to self-monitor and follow recommendations provided by local health authorities, a press release from the county said.

All county employees were encouraged to get tested; some were required.

“The health and safety of our employees, elected officials, and community members are our top priorities, and we are taking this action out of an abundance of caution,” Biddle said.

At the July 15 commissioners meeting, county health officer Dr. Norman Oestrike presented a new requirement for all county employees and visitors to wear masks in county buildings and offices. (This was before the governor passed a statewide face covering mandate on July 21.)

“It is my notion that everyone who comes into the building has to have a mask on when they come into the building. No exceptions,” Oestrike said.

If employees have glass barriers in their office and are distanced from co-workers, they can take their mask off at their desk.

“If they get up to go to the restroom outside of the office, or the treasurer office goes to the assessor’s office or the health department, they need to wear their masks,” Oestrike said.

Visitors and employees also must have their temperatures checked before entering any county government building, which includes offices like Brown County Community Corrections, the sheriff’s department and parks and rec.

Employees and visitors also will be questioned about symptoms and possible exposure to COVID-19 before going to work.

Visitors will be required to wear masks the entire time they are in a county government building.

If a person does not pass a temperature check or the questionnaire, that information would then be forwarded to the health department, Oestrike said.

At the meeting, Biddle said Oestrike’s order was consistent with what the buildings and departments had already been doing.

“We need to keep our businesses and our government open. We need to protect our employees, our citizens and our visitors. Any place who has not done that and has refused to enforce that has become a very hot spot,” Oestrike said.

“If we’re going to get through this, until we get a vaccine or a cure, this is what we’re going to have to do.”

Brown County Emergency Management Director Susan Armstrong said she would be able to order more thermometers for departments. She and Public Health Preparedness Coordinator Corey Frost have distributed personal protective equipment, like hand sanitizer and masks, to county offices.

Oestrike said that if a county employee tests positive, that person would have to immediately quarantine. He said each case would have to be taken separately as far as testing the entire building where a person works.

“You don’t know how many people in that building were infected. The general rule of thumb is if someone in the department is infected and tests positive, then anybody they had contact with has to quarantine also,” he said.

“You basically shut the office down. That’s the way the school is going to be. That’s the way most places are. With contact tracing, if it’s extremely limited and they didn’t have contact with very many people, we could then bend some of that. But basically, if someone comes with it, whoever that group is will have to go into quarantine.”

The decision on who gets tested will be determined on a case by case basis, Oestrike said.

“Certainly, the person who is afflicted has to get treatment and quarantine, but how long will it take before the next person becomes positive? Generally, it’s several days, but they are infectious almost immediately, so they’re spreading it,” he said.

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CYO Camp Rancho Framasa

At least one staff member at CYO Camp Rancho Framasa in Nashville has tested positive for COVID-19, prompting the camp to cancel camps last week.

Camp Co-Director Angi Sullivan received a positive result on July 11, according to a message sent to parents and posted on the camp’s website. Sullivan had begun feeling ill on July 5 and left the camp that afternoon, the message said. She had been in contact with several staff members before then.

Camp leaders did not want to take any risks, even though staff members were following health guidelines including mask-wearing and social distancing. They decided to cancel camps for the week of June 12.

“This is hard, but we know it is the right thing to do,” the message said.

Camp directors were unsure what this meant for the rest of their summer camps and events

The Chocolate Moose

 

The Chocolate Moose in Nashville announced July 16 on Facebook that a staff member had tested positive for COVID-19, causing the restaurant to close for at least a few days.

The post said that management learned of the employee’s test the afternoon of July 16 and that the entire store had since been sanitized. The employee who tested positive had not worked since July 14, when that person was sent home with a fever.

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