(Wednesday’s Plan Commission Meeting was the first city meeting with strict mask mandates and spacing as it was announced some Clinton Firefighters had tested positive for coronavirus. Those mask and spacing mandates will continue for future meetings. Thursday morning the city issued a statement on the update)
Clinton City officials confirmed The Clinton Fire Department (CFD) has five (5) Fire Fighters that tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Chief Joel Atkinson has been in contact with Clinton County Department of Health, MercyOne staff and doctors and is following their recommendations. The Firefighters were all working the same shift.
Atkinson says the tracing would appear to show the spread occurred with training on Friday – or a house warming function or a off duty softball game Sunday night. He says they are also checking E-M-S records to determine in there is link to any one transported.
The first mention of the situation was at the Clinton Plan Commission where masks were required of those attending and for the commission members. City Administrator Matt Brooke said the cases led to some tighter restrictions in city hall.
Brooke said they are going to continue to reinforce mask wearing in all departments (public areas) and when working with the public. Masks and social distancing will be the procedure at future meetings at city hall according to the City Administrator.
Atkinson says they are filling with shifts with firefighters on overtime to maintain the minimum eleven people on a shift. The Fire Chief says the situation is not unique to Clinton and they’ve been making plans since March.
Atkinson says the Fire Department is providing the same service level as before.
He says the firefighters who tested positive are showing mild symptoms.
Atkinson says there no current plans to conduct any further coronavirus testing within the department
In a follow-up statement issued Thursday Brooke concluded The City wants to make sure that we continue to be diligent in our efforts to minimize spread both at home, at work and across Clinton. We appreciate everyone’s efforts as we work to overcome these challenging times.
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