Sheriff’s Office COVID-19 Outbreak: Nearly 100 Employees Out Sick

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — A COVID-19 outbreak at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has impacted about 10 percent of the agency’s workforce, and some employees were still coming to work despite testing positive for the virus, officials said.

As of Monday afternoon, 94 employees are out of work due to coronavirus symptoms and 60 have tested positive, said Kaitlyn R. Perez, community affairs director.

The agency has 1,017 full-time positions currently staffed by 954 employees. This means nearly 10 percent of the sheriff’s office’s workforce is out sick.

“Please understand we have strongly urged anyone experiencing any type of symptom to stay home,” Perez said. “This includes fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, (and) diarrhea.”

The sheriff’s office is taking precautions during this surge in COVID-19 cases, she said. This includes deputies wearing masks in the courthouse and in the Sarasota County Jail when they are working closely with inmate.

At the jail, 48 inmates have recently tested positive for coronavirus, “almost all of which are asymptomatic,” Perez added.

Major Jon Goetluck sent an email to all SCSO employees Aug. 3 warning them of the uptick in COVID-19 cases in Sarasota County.

To prevent the spread of the virus, in that email he urged staff to wash their hands regularly with soap and water and use hand sanitizer, sanitize their workstations daily, avoid shaking hands and touching their own eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands, and cover their mouth when they cough or sneeze.

“Most importantly, do not come to work sick,” he wrote. “Employees who have symptoms must notify their supervisor, the Health/Safety office and stay home.”

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Employees who have been exposed to COVID-19 should let the Health/Safety office know before coming to work, he added.

Sheriff’s office employees didn’t follow Goetluck’s instructions, and he re-sent his original email to staff Aug. 12.

“I am resending the below e-mail because we are still having employees coming into work with symptoms and exposing other employees and then testing positive (two to three) days later,” he wrote. “We have scaled back group trainings in an effort to decrease large groups being assembled together in close quarters for extended periods of time. Please remember to be considerate of your co-workers and follow the below protocols.”

In an Aug. 18 email to staff, Goetluck said employees were still coming to work sick, including some who tested positive for COVID-19.

“I wasn’t going to publicize our numbers to avoid unnecessary panic, but I find it necessary to do so. As of yesterday (Aug. 17), we have a total of 77 personnel out of work with 60 of those with positive test results (this does not include personnel out for other reasons),” he told SCSO staff. “We have had as many as (five) persons hospitalized in the past couple of months. It is imperative that we all work together to stop unnecessarily exposing each other and depleting our workforce and staffing levels. Please follow the below instructions. If health safety advises you to stay out of work, do not return until they clear you. Supervisors, do not authorize a person to return to work until you receive the clearance e-mail from health safety.”