2 More Harford Deputies Test Positive For Coronavirus: Report

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Two more deputies with the Harford County Sheriff's Office have tested positive for the coronavirus, making a total of three deputies now confirmed sick. The news comes just three days after the sheriff's office reported their first case.

According to a report by the Aegis, the two detectives both work in Forest Hill with the Investigative Service Bureau, the same unit as the first infected deputy. The Sheriff's Office is also reportedly waiting on the results of seven more coronavirus tests.

In the meantime they are taking extra precautions to clean and sanitize the areas where the deputies worked, and inform anyone they may have had contact with.

The three deputies are among the now 55 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Harford County. There have been zero coronavirus deaths in Harford. The county is doing significantly better than neighboring Baltimore County, which has seen 648 confirmed cases and 11 deaths..

According to the sheriff's office, that first deputy last went to work on Thursday, March 26, and Sheriff Jeffery Gahler has said he is doing well. "The deputy is feeling better and is expected to make a full recovery," Gahler said in a statement Friday. The Sheriff also said he doesn't want the news to make residents worried:

"Our citizens should not be discouraged from calling 911 to report a crime or in case of an emergency. The Harford County Sheriff’s Office is taking many reports over the phone with our Telephone Reporting Unit and deputies are taking every opportunity to practice social distancing and using personal protection equipment, when needed."

Late last month the Harford County Sheriff's Office made several changes to try and protect staff and visitors to their offices, including closing lobbies to visitors, suspending visitation at the Harford County Detention Center, and closing the publicly available community rooms in several precincts.

On Saturday, the sheriff's office posted on Facebook an update on the situation at the Harford County Detention Center, confirming that one medical services provider who worked at the jail has tested positive for the virus, but that no inmates or correctional deputies have. They say there is no indication the medical services provider was contagious while working at the jail, but that the jail is doing everything it can to protect inmates and employees from a potential outbreak.

Read the complete coverage on the two latest confirmed cases at the Aegis.