RI Mayor Orders Firefighters Back from COVID-19 Quarantine

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A Rhode Island mayor has ordered firefighters exposed to colleagues infected with COVID-19 back to work while they wait for test results.

As many as 40 Cranston firefighters were quarantined after four tested positive for the virus, WPRI-TV reports. Currently, 17 firefighters are quarantined, and Scott President, the president of the fire union, said he worked with Fire Chief Stephen McIntosh, as well as EMS Director Paul Casey, to develop a city policy.

Under the policy, which is based on federal guidelines, Cranston firefighters are quarantined for five days before testing. This allows infected firefighters to show symptoms, and it prevents asymptomatic firefighters with the virus from infecting others by returning to work too soon, Robinson told WPRI.

But last week, Mayor Alan Fung changed the policy to allow firefighters waiting for test results to return to work so long as they don't have symptoms. Fung said the new policy reflects state health guidelines.

The cost of paying overtime for firefighters covering for quarantined coworkers also was a factor in making the change, Fung said. Because test results might take three days to come in, firefighters tested on the sixth day could be off work for about nine days. 

The mayor emphasized, however, that budget considerations weren't being placed ahead of the safety of city employees.

“The health of our first-responders is our main concern, and we want anyone with symptoms to stay home,” Fung told WPRI. “But you can’t have 41 individuals out at the same time who are not showing any symptoms. A fire department can’t operate that way.”

Robinson disagrees with the change and points out that the four firefighters who tested positive didn't show symptoms but could still infect others. The nature of the job also means firefighters work very closely with one another and share much of the same equipment.

“If I’m breathing, and I have COVID and it’s passed (through breathing), then it’s going to get in the regulator,” Robinson told WPRI. “And we share that bottle. We have our own masks, but we don’t each have our own regulator and bottle.”

“It really does hurt the firefighters,'” he added. “I might be positive. Or you’re putting me at risk, working with someone who might be positive and then you’re sending me home to my family.”

Robinson said the union and the fire department are working with the mayor's office to reach a compromise. No matter what the policy, the city will continue to take the proper health precautions, including monitoring firefighters' temperatures when they start shifts and every four hours after, Fung added.

“If they show symptoms, they’re sent home. If you are positive, we’re going to put you out on injured on duty status,” the mayor told WPRI. “In the interim, we can’t afford to have you wait to get tested and have you wait for the results.”