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A firefighter is hospitalized in serious condition with COVID-19 after an outbreak at a Massachusetts fire department.
Nine Attleboro firefighters and two department dispatchers have contracted the virus, WHDH-TV reports. A press release by Mayor Paul Heroux and Fire Chief Scott Lachance stated that the outbreak mostly affected members one shift at the department's Union Street station.
Although most of those with the virus are either have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, one firefighter became "very ill." That firefighter was taken in serious condition to Rhode Island Hospital.
Since the positive tests, all fire stations have been professionally sanitized, and an air filtration system is being installed. Department members also are being aggressively tested, according WHDH.
“I have every confidence that this situation is under control,” Heroux stated in the release.
Officials told WHDH that the department would not suffer a disruption in emergency services despite the infected members who are now quarantined. With 60 COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks, Attleboro has become one of the 23 high-risk communities for the virus in the state, WHDH reports.
