House employee tests positive for coronavirus

House employee tests positive for coronavirus


By Chris Lisinski and Chris Van Buskirk / State House News Service

Posted Mar 18, 2020

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House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s office confirmed to the News Service that he wrote to all 160 representatives, their office staffs, and other House employees Wednesday morning informing them that someone who works in the branch received a presumptive positive result.

Citing federal and state restrictions on confidential health information, DeLeo did not identify the employee, their office or job title, whether they are an elected official or a staff member, or when the test result came back.

The employee, who appears to be the first confirmed case at the State House, had worked in the building until starting sick leave on Thursday, DeLeo said.

“Specific offices/office suites which this employee visited prior to commencing sick leave on March 12th have been notified, and those offices (as well as the affected employee’s work area) will receive a comprehensive environmental cleaning before members and employees will be permitted to return to those spaces,” DeLeo wrote in his letter. “If you have not been notified that the affected employee visited your office prior to the affected employee commencing sick leave on March 12, 2020 then we have no reason to believe that the affected employee visited your office/office suite.”

DeLeo said any representative or employee who had close contact with the person who tested positive would be contacted by the state Department of Public Health or their local Board of Health with instructions on what to do.

Asked if any other staff were self-quarantining, a DeLeo spokesperson said his office would not comment beyond the speaker’s letter.

DeLeo urged employees to maintain social distancing practices, particularly after Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel said Sunday that community transmission — where cases cannot be traced directly back to a source — is occurring in seven counties.

“We will likely have more self-reported cases from employees in the coming days and weeks,” DeLeo wrote.

A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka could not be reached immediately for comment on the Senate’s response.

The State House steadily emptied out over the course of last week. Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on Tuesday, March 10, Spilka told senators on Wednesday, March 11, to postpone or convert all meetings to remote work, and DeLeo a day later ordered representatives to implement work-from-home strategies for staff wherever possible.

The two legislative leaders on Monday announced the State House would be closed to the public until further notice.

On Wednesday, the House and Senate gave final approval to a bill waiving the one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits for any person who has become separated from work due to the coronavirus outbreak or the effects of Gov. Baker’s state of emergency declaration.

While no other cases have been publicly identified involving employees at the State House, at least one lawmaker is self-quarantining due to a family member who may have been exposed to the virus.

Rep. Liz Miranda, a Roxbury Democrat, said she placed herself in quarantine on Friday after her grandmother experienced symptoms of the illness. On Sunday, Miranda’s grandmother received a COVID-19 test and is awaiting results, while Miranda herself is not showing symptoms and has not been tested.

“My grandmother has dementia and she’s never been without my mom or other caretakers, and my mom and other caretakers weren’t allowed to stay with her in the hospital, which is a good thing, like precautionary,” she told the News Service by phone. “The State House is a very busy place and folks are connected to people in different ways.”