City of Tacoma employee tests positive for coronavirus

A city of Tacoma employee has tested presumed positive for COVID-19, city staff confirmed to The News Tribune on Monday.

The employee works in the city’s Environmental Services Solid Waste Division, according to the city.

“Risk to employees is low and Tacoma Pierce County Health Department does not believe there were close contact exposures,” city spokesperson Stacy Ellifritt said in an email on Monday.

The News Tribune could not determine if the worker interacted with the public as part of their duties. The city referred The News Tribune to the health department for further questions. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department spokesperson Steve Metcalf said in an email the department would not speak to anyone’s work situation.

“When it comes to positive cases — which are the only ones we will report —the only information we will make public is what you’ll find on www.tpchd.org/coronavirus,” Metcalf said in an email.

Tacoma’s solid waste division provides garbage, recycling, yard and food waste services for about 53,000 single-family homes and numerous multifamily, business and industrial customers, according to the city’s website. The division also operates a “full-service transfer station, with a recycling center and household hazardous waste collection facility, as well as a residential bulk item disposal service, Call-2-Haul.”

There are 190.8 full-time equivalent positions in the division, according to the city’s budget.

A message was sent to employees by the city about alternative work options following the positive test result, encouraging “telework” from home.

“We are committed to maintaining flexible policies that permit employees to work from home to help mitigate the spread of the virus. City employees, especially those who are most at risk are encouraged to discuss alternative work options with their supervisors in general guidance with the City’s PMP 325,” according to the email.

The number of presumed positive coronavirus COVID-19 cases in Pierce County rose from four to seven Monday. The death toll in Washington state is 22.

Mayor Victoria Woodards said in a statement on Monday that the city was canceling two expos this month.

“As we navigate as a community — and as a nation — through this difficult time, it is more important than ever to care for ourselves as well as one another. Facts — not fear — should drive all of our actions,” Woodards said in the statement.

This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 5:26 PM.