Firefighters in quarantine after being exposed to Corona virus

Firefighters and other first responders are not immune to the Corona virus and some stations are now feeling the crunch when several of their regular employees are forced to self isolate until the risk of further contagion has been eliminated.

Twenty-five Kirkland firefighters and two Kirkland police officers in the United States were placed under quarantine in the beginning of March "out of an abundance of caution" due to a COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak at a care facility, according to a Kirkland Fire Department press release. Firefighters were either placed under home quarantine or resided at a Kirkland fire station for quarantine.

Each responder is believed to have possibly come in contact with the coronavirus at Life Care Center of Kirkland, a nursing and rehab facility, where dozens of residents and staff were reporting symptoms that might have suggested coronavirus, reported KIRO 7.

According to German newspapers like Bild.de and Express.de two employees of Fire Station 5 in Weidenpesch were infected with the corona virus last week.  

The two colleagues were put in quarantine at home since Tuesday of last week, and the suspicion was confirmed on Saturday evening. 

These quarantine measures later allegedly lead to a total of 21 firefighters at the affected Station being put under quarantine.  This has created a bottleneck in the staffing situation at the station. The 21 colleagues are not necessarily infected.

Since then, a number of firefighters in California, Washington State  and the province of Saskatchewan, Canada have also been put in isolation after being exposed to the virus.

CTIF is actively trying to follow up how Corona is affecting firefighters in our member countries and around the globe. Please write us if you have stories of COVID-19 in your first responders´community. 

Photo Credit: PhSphere.com