Workers for an entire department in Gilpin have tested positive for covid-19.
Supervisor Charlie Stull confirmed Tuesday that four full-time employees — an administrative employee and all three workers in the public works department — have tested positive. That represents nearly half of the township’s full-time workers. Gilpin, a township of about 2,400 people, has nine full-time employees and four part-timers.
These are the first positive cases among township employees, Stull said.
One employee remains hospitalized in the ICU and is on oxygen, Stull said, adding that person is expected to recover.
“It’s slow and steady,” Stull said of the hospitalized employee’s progress.
The three remaining employees are managing their symptoms from home.
“My best wishes and prayers are with my employees as they recover from this,” Stull said. “I will do anything I can to help them.”
Stull said all employees are expected to recover but declined to release any names of employees, citing health privacy laws. The police department named two of the employees in a Facebook post.
“Please be patient with the township over the next week,” the Facebook post said. “The township supervisors and employees are working hard to keep everything continuing to run as if they were here, but we are not them.”
Township officials said the employees didn’t attend any recent public township meetings, and the administrative employee participated remotely during the last township meeting.
“They’ve had no interaction with the public from the time of exposure,” Stull said.
Stull said the first reports of covid-19 symptoms were Aug. 5.
Gilpin police haven’t had any cases within the department. Stull said its three full-time officers have been vaccinated.
Among the township’s four recent cases, two employees were fully vaccinated, one was partially vaccinated and one was unvaccinated, Stull said.
Supervisors are handling road crew duties while the crew recovers from covid-19.
“I have been responding to trees down,” Stull said.
Armstrong County was in the high risk level of community transmission as of Aug. 16, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The township building remains closed until the administrative employee is cleared to return to work. Stull said the reopening date is unknown at this time.
