No hotheads allowed: All who enter Westmoreland County Courthouse have temperature taken

Steve and Sarah Zolock knew they were healthy but a quick check as they entered the Westmoreland County Courthouse confirmed their unofficial diagnosis.

The Zolocks, who traveled from their Rostraver home on Thursday to renew permits to carry concealed guns, were required to complete a cursory screening before they were allowed into the courthouse. Everyone who enters the government complex — employees and visitors, alike — is greeted with a series of questions and a temperature test performed by two nurses stationed at the front entrance.

“I am perfectly OK with it. We should have started this the moment we knew this (pandemic) was happening,” Steve Zolock said.

County commissioners hired Hempfield-based Amerisafe Group to conduct safety screenings at the county’s 911 center in an effort to keep staff with coronavirus symptoms out of the building. County officials expanded the program to include the courthouse.

Officials reported no issues as the screenings started Wednesday at the courthouse. About 150 employees who were not furloughed during the pandemic lined up shortly before 8:30 a.m. in front of the building for the temperature tests.

Every person who enters the courthouse is asked if they have been recently out of the country or in contact with someone diagnosed with the coronavirus. A digital thermometer then is placed on their forehead to record their temperature. Anyone with a fever is prohibited from entering.

No one during the first two days of the program was turned away, said Westmoreland County Park Police Chief Henry Fontana.

“It’s been incredibly efficient and much smoother than I expected,” he said.

Courthouse employees are only required to have temperature tests as they initially enter the building each day. They are exempted from additional testing if they leave and re-enter during the work day.

Few visitors are allowed to enter the courthouse without prior appointments as part of the county’s coronavirus response, which included the near elimination of court hearings and a substantial reduction of government services.

For staffers, many said the additional screening is welcome.

“I just think this whole situation is weird, but it’s better safe than sorry,” said Darcy King, a juvenile probation supervisor in the county’s Clerk of Courts office.