As the COVID-19 crisis continues to grow throughout
Long Beach and the world, I want to continue providing regular
updates as news comes available. Today I am sending
you this message because
we have seen this virus now spread to a number of our first responders.
Eight Long Beach Fire Department firefighters tested positive for COVID-19, otherwise known as coronavirus disease. All eight of the infected firefighters are in stable condition and are in self-isolation at home.
The new cases bring the total of confirmed cases in Long Beach to 41. Four of the firefighters are Long Beach residents and are included in the total, while four others are residents of other areas.
While the exact location and origin of exposure remains under investigation, Fire Station 11, located at 160 E. Market Street, has been identified as one common location where those who tested positive had recently worked.
The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is actively investigating details surrounding these exposures to better identify how to minimize further risk to the community, as well as other public safety and City personnel.
Since learning of these positive test results, the City took the following actions:
- Notified additional City employees who may also have been exposed.
- Fire Station 11 and all fire apparatus assigned there is being sanitized and operations will resume once that has been completed.
- Health Department has initiated the contact investigations and will be conducting additional testing as needed.
This news should not deter the public from calling 9-1-1 when needing emergency assistance. Long Beach Fire and Police Departments continue to take extensive precautions to safeguard fellow first responders and the public with whom they interact. The City's public safety dispatchers are asking additional COVID-19 screening questions for all calls for service that request or require in-person contact by first responders, personal protective equipment has been distributed to public safety personnel, and modifications to fire and police response operations are being made.
"As we wage this war on COVID-19 in our community, we do it with the understanding that there is significant risk to our personnel as we respond to the needs of those we serve," Fire Chief Xavier Espino said. "The health of our public safety personnel is being monitored daily and we will continue to provide the necessary support to our employees and their families as we move forward."
The City's public health efforts will continue to focus on containing the spread and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in the community. For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep our residents safe, visit
www.longbeach.gov/COVID19
and follow @LongBeachCity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
