Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott says City Hall was sanitized. An employee had symptoms of COVID-19 and was in contact with other workers. Those in contact with the worker were sent home to quarantine for a week and the health department was notified. City officials are being advised to monitor themselves for any symptoms.
Scott released a statement in response to Mayor Jack Young's concerns and says his office was notified on Tuesday, May 5, by another City Agency that one of their employees was exhibiting symptoms not inconsistent with COVID-19 and came into contact with several employees of the City Council. At a press conference Friday afternoon, Mayor Young was asked about the development at City Hall. “You know, to be honest with you, I had no idea there was a possible case of somebody showing symptoms, said Young.”
“The first thing the [Council] President should have done notify our health commissioner and the Office of Emergency Management so that they could did what they normally do. I don’t [Scott] did it maliciously, he just didn’t know.” Mayor Young says he hopes those types of mistakes aren’t made again because he, [members of staff/cabinet and the media] were all in the same room that the employee in question was in and “had no idea” that someone was showing signs of COVID-19.
Scott and Young are seeing the matter much differently. “In strict adherence with Baltimore City policy, we notified those employees of this contact and instructed them to go home and self-quarantine for 7 days,” said Scott. “The employees were told to monitor their symptoms frequently and to notify their doctor and the President’s Office if they developed any symptoms.”
On the afternoon of learning employee showing signs of the coronavirus, Scott says his staff contacted the Director of the Department of Human Resources, high ranking officials at the Baltimore City Health Department, and leadership at the Department of General Services to make them aware of the situation and to ask for guidance on how to handle it from the perspective of public health, employment policies, and building cleanliness.
"Pursuant to City Policy, the Department of General Services, once notified, took responsibility for scheduling a detailed sanitizing of the relevant portions of City Hall," said Scott. "This cleaning occurred on Thursday afternoon and is what the Mayor is likely referring to in the letter that was shared with members of the press.
In addition, on Thursday, May 7, my staff reviewed the situation and the response with the Baltimore City Health Commissioner, providing a detailed recounting of every step taken to respond to this situation." Council President Scott went on to say there was no cause for concern, adding that if the Mayor did not become aware of this situation until Thursday, "that is something he should discuss with his staff and cabinet.” As of Friday ---according to a released statement, no members of Scott's office were exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 or any other acute illness.