April 3, 2020 NEWS RELEASE: Tulare County Public Health Branch Announces Closure of Lindsay District Office due to 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
The County of Tulare Human Services Branch confirms two public employees at the Tulare County Health and Human Services Lindsay District Office, located at 900 Sequoia Avenue, Lindsay, CA 93247, have tested positive for the coronavirus. The employees began to show signs and notified supervisors. Protocol was followed to have the employees tested and quarantined pending results.
The County has instructed all employees during this time that they should not go to work if they show any symptoms of illness. We have closed the location to be cleaned and are also notifying all members of the County workforce with whom they may have had potential contact with. The County had begun to limit the number of employees working at sites in March which has limited exposure to other county employees. Additionally, the public access to this office has been by appointment only since March 23, 2020.
It is not unexpected to have employees become ill as the novel coronavirus continues spreading throughout the community. The County has protocols in place to address this and similar situations involving employees who become ill. These protocols include: asking employees to stay home if they show any symptoms, reporting any symptoms that develop during working hours, asking non-essential employees to work from home, maintaining sufficient social distancing in the workplace, and consistently using excellent hygiene and cleaning practices.
With the Lindsay District Office expected to be closed through next week, those needing services can contact the call center at 1-800-540-6880.
The Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency is diligent about the protection of patient privacy, in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and for this reason we cannot release any other information about the patient. The information we release about the positive COVID-19 cases in Tulare County is carefully curated to provide useful information to our community members, while also excluding information that would lead to the identification of patients. This is a protection, provided by law that is extended to everyone.
