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Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency Announces

Temporary Closures of Offices Due to COVID-19

The Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA) has confirmed that public employees at multiple HHSA office locations have tested positive for COVID-19. The following HHSA offices will be closed for cleaning due to COVID-19 positive cases:

• Dinuba TulareWORKs and Child Welfare Services District Office, located at 1066 North Alta Avenue in Dinuba
• Porterville TulareWORKs District Office, 1055 West Henderson Avenue, Suite #3, in Porterville
• Porterville Women Infants & Children (WIC) Office, 1055 West Henderson Avenue, Suite #5, in Porterville

The Agency has closed these locations for cleaning and is notifying all members of its workforce with whom the infected employee may have had potential contact. The Agency had begun to limit the number of employees working at each of its sites in March, which has limited exposure to other County employees. The County has instructed all employees during this time that they should not come to work if they show any symptoms of illness. Additionally, public access to these offices has remained closed since March 23, 2020.

It is not unexpected that employees may become ill as COVID-19 continues spreading throughout the community. The HHSA 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 these offices expected to be temporarily closed, those needing services through TulareWORKs can contact the call center at 1-800-540-6880. Anyone needing services through Child Welfare Services can call (559) 623-0500 and to report suspected child abuse, call 1-800-331-1585. With the Porterville WIC Office expected to be temporarily closed, those needing services can contact the call center at 1-800-360-8840.

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 affected employees. The information released 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 affected persons. This is a protection, provided by law, that is extended to everyone.

For more information about COVID-19, visit www.tchhsa.org/ncov and www.covid19.tularecounty.ca.gov