May 14, 2020 NEWS RELEASE: Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency Announces Closure of Dinuba District Office Due to 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
May 14, 2020
The Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency’s Human Services Branch confirms that one employee at its Dinuba District Office, located at 1066 N. Alta Ave. in Dinuba, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee began to show symptoms and notified a supervisor.
The County has instructed all employees during this time to not go to work if they show any symptoms of illness. The location is being closed for cleaning and is also notifying all members of the County workforce who may have had contact with the affected employee. Because the County had begun in March to limit the number of employees working at each site, limited exposure to other County employees is anticipated. Additionally, public access to this office has been closed 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 Dinuba District Office temporarily closed, 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.
For more information about COVID-19, visit www.tchhsa.org/ncov and
https://www.facebook.com/TulareCountyHHSA/
