Collier County courthouse security guard at main entrance tests positive for coronavirus
Collier County FL July 12 2020
A security guard at the Collier County courthouse tested positive for the coronavirus last week, adding to the recent positive cases at the county government’s main campus.
The guard’s official post was the courthouse’s main entrance and the person tested positive on July 3, according to county officials. The courthouse was closed that day in observance of the Fourth of July holiday and reopened on Monday.
Similar to security checkpoints at airports, guards stationed at the main entrance of the courthouse perform checks on people entering the building and frequently interact with the public.
Dan Rodriguez, deputy department head for the county’s public utilities department, said he did not know how many members of the public came in contact with the guard who tested positive. The guard must quarantine for 14 days, he said.
Rodriguez said all of the other officers have been tested and of the four results that have come back so far, all have been negative. He said officials anticipate the rest to be negative as well because they haven’t been showing any symptoms.
The county and security personnel were immediately notified on July 3, and security officers assigned to the courthouse wear masks continuously while on duty, according to Rodriguez. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Florida Department of Health guidance for contact notification is always followed, he added.
The county courthouse moved into Phase 2 of operations June 1 as it relates to the pandemic, which expanded “in-person court proceedings with the use of protective measures.”
Face masks are mandatory at the courthouse and anyone without one will be provided a mask at no cost, according to the video. All people entering are also subject to a health and safety screening, which includes temperature scans and a few questions about respiratory illness.
Those not permitted to enter will be directed to an employee stationed at each entrance who will make alternative arrangements. While inside the courthouse, individuals have to stay 6 feet apart from each other, and hand sanitizer stations have been installed throughout the courthouse.
“CDC guidelines for disinfection have been followed,” Rodriguez wrote in an email through a county spokeswoman. “Multiple levels of cleaning and sanitizing have been used and continue to take place daily.”
The area where the officer was stationed is sanitized by the Collier County Sheriff’s Office, using a “highly concentrated cleaning solution,” Rodriguez added.
He said county cleaning contractors have been “cleaning extensively every day” at the courthouse for many months, including at security checkpoints.
“Security officers clean and sanitize their posts regularly, including the bowls that visitors place their belongings in before going through security,” Rodriguez wrote.
Analysis:Coronavirus cases exploded in Collier County in June. It wasn’t just due to more tests.
The officer that tested positive works the first shift, according to the county. Guards officially start at 8 a.m., although two come in earlier than that to open the building, perform a security check and ready equipment.
Rodriguez wrote that officers who were not assigned to the courthouse and second shift officers were assigned to assist in the absence of the guard who tested positive.
The county contracts with G4S, a giant private security company, to staff the security checkpoints.
The positive case marks the third reported case at the county’s main campus off U.S. 41 East since late June.
The fourth floor of the Collier County administrative building, which sits right next to the courthouse, was disinfected last week after a clerk of courts office employee tested positive for the coronavirus on June 29.
The building, known as Building F at 3299 Tamiami Trail E., also houses the county manager’s office, county attorney’s office and the commission chambers.
A second clerk of courts office employee, from the same floor, tested positive for the virus on Monday.
