Manatee County Government Experiencing Another COVID Outbreak

BRADENTON – The Manatee County administration building is experiencing another COVID-19 outbreak. This time the cases and exposures are among ninth-floor employees and staff.

During Monday’s Manatee County Commission meeting, it was revealed by board members and the county administrator, Dr. Scott Hopes, that several county employees are currently sick with COVID and others have been sent home to isolate themselves. Commissioner Carol Whitmore shared that a Manatee County employee died from the disease this past weekend.

The information came to light after an unhappy speaker took to the podium during continued public comment at the end of the meeting. The speaker, who carried a wad of ripped-up fliers in her hands, was angry with the board and Administrator Hopes after having found the fliers hanging in women’s restrooms in the county building. While difficult to discern exactly what the fliers once said, they appeared to contain information about the mitigation protocol of masking, possibly leftovers from the county’s previous "Mask Up Manatee" initiative.

While holding up the ripped fliers to the plexi-glass divider that still surrounded the chamber podium, the agitated woman said, "You would be able to see these better if our county admin had actually followed your instructions and removed all traces of COVID in this building.“

However, simply removing fliers and plexi-glass partitions will not be enough to rid the county administration building of all traces of COVID, it would seem. In her response to the public speaker, Commissioner Whitmore said, "The whole ninth floor is sent home because everyone is contaminated by people with COVID. We have the top echelon in the county that are covid positive, and we just had another employee die this weekend of COVID.“

Whitmore said she wanted to see those fliers replaced.

"There are people that are young now, these aren’t the older ones, these are kids in their twenties and thirties that have COVID right now and that are very sickÉ“ Whitmore continued, "Émy God, we have a lot of people that are sick right now. I think we have eleven out in utilitiesÉ the Sherriff’s department I think has someÉ“

Whitmore explained that the fliers did not require anyone in the building to wear a mask, or even communicate masks as a rule, explaining that they only attempted to inform employees and visitors in the building that they had the choice to wear a mask.

Commissioner Misty Servia, who was seen wearing an N95 mask for the duration of the meeting, also addressed the public commenter, explaining that she has reverted to using a mask in the building despite being fully vaccinated–due to the rise in infections.

"For those of you who don’t know, you should know that our numbers right now for COVID I think are as high as they once were during the peak," said Servia. "We are in the double digits. We have people at Manatee County who are very sick right nowÉ some of them have even been vaccinated."

While also addressing the speaker, County Administrator and epidemiologist, Dr Scott Hopes shared that he was informed the evening prior that he had been directly exposed to an employee in his department who tested positive and is "very ill." Hopes explained that the vaccinated employee is someone who he works closely with, and the two are frequently in the office unmasked, based on previous guidance provided by the CDC for vaccinated individuals.

However, Hopes, who was also wearing an N95 mask during the meeting, went on to say, "Based on the current science and epidemiological evidence the CDC determined today that if you are fully vaccinated, and you are indoors in a high-risk area, you should wear a mask.“

Hopes explained that he felt it was his responsibility to protect his colleagues, due to his exposure to the sick coworker. While Hopes said he was not aware of the fliers because of their location in the women’s restrooms, he did echo the details shared by other commissioners about the current state of COVID infections among county employees.

Addressing the board, Hopes said, "In regards to what you’re hearing, much has occurred in the past 24 hours. You will each be getting a report of sort of the status of the ninth floor; utilities, property management, the list goes on."