Orange County’s Social Services Agency in Santa Ana reported that one of its employees has coronavirus, raising concerns among fellow workers about what the county is doing to protect them.
An employee at the Santa Ana Regional Center, a regional office of Social Services, was confirmed on Thursday, April 9, to have the coronavirus. That same employee, however, showed up to work that day, according to a union representative.
“We need more consistent education on this. There seems to be a disconnect for someone to be diagnosed as positive and to come to work on the same day,” said Cory Cordova, a union rep with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Cordova said the union wants the county to allow hundreds of employees at the Santa Ana office to work from home during a two-week quarantine. That will give the county more time, he said, to get enough thermometers, face masks and other personal protective equipment for its employees. Meanwhile, he said, the county can “do a top to bottom cleaning” of the building.