SANFORD, Maine — The Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Maine Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are investigating an outbreak among first responders in York County.
There are at least four recent, confirmed cases of COVID-19 among firefighters and/or EMS clinicians, the Maine CDC says. Several other individuals have been placed in quarantine following being exposed to affected first responders.
An epidemiological investigation is currently underway. At this time, the Maine CDC says the origin of these cases has not been determined.
Three of the cases are associated with the Sanford Fire Department. The Maine CDC classifies this many cases in close proximity as an outbreak and has opened an outbreak investigation related to those cases.
The first positive test associated with the Sanford Fire Department was reported to the Maine CDC on Thursday; testing was offered to all affected individuals beginning on Thursday and close contacts of confirmed cases are being notified.
The department says the majority of their members have received COVID-19 test results, but ten IAFF Local 1624 members still have not received results over 72 hours after being tested.
During its contact tracing investigation, it was discovered that one of the affected Sanford Fire Department members and another first responder who had tested positive had recently worked with the Buxton Fire Department.
On Saturday, testing was arranged for all Buxton Fire Department employees, families, and others who were potentially exposed. Additionally, because one of the confirmed cases had interacted with members of the Saco Fire Department, Maine CDC and Maine EMS are arranging testing for all Saco Fire Department members and other individuals who might have had contact with that person.
Statement from Eric Beecher, President of IAFF Local 1624:
“Everyone here at the Sanford Fire Department has been united in working as fast as we can to mitigate the spread of this virus by ensuring that everyone infected has been quickly removed from service and quarantined in order to protect the health and safety of our department, our families and our community. We were led to believe that the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was going to take our tests and get us the results as soon as possible, but unfortunately, we are still waiting for the results from the testing facility of ten of our members over 72 hours after they were tested. In the meantime, we are following CDC guidelines for critical employees by going on calls wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks, gowns, eye protection, and gloves whenever it is deemed appropriate as we answer calls and come into contact with the public. We urge state public health officials to act immediately to release these tests so we can do everything we can to curb the spread of this potentially life-threatening virus."
Statement from Michael Crouse, President of the Professional Fire Fighters of Maine:
“The coronavirus outbreak at the Sanford Fire Department underscores how critical it is to ensure that our first responders are given top priority in receiving direct access to COVID-19 testing and that they receive their results in a timely fashion. By not immediately giving these first responders access to testing and rapid results, it adds an additional stress to our members as they are greatly concerned for the well-being of the citizens they protect as well as their coworkers and their families. Governor Mills and her administration need to make rapid COVID-19 testing a priority when an outbreak occurs in our Fire Houses and make sure that these results are made available immediately to ensure the health and well-being of frontline workers, their families and the communities we serve.”
NEWS CENTER Maine is following this story and will bring you more coverage as we learn more information.