Poll workers who staffed the voting center at Westside Community Church on Election Day are quarantining for two weeks after one of them tested positive for COVID-19 and was later hospitalized. There were seven poll workers working at the site on Nov. 3.
The poll worker, who wore a mask at all times while at the voting center and was not symptomatic on Election Day, was taken to a local area hospital on Friday with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps.
Election officials would not release the name of the poll worker or the worker’s duties, citing privacy laws. The worker interacted with each voter at the center for “about 90 seconds at maximum,” Phelps said.
Phelps notified the Bartholomew County Health Department and the church of the positive case Monday morning. A total of 411 voters cast ballots at the church on Tuesday, according to local election records.
“I did speak with the poll workers who worked there, and the inspector who was in charge of the location that day did call all poll workers to let them know yesterday (Sunday) about the poll worker testing positive,” Phelps said. “It does sound like the poll worker is going to be OK and will be discharged by the end of this week, if not sooner.”
Bartholomew County Health Officer Dr. Brian Niedbalski said all voters who cast ballots at Westside Community Church this past Tuesday should “strongly consider getting tested” for COVID-19.
“Quarantine is not necessary unless they were deemed to be a close contact to that worker,” Niedbalski said.
Currently, there is no indication that the poll worker was infectious on Election Day, said Amanda Organist, director of nursing at the Bartholomew County Health Department.
The Indiana State Department of Health will be reaching out to close contacts as part of the state’s contact tracing efforts, Organist said. Close contacts are generally considered to be people who were within 6 feet of the infected individual for at least 15 minutes.
“Everyone should continue to wear their masks, social distance, wash their hands and stay home when ill,” she said.
The news of a positive case among the county’s poll workers came as coronavirus cases continue to rise across much of Indiana, including Bartholomew County.
Election staff and poll workers have not been immune to the surge in cases, with reports of positive cases across much of the country, including in Missouri, Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, among others, according to The Associated Press.
Locally, election officials received a shipment of personal protective equipment, including N-95 masks for poll workers, thousands of disposable gloves and hundreds of gallons of sanitizer, among other supplies to reduce the chance of spreading COVID-19 at polling places.
The poll worker in Bartholomew County who tested positive for COVID-19 wore a mask at all times while at Westside Community Church and was socially distanced from the voters, Phelps said.
Westside Community Church has been cleaned and disinfected since the polls closed this past Tuesday, said Dennis Aud, the church’s senior pastor. The church typically undergoes cleaning every Tuesday and Friday.
“We cleaned our building immediately after (election staff) left,” Aud said. “…We’ve been through two cycles of cleaning since they’ve been here.”
So far this month, there have been at least 299 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bartholomew County, including a record 65 on Friday, according to state figures.
Seven of the 10 highest local daily positive test totals during the pandemic have come during the first eight days of this month.
“I would highly encourage all Bartholomew County residents to continue following the proper guidelines since we are seeing a record of number of cases on a daily basis in Indiana,” Phelps said. “This virus is far from over, and we want to take of ourselves and our loved ones through this pandemic.”
