At least 22 employees at Orlando's 911 call center are out of work due to a COVID-19 outbreak, officials said.
Sixteen employees at the center tested positive for the coronavirus, and six others are quarantining because of possible exposure to an infected person, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
City spokeswoman Samantha Holsten said 103 people work at the center, where 911 calls are routed and triaged for police or fire response.
Two of the employees are hospitalized, but have responded well to treatment, Orlando police Chief Orlando Rolón said Tuesday.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
He add that only one of the infected people had been vaccinated.
“I think it’s an opportunity for all of us who have been considering to get vaccinated or not to go ahead and exercise that,” Rolón said.
In Orange County daily caseloads of the virus have doubled from some 200 per day to more than 400 per day since Thursday, according to Dr. Raul Pino, the local state health officer.
Local
Pino said the highly contagious delta variant has circulated aggressively among the unvaccinated, he said, spawning a “pandemic within a pandemic.”
Employees at the 911 center are required to wear masks at work, Rolón said. He said the area is cleaned is cleaned and sanitized on a regular basis. So far healthy employees are working overtime to pick up the slack, he said.
