County Health Director Tests Positive for COVID-19, Part of Outbreak at the Health Department

Pima County Health Department Director Dr. Theresa Cullen tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, part of an apparent outbreak in the department.

The County is offering testing to all Health Department staff who work at the headquarters building on East Ajo Way and moving them to alternative work locations or having them work from home while the affected floors are sanitized.

County case investigators and contact tracers are working to track down the sources of the outbreak, however Garcia said a protest at the building Thursday, December 10 of several dozen people, some of whom entered the lobby to protest and had close contact with security staff and other building staff, may make that tracing effort extremely difficult. Few of the protesters were wearing masks.

They were there to protest Health Department COVID-19 protection and enforcement actions. County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francisco Garcia also noted that there was at least one COVID positive health department employee reported a few days before the protest.

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