A total of 33 of the city’s first responders have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies and one has tested positive for the active disease, Executive Director of Public Safety James Barber confirmed at a press conference Friday afternoon, as more than 800 have been tested.
The results of all 800-plus rapid serum tests have come in and in all, some 10 firefighters and 23 police officers have tested positive for COVID19 antibodies. The presence of antibodies in the blood means the body is either currently fighting the disease, or recently did. All 33 employees have been tested using a nasal, or throat swab to confirm if the disease is still active. Not all of those results have come back, Barber said.
Of the swab tests results that have come back, Barber said, only one police officer tested positive for active COVID-19. All 33 have been quarantined until the results come back and show they are no longer contagious. Barber could not say how many tests have come back negative.
Of the 33 positives, a vast majority of the first responders had no symptoms. Barber said one had very mild symptoms.
Overall, Mobile County has surpassed the century mark with 103 COVID-19 cases, according to an Alabama Department of Public Health database. The 33 first responders are not included in that number. ADPH is also showing five deaths in the county, but only four have been confirmed to this point. Baldwin County currently has 28 cases and one reported death, while the state is dealing with 1,495 confirmed cases and 21 confirmed deaths.
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