21 Biloxi firefighters quarantined over COVID-19. One call may be to blame, chief says
Twenty-one Biloxi firefighters are now self-quarantined at home because of the coronavirus, Biloxi Fire Chief Joe Boney said Wednesday.
So far, nine have tested positive for COVID-19, three others were waiting on test results, and nine more were sick with the same symptoms but hadn’t yet met the criteria to get tested.
The fire chief believes most of the cases stem from a single call in West Biloxi weeks ago.
“The majority of them were involved in that one call or exposed to firefighters on that one call within a period of 24 to 48 hours,” Boney said. “We believe it all stemmed from that.”
All of the firefighters have been at home since they started feeling ill.
So far, none have required hospitalization.
The good news, Boney said, is that nine have almost fully recovered and will be returning to work soon.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, firefighters and other first responders have started wearing protective gloves, masks and other gear to try to prevent them from catching the virus.
Sun Herald visual journalist Alyssa Newton contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 4:30 PM.
