Chicago Firefighters At 'Hot' Firehouses To Be Tested For COVID-19 Daily
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Starting tomorrow, firefighters at so-called 'hot' firehouses will be tested daily for COVID-19 during shift changes.
A Fire Department spokesman and Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 President Jim Tracy confirmed the shift change testing will be conducted at firehouses where there have been several cases of the novel coronavirus.
The new testing will begin at two firehouses on Thursday, but the Chicago Fire Department would not confirm where.
So far, there have been 151 confirmed COVID-19 cases within CFD.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said the city's first responders already had been able to get testing, "But we've now started to be able to really have some more specific testing and investigation in conjunction with the Chicago Fire Department to really make sure that we're bringing testing wherever it is needed."
During the city's COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, Arwardy said firehouses "could be perceived as congregate settings," given that firefighters essentially live and sleep in their stations during their 24-hour shifts.
"We've been working closely with the Chicago Fire Department, and are doing everything we can to make sure that we bring even better testing access to our first responders. They're high on our list as we're continuing to build access to testing across the city," Arwady said.
Two Chicago firefighters have died of the disease, Edward Singleton, 55, had been with the CFD since 1987, and Mario Araujo, 49, who had been a firefighter since 2003.
Earlier this month, Local 2 mandated that all of its members get tested for COVID-19. Firefighters are getting the test – but the results are the problem. The lack of them leave many uneasy and unsafe while inside the firehouses.
Firefighters rushed to testing centers on Forest Preserve Drive on the Northwest Side, and at Roseland Community Hospital on the Far South Side.
The results were supposed to come in 24 to 48 hours.
But many first responders, especially firefighters, said those results were taking too long. They said they are waiting eight and sometimes 10 days.
"If we don't know our results, we are infecting other people - and that's the problem," union president Jim Tracy told CBS 2's Jermont Terry in mid-April.
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