Dorothy Jacks, Palm Beach County’s property appraiser, tested positive for the coronavirus, her office announced, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Jacks said she was tested after “experiencing minor symptoms” and subsequently received the positive test result. It began with what she thought was a mild head cold right before the July 4 holiday weekend, which she said was “nothing out of the ordinary for her.” Then feeling better, though fatigued, Jacks noticed her sense of smell was gone.
She got tested the same day and because she tested positive, the administration department of the property appraiser’s office, on the fifth floor of the county governmental center in West Palm Beach, has been temporarily closed. Jacks said she has worked from home since being tested.
The administration department employees, fewer than 20, were told to go home July 6 until the office has been sanitized. Those who were in close contact with Jacks, about five, will be tested. Jacks said she had no interactions with the public and said she does not know how she may have contracted the virus. She will return to working at the office only when she tests negative twice.
Jacks is the second person to have tested positive for the coronavirus among her staff of 240, who work in West Palm Beach and at five service centers across the county. The first employee has been quarantined since June 23 and also did not have interaction with the public, according to Jacks.
The property appraiser’s office closed off access to walk-in traffic in late March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and then moved its operations remotely a week later.
The locations welcomed back the public and employees in May, when the office encouraged the public to wear masks, set up staggered work schedules and increased cleaning measures.