There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 among first responders in Sangamon County.
But, that is not stopping local police and fire departments from taking precautions ranging from adjustments to department policies and procedures to quarantining first responders displaying any signs of illness.
This latter step of self-quarantine has been utilized by at least three Sangamon County law enforcement agencies as they seek to keep their ranks healthy amid the pandemic.
Springfield Fire Chief Allen Reyne, one of the leaders of the county’s COVID-19 emergency response team, said they have “thought of the worst case scenario” of a police or fire department’s ranks being depleted by a cluster of cases. But, he declined to discuss those plans in detail.
To prevent it from getting to that point, some local departments instituted new protocols.