Thanks largely to a loosening of health guidelines, the number of Spokane city firefighters in quarantine and out of work has dropped since last week.
Nineteen firefighters were in quarantine on Wednesday, compared to 33 last Thursday, according to Deputy Chief Jay Atwood.
Several firefighters have been tested for COVID-19, but the department has yet to report a positive result. It is waiting for the results of about a dozen more, Atwood said.
Initially, the department required firefighters to quarantine if they showed symptoms of COVID-19 or had direct exposure to people who were symptomatic, but it has since adopted the recently updated guidelines of the state Department of Health, which recommends quarantining first responders only when they are symptomatic.
But as that standard loosened, the fire department instituted strict requirements of firefighters.