Riverside County provides update after several Registrar’s office staff test positive and quarantine a week before the deadline to certify election results
Riverside County said there are still Registrar of Voters employees in quarantine after dozens tested positive for the coronavirus last week.
See article: Riverside County Registrar of Voters staff test positive for COVID, dozens quarantined
This news came just a week before the deadline to certify election results.
News Channel 3’s Caitlin Thropay has an update as some local races are still awaiting final election results.
“The Registrar of Voters Office is completely confident that we have enough employees and we have enough staff to finish certification by that date,” Brooke Federico, a spokesperson for Riverside County told News Channel 3.
On December 3, the county spokesperson said election results will be certified despite dozens of Registrar Office staff in quarantine.
“We’re not providing exact numbers on the numbers of quarantine,” Federico said due to privacy reasons.
They have now moved some employees to a modified quarantine status.
“So that means they have tested negative and they have no symptoms and they are then able to go to work but then they must return home after work,” Federico said.
Since the outbreak at the Registrar of Voters Office, the County has offered testing to all 400 employees whether or not they’ve been exposed.
“Wednesday, we had about 160 employees show up for testing," she said. "They were able to get their results on Friday. Another 70 people came in to get tested today,” she added.
Federico said in addition to disinfecting the entire office the County has made three changes to help reduce any more potential spread. They have increased telework for those that can work from home, reduced staff at the office and broken-up those staff members into cohorts.
“If one of them does come down with a confirmed case it would impact a smaller number of people who would be quarantined,” she said.
There are still about four thousand ballots to be counted as of Monday afternoon and some races are still too close to call like the city council race in Desert Hot Springs and Coachella.
As of Monday afternoon, newcomer Roger Nunez holds a 36-vote lead over Jessica Gilbert. He said he has full confidence in the Registrar of Voters office to meet the December 3 deadline despite the recent outbreak.
“I give my hats off to them now," Nunez said. "I mean from November 3 to now putting the work in every single day, counting votes and being able to update numbers on their website I can’t imagine what they’re going through," he added.
For a full break down of our local races visit:
Read Article: Two Coachella Valley City Council races still too close to call
