Second courthouse employee tests positive

Several Butler County offices temporarily closed Monday, the day after a second courthouse employee tested positive for COVID-19.

A notice posted Monday on the courthouse’s east door reads:

“Sorry for any inconvenience, but to ensure the safety of the public and the staff, the following offices will be closed for precautionary measures due to COVID-19 — County Collector’s Office, County Treasurer’s Office County Assessor’s Office, County Clerk’s Office (and) Butler County Commission.”

Presiding County Commissioner Vince Lampe said he has a “few county offices that say they have to be there, and they are there (open, but) most of the county offices in the courthouse will be closed.”

Butler County’s courts also remain open, Lampe said.

The offices are looking at being “shut down for two weeks,” said Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Robbie Myers.

The courthouse was cleaned “from top to bottom on Saturday,” said Lampe.

The county, he said, hired a professional cleaning service, which brought in a team of 15 people, including specialists to “pinpoint hot spots” and areas to clean a second time.

“They wiped down every office with disinfectant and then came in and fogged (the offices),” Lampe explained. “They used big fans and opened windows to pull air throughout the courthouse as they were wiping (everything) down.

“They fogged the Assessor’s Office twice and the common areas twice, the hallways and such.”

According to Lampe, the county employees are a “closely-knitted family. We’ve got two cases already,” both of whom work in the same county office.

“Everyone in that office has been tested and will be retested,” said Lampe, who indicated the retesting was supposed to be Monday.

One of the employees tested negative on Friday, but tested positive on Sunday, Lampe said.

Butler County Health Department officials will do contact tracing of anyone the employees were around, Myers said.

“If anyone was, they’ll do a good job of reaching that network,” said Myers. “Depending on the office, they’ll know the exposure to the public as far as coming into that office.”

“It’s no different than people going into Walmart, places like that … these people are everywhere,” Lampe said. “You don’t know who you are coming into contact with. It’s hard to tell where this came from. I’ll leave that up to the specialists.”

Myers said a lot of safeguards were put in place in the county offices before they reopened to the public.

Other employees, Lampe said, also were tested for COVID-19.

“Everyone that felt they needed a test” was tested, Lampe said. “I left that to their discretion. There were a few in outlying offices that wanted to be tested as well.

“ … That’s fine. That’s good. Hopefully, we will get this nipped in the bud.”

Lampe wanted to make sure there is no confusion between the county offices and the court system.

“They’re two different deals,” he said. “I work with Judge (Michael) Pritchett, and he works with me. He doesn’t want people to … not show up for court. It’s the judge’s fear (people) will think the whole courthouse is closed” when it’s not.