Employees at the Schuylkill County Courthouse learned Friday afternoon via email that COVID-19 has infected an employee there.

According to the email sent out by County Administrator Gary Bender, the correspondence was being sent out in order to answer inquiries by employees who had heard that someone had contracted the virus.

The email said that the employee last worked at the courthouse on April 22 and tested positive for the virus on April 26. When the courthouse administration found out, they contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Health on how to handle the situation.

From there, they contacted all of the people the employee had contact with and these employees were also quarantined for 14 days.

The courthouse was disinfected the same day they found out about the virus confirmation.

Bender said in the letter that no additional employees have experienced symptoms of COVID-19, and the 14-day period has expired.

The email did not say what department the employee worked in, nor which departments were affected by the other employees who were asked to quarantine.

Clerk of Courts Maria Casey was upset that they were just now learning that someone has been infected.

She said that they were given no information before the email on Friday.

“They have a duty to let us know,” she said.

Casey said she and her employees had heard the rumors that one or more employees were sick, but nothing was official. She said she heard which department the person worked in and if it is true, then she knows one of her employees came in contact with this person multiple times and was never notified that the person had COVID-19.

“I think I should know since I have employees to protect,” she said. Her office employs 12 people.

Casey said precautions are being taken at the courthouse to avoid spreading the virus.

“There are some guidelines to protect the health and safety of employees,” she said.

Employees have been wearing masks ever since the mandate came out from Gov. Tom Wolf requiring them. She said gloves are optional, but she wears them and many of her employees wear them.

A call to county Commissioner George Halcovage had not been returned as of press time.

As of Friday, there were 430 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Schuylkill County, 13 deaths, and 2,479 negative test results, according to the state department of health.