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City Hall staffer had swine flu

by Jay Hamburger OF THE RECORD STAFF

There has been one confirmed case of swine flu within the City Hall ranks, the Human Resources Department said this week.

Three other people who work for the local government became ill, but tests were not conducted to determine what sort of sickness they developed. Brooke Moss, the human resources coordinator at City Hall, said it is possible the other three suffered from swine flu as well.

According to Moss, each of the four people took at least one day off from work. They have all since returned to their normal duties.

"The city employees have a lot of contact with the public, obviously," Moss said, adding that it is "important to halt the spread of diseases like that."

Park City leaders have been wary of the sickness since some of the first cases in Utah were reported locally in the late spring. They worked with Summit County and state health officials to publicize steps that could be taken to reduce the risk of contracting the illness.

Hugh Daniels, who manages City Hall’s emergency operations, said this week a temporary policy has been put in place that relaxes sick-day rules. Staffers are not required to obtain a note from a doctor allowing them to return to work if they were out sick for more than two days. Normally staffers need such a note.

Daniels said City Hall does not want to overload the medical system with staffers seeking the notes if there is a rash of cases.

Meanwhile, Daniels said, the local government’s department heads have been asked to devise plans to continue operations should workers miss days due to illness.

He said hand sanitizers have been placed at front counters frequently used by the public and staffers have been asked to regularly wipe off the counters with sanitizers. Daniels said City Hall is following recommendations put out by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Daniels said some beat officers in the Police Department received inoculations against the illness, but City Hall does not have a cache of nasal vaccines or injections for others.

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