St. Louis County Administrator Kevin Gray has tested positive for COVID-19.
In an email to all St. Louis County employees on Monday, Gray said he's staying isolated and feeling "pretty miserable."
"I wouldn't wish this on anyone," Gray wrote. "Please take this virus seriously. I thought I was taking all the necessary precautions, but clearly I was exposed somehow and somewhere."
Gray has taken the week off. In the meantime, Deputy Administrator Brian Fritsinger will handle most of the administrator responsibilities.
After initiating internal contact tracing, the county has determined no other employees were at risk of having been exposed while he was infected, Human Resource Director Jim Gottschald said in an emailed response to the News Tribune. Gray has worked remotely since Nov. 9.
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The county is not tracking how many employees have self-reported a COVID-19 diagnosis.
As of Tuesday, about 50% — more than 800 — of county employees were working remotely. About 25%, or 400, were working in an office and another 400 were working in the field, which includes highway maintenance, forestry, property appraisal and public safety staff.
"We will continue to work closely with our public health, public safety and risk management leadership teams to ensure we are able to deliver critical services to our residents while maintaining a safe work environment for our staff," Gottschald wrote. "This has been our top priority from the beginning, much to the credit of our County Board and Administer Gray."
At this time, the county doesn't not anticipate any major shifts in its service delivery model.
