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2 Fulton County employees test positive for monkeypox
After two Fulton County employees have tested positive for monkeypox, officials are updating the way they plan to fight it.
ATLANTA - In Fulton County, pandemic era cleaning protocols aren’t going away anytime soon with COVID-19 cases trending upward and now two cases of monkeypox confirmed amongst county employees.
Building Director Joseph Davis tells FOX 5 they’ve now added monkeypox to the list of contagions they disinfect for inside the county’s roughly 240 buildings.
"Fulton County Government takes the health and safety of staff and citizens very seriously," Davis said in an interview on Tuesday. "It’s imperative that we have these protocols in place because the number of human interactions are so high in county government."
Davis said that similar to COVID-19, monkeypox has been categorized as a Tier 1 virus by the CDC.
"The viral cell wall has an envelope around it that allows it to live outside of the body which, of course, aids in its ability to be transmitted," he explained.
The county building director said custodial contractors will be required to use EPA approved disinfectants at night and have day porters use them on high-frequency touchpoint areas throughout normal business hours.
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County officials take steps to protect public from monkeypox
Fulton County confirms at least two of its workers have tested positive for monkeypox and that's triggered officials to take steps to control the virus.
"Door knobs, counter tops, elevator call buttons…even our X-ray scanning security machines are wiped down and of course our restroom fixtures are wiped down throughout the course of the day to try to minimize the transmission of any contagion," he said.
In updated isolation guidance Fulton County officials sent to county employees earlier this week, they said they’re adhering to CDC recommendations on monkeypox infections.
According to the CDC, the virus can last anywhere from two to four weeks and it is still transmissible until the rash that comes with it has completely healed.
Fulton County officials also announced they would be getting limited quantities of the monkeypox vaccine. Appointments for August 10 and 11 appear to have already been filled.