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An Annapolis firefighter tests positive for the coronavirus

Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

An Annapolis firefighter has tested positive for the coronavirus, the first member of the city’s fire department to contract the virus, city fire officials announced Wednesday.

The firefighter tested positive Tuesday, said Battalion Chief John Ortlieb, Annapolis fire spokesman. The firefighter is quarantining.

Ortlieb declined to disclose whether the firefighter is hospitalized, citing privacy laws. He said it’s unknown whether the firefighter contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the respiratory virus, at work.

Contact tracing is being completed and other fire personnel who came into contact with the sick firefighter are being tested for the virus, Ortlieb said. Those on the sickened firefighter’s shift are being tested.

As of Thursday, more than 28,000 Marylanders had contracted the virus, which has killed 1,338 more people in the state.

First responders have been on the front lines, along with medical professionals and others.

At least one Anne Arundel County police officer and five county firefighters have contracted the virus, recovered and returned to work.

In each case, it’s unclear whether the first responders were exposed to the virus on the job.

The county fire department was assisted by the Anne Arundel County Department of Health in conducting contact tracing for its sickened firefighters. Contact tracing is a process by which health officials retrace the interactions of people confirmed to have been infected.

Annapolis fire officials did not immediately respond to more questions about the sickened firefighter.

This story will be updated.