A Champaign County election judge serving in the Brookens Gym has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Champaign County Clerk.
A press release from the Clerk’s office stated that the election judge was informed that they tested positive for COVID-19 at 10:30 a.m. The judge was removed from their location and the Clerk’s office began their emergency plan of sanitizing and cleaning protocols. Champaign-Urbana Public Health was immediately contacted and advised the Clerk’s office on how to proceed and offered guidance on how to re-open.
Voters in the polling location were notified of what happened and were asked to exit and given guidance on when to return. Voters arriving during the brief closure to allow for cleaning and judge replacement were advised of the situation and were allowed to wait until the location reopened at 11:30 A.M.
During early voting, the Clerk’s office has been following Public Health guidelines, including six-feet spacing for judges and voters, plexiglass in-between voters and judges, mandating that all election judges wear masks the entire time they serve, and all the readily available PPE, disinfectants and hand sanitizer.
“ulie Pryde, Administrator of CU Public Health District, assured us as long as the judge was wearing a mask the entire time, no one stayed in close proximity to them for more than 15 minutes, that there is a very low risk of spreading,” the Clerk’s press release said. “In addition to the rapid cleaning and sanitizing response, anything handled by voters is sanitized repeatedly.”
Early voting remains open at Brookens gymnasium from 8:30am-4:30pm Mon-Fri. Voters can still request vote by mail ballots on-line at www.champaigncountyclerk.com.
“COVID-19 is something we will continue to deal with throughout this election cycle and more than likely through the next election in the Spring of 2021,” the press release said. “Voters should wear a mask, use hand sanitizer, and social distance in all polling locations. Anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should not enter the polling location.”
