By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The coronavirus has hit federal Homeland Security employees hard.
At least 13 employees for the agency have been confirmed or presumed positive for COVID-19, but only eight of those cases – all TSA screeners – have been publicly disclosed, according to documentation obtained by POLITICO.
The records also show that nearly 500 Homeland Security employees have been quarantined.
Homeland Security officials declined to comment for the story.
The risk to federal workers is high because many of the more than 240,000 Homeland Security employees are still working and in close proximity to the public.
“The department’s leadership is going to have to pay very close attention as this public health crisis evolves,” John Cohen, former acting undersecretary of intelligence and analysis., told POLTICO. “It has to be concerned that its ability to carry out its core mission could be compromised if there’s a widespread outbreak of the virus among DHS personnel. And quite frankly, that’s something that federal, state, and local officials need to be concerned about across the board — that this virus will spread among first responders, law enforcement, and Homeland Security personnel, compromising the ability of those organizations to protect the public.”
