Three state mental hospital workers have COVID-19. One says she worked without PPE.

At least three employees at the state’s largest mental institution have tested positive for COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

According to AFSCME Florida, the union that represents employees at the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee, staff members who had contact with the first person to test positive worked for several days without personal protective equipment, or PPE, after the interaction.

The union says the Department of Children and Families, which oversees the institution, has not quarantined or tested any staff members or residents who had contact with the people who tested positive.

A DCF spokeswoman did not return requests for comment.

“There was no call for quarantine and no regard for staff who were feeling ill,” Gail Pride, a rehab specialist at the hospital, said in a statement provided by the union.

Pride said she began to feel ill on April 3, but DCF management told her to finish her shift. She said she was forced into a second shift despite exhibiting flu-like symptoms. She was not wearing personal protective equipment.

She tested positive after her shift after getting tested at a walk-in clinic in Quincy.

As of Tuesday morning, three cases had been confirmed in Chattahoochee.

The News Service of Florida reported last week that nine DCF workers had tested positive for COVID-19, one of whom worked at the hospital.

Florida State Hospital, a sprawling campus that holds about 1,600 employees and 1,000 residents, has put a temporary hold on admissions through April 30, and is cleaning and sanitizing the mental health treatment facility for when admissions resume.

The Tallahassee Democrat reported that a building on the campus had been set aside to quarantine any residents who get COVID-19, but that no special medical equipment had been dispersed to employees.

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 6:26 PM.