YOUNGSTOWN — With hundreds of people in Mahoning County now testing positive for COVID-19, health officials on Friday addressed protocol that business and government managers should follow to address the safety of co-workers.

Ryan Tekac, Mahoning County health commissioner, said each business or organization “needs to have a contingency plan in place, not only for COVID-19 but for any infection or common colds that could make others sick.”

It should address sending people home who are sick and how to continue to provide services “if you can.” His agency, Mahoning County Public Health, continues to identify positive cases and trace the people who have had close contact with someone with COVID-19, he noted.

The information was provided when he was asked about county offices that have closed this week.

He said he would not speak for other Mahoning County government agencies, but described what Mahoning County Public Health would do if one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.

“We would work with all of those individuals who work near that positive case, as well as the supervisor of that area to find out who was working around that individual, and then we would continue to move forward from there with quarantining.” If someone gets sick, the agency would quarantine co-workers who worked near the infected person.

If an agency or business does not know if a person is infected or not but goes home sick, the business or agency should “ramp up the cleaning in that area to disinfect the individual’s work space,” Tekac said.

The agency or business should “make that assumption that the individual potentially could have COVID-19 or the flu and let those employees know around them that an individual went home sick and they need to monitor their own symptoms. And if they become ill, they have to stay home as well.”

That scenario played out in the Mahoning County auditor’s and recorder’s offices Thursday afternoon.

Auditor Ralph Meacham confirmed Friday that one of his employees became sick Thursday afternoon and was sent home. It is not known whether the employee has COVID-19, but the person’s symptoms could be consistent with the virus.

Meacham also sent home all of the other employees at the office and closed it Thursday and Friday. Meacham had the offices sanitized Thursday night, and it will reopen Monday. Those employees who worked close to the employee were asked to stay at home 14 days or until testing shows whether the employee has the virus.

Meacham has had about half of his employees work from home for a week and alternate with the other half of the employees by working in the office the following week. Therefore, those working most closely with the employee who got sick will be at home next week.

Noralynn Palermo, Mahoning County recorder, said she closed her office Thursday afternoon after learning that the employee at the auditor’s office became ill. She did so because the auditor’s employee delivered mail to her office last week.

She kept her office closed Friday but will reopen it Monday.

Tekac reminded people to avoid crowds this weekend while out enjoying the nice spring weather and to “put events with family and friends on hold” until the COVID-19 crisis ends.

When asked whether the county has “hot spots” where the virus has hit, he replied, “It’s community spread,” and because of the lack of testing taking place so far, it might be hard to know where hot spots are.

erunyan@tribtoday.com