Maryland county moves to protect staff after employee denied permission to work from home killed by coronavirus

A Maryland county health department is adding additional protections for staff in the agency’s work-at-home policy after an employee who was twice denied permission to do so died from complications due to COVID-19. 

A July KHN and Associated Press story found that Chantee Mack, a 44-year-old disease intervention specialist, died in May after the coronavirus hit the Prince George’s County Health Department. The virus was believed to have infected at least 20 department employees at the time. 

According to the AP, Mack worked in the department’s sexually transmitted diseases program and was denied permission to work from home in March, despite having health problems that put her at high risk for COVID-19 complications.

Now, Prince George’s County officials have reportedly added an appeals process to their work-at-home policy and hired a consultant to identify “operational and management needs for improvement.” 

Union officials also said the county has made personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and gloves, more available in recent months and put a greater emphasis on social distancing, the AP reported. 

The July report prompted a countywide investigation, although health department spokesperson George Lettis told KHN in an email this week that officials are not able to release its results because of personnel and medical information. 

However, a county letter given to Rhonda Wallace, leader of a local branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said that the probe primarily found that the health department attempted to get PPE in early March and advised employees about social distancing and proper hygiene in a newsletter.

“It must not be overlooked that this was a rapidly evolving situation,” said the letter from George Askew, deputy chief administrative officer for health, human services and education. “Best efforts were made to keep the community and Health Department employees safe and informed during this unprecedented time.”

Wallace told the AP that while the new changes to the health department’s policy were “getting somewhere,” the county is “not there yet” at providing full protections to employees. 

At a July news conference, County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said Mack’s death “deserves an investigation” and the locality would “spare no time or expense,” although some employees have recently said the county has not done enough and that it should take responsibility for what happened. 

According to the AP, at least three other employees whose work-from-home requests were also denied earlier this year got sick with the virus. 

As of Friday morning, the Maryland Department of Health has recorded a total of more than 209,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state, with 4,630 confirmed fatalities.