by Betsy Woodruff Swan
Nearly 500 Homeland Security employees are quarantined because of the novel coronavirus, and at least 13 are confirmed or presumed COVID-19 positive, according to documentation reviewed by POLITICO.
A DHS spokesperson would not comment on the record for this story.
The department previously revealed that eight Transportation Security Administration officers had contracted COVID-19.
But the latest numbers are higher and highlight the challenge the novel coronavirus poses to the federal workforce. More than 240,000 people work for DHS, making it the third-largest workforce in the federal government. Many of those employees interact with numerous people every day as part of their work, including employees with Customs and Border Protection and the TSA.
“The department’s leadership is going to have to pay very close attention as this public health crisis evolves,” said John Cohen, former acting undersecretary of intelligence and analysis. “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.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have advised people to “put distance” between themselves and others if the virus is spreading in their community. Thousands of Americans are following this directive, and numerous workplaces have directed their employees to work from home.
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents TSA officers, has criticized the department over its handling of the outbreak. The union pushed for them to be able to wear respirators at work, but, according to a statement from AFGE, TSA management refused, only allowing surgical masks.
A TSA spokesperson said the agency is deferring to CDC guidance that such respirators should be reserved for health care workers.
The safety of the DHS workforce has also drawn attention from the Hill.
“It’s important to remember that during this pandemic, the DHS workforce is still manning the frontlines, protecting our skies and borders,” House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson said in a statement. “It’s critical they are properly protected — and the Administration has a long-term plan for this. Not just for their own health and safety, but to ensure we have a fully functional frontline workforce in the months to come.”
The diagnoses and quarantines come as DHS employees have faced significant strain under the Trump administration, according to David Lapan, the department’s chief spokesperson for the first nine months of Trump’s presidency.
“Because of the president’s outsized focus on the immigration enforcement part of the DHS mission set — since immigration is not the only thing in DHS’ mission — the organization has been under a lot of strain over the last three years,” he said. “The focus on immigration, lots of attention, lots of presidential pressure, vacancies, changes in leadership, the government shutdown, people having to work without pay — after all of that, add on this pandemic and I think you have cause for concern about a workforce that has been under extended stress now having to endure yet more.”
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