Massachusetts House employee tests positive after reporting to Beacon Hill this week

A Massachusetts House employee who tested positive for COVID-19 had most recently reported to work in person on Beacon Hill on Monday, Speaker Ron Mariano’s office said Wednesday afternoon.

The disclosure comes after two House employees who were last in the Massachusetts State House on Dec. 22 subsequently tested positive for the coronavirus. The names of the infected individuals were not released due to health privacy concerns, according to the messages shared with MassLive by Mariano’s office.

The State House has remained largely shuttered to the public since the onset of the pandemic. A House official on Wednesday did not answer MassLive questions about how the Omicron variant may have altered return-to-work plans.

In both messages to elected officials and staffers this week, Keith Johnson — the House’s director of employee engagement — said all close contacts were notified. Johnson said the definition of a close contact is based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

Read more: https://www.masslive.com/politics/2021/12/massachusetts-house-employee-tests-positive-after-reporting-to-beacon-hill-this-week.html