A Fort Dodge firefighter has tested positive for COVID-19, the city announced Tuesday.

It’s the first confirmed case of COVID-19 for the 46-member Fire Department.

The affected firefighter is in self-quarantine at home, according to officials.

Due to health privacy rights, the city is unable to provide any information about the employee’s identity.

“Fort Dodge Fire Rescue personnel are community heroes and have been on the frontlines every day,” said Fort Dodge Fire Chief Steve Hergenreter. “We take any potential exposure seriously and have been preparing for such time one of our team tested positive. Our department is committed to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and protecting the citizens of Fort Dodge, Webster County and surrounding communities we serve.”

Hergenreter said the Fire Department is working with the Webster County Public Health Department to identify individuals who may have come in contact with the affected Fire Department personnel. Those individuals will be contacted directly as part of the contact tracing process, Hergenreter said.

He said the positive case will have little impact on how the Fire Department is staffed in the coming days.

“We are doing some testing of some of the members who were in close contact with the firefighter,” Hergenreter said.

Since March, firefighters have been doing self-monitoring and temperature checks at the beginning and halfway through their shifts.

“Over the last several months we have had several of our members get exposed to patients — this was the first positive test,” Hergenreter said.

The department responds to more than 5,000 medical calls a year.

Overall, Hergenreter considers the department fortunate.

“We have been lucky so far,” Hergenreter said. “Most fire/EMS departments in Iowa and around the country, just the nature of the business, you are providing care to those who are positive. We have been very diligent on the wearing of PPE (personal protective equipment) and sanitizing of ambulances and the fire house.

“We have been very diligent. We were ahead of the curve right out of the gate. We were given good information provided by the International Association of Firefighters and CDC on how to handle this. Webster County Public Health has helped us prepare for the pandemic.”

As of Tuesday, Webster County Public Health reported that 100 positive COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in the county.

Seventy-five of those individuals have recovered or been released from public health isolation.

One death attributed to COVID-19 has been reported.

The positive case breakdown since the beginning of the pandemic is as follows: eight children (ages 0-17), 53 adults (18-40), 26 middle age adults (41-60), 12 older adults (61-80), and one elderly adult (81+).

Webster County Public Health is encouraged by the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19. But officials say safety precautions should still be followed.

“Please continue to be diligent about hand washing, cover coughs and sneezes, wear a mask if you choose and stay at home if you aren’t feeling well or if you are a positive case or live with someone who is a positive case,” the health department’s Facebook page reads.

Kelli Bloomquist, public information officer for Webster County’s Emergency Operations Center team, said the county was prepared to handle the number of cases it has seen to this point.

“We are seeing more cases, but we were prepared to see cases like this and have been very blessed that there have been people in Webster County doing what we have asked — wear a mask, wash your hands, stay home,” Bloomquist said. “We are working closely with employers and long-term care facilities. The numbers we are seeing right now are numbers we anticipated.”