A Satsuma first responder tested positive for coronavirus antibodies but negative for active COVID-19 infection, according to results discussed at the City of Satsuma’s April 21, 2020, city council meeting. The positive antibody result surfaced during the city’s examination of its roughly 30-member first responder team.
Satsuma Mayor Tom Williams told the council that after the responder’s positive antibody test, the individual was given a COVID-19 nasal swab test to check for active infection. That follow-up test came back negative, and the employee has since returned to work as a first responder.
The testing effort reflected a broader push among South Alabama municipalities in the spring of 2020 to screen police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel for coronavirus exposure, given the close contact those workers often have with the public. An antibody-positive, swab-negative result like the one reported in Satsuma suggested possible past exposure to the virus without an active infection at the time of testing, though antibody tests available in the pandemic’s early months were still considered less reliable than PCR-based diagnostic tests for confirming active cases.
Satsuma, a small city in northern Mobile County, relies on a compact first responder team to cover police, fire and emergency medical needs for the community, making the health and availability of that workforce a particular focus for city leaders as COVID-19 spread through the region in the spring of 2020.