Holiday cheer has turned into COVID-19 fear at the Staten Island District Attorney’s Office, where a coronavirus outbreak hit more than a dozen prosecutors and other staffers a week after an office holiday party.
“There have been over a dozen employees who have tested positive for COVID at our office this week. We take the health and safety of our staff, our partners in the justice system, and the community very seriously and will continue to closely monitor this situation,” said Ryan Lavis, spokesman for Staten Island DA Mike McMahon.
“At this time, we have notified all relevant agencies that might have come in contact with our staff and have taken a number of steps in accordance with Health Department and CDC guidelines to contain and reduce the spread. All bureaus remain fully staffed and functional.”
Three of the infected staffers were assistant district attorneys.
An insider said all staffers who attended the off-site holiday party last Thursday were vaccinated — which means there were breakthrough COVID-19 cases.
There are about 200 staffers in the Staten Island DA’s Office.
The development comes a day after The Post reported that a COVID-19 outbreak hit the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where a recent office holiday party was held off-site.
An internal letter from the Manhattan DA’s Office said the quarantine of staff members resulted in “significant shortages.”
New York is experiencing another spike in coronavirus cases amid the emergence of the new Omicron strain.
Some Broadway plays and musicals had to shut again amid actors and staffers testing positive for the virus, for example.
New York City’s COVID-19 positivity rate has doubled over the past three days — from 3.9 percent to 7.8 percent, said Dr. Jay Varma, senior public health adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“Um, we’ve never seen this before in #NYC,” Varma said in a tweet.
