BRYAN, Texas — The City of Bryan is responding to a story KAGS News first brought you last week regarding COVID-19 exposure and the Bryan Firefighter's Association.
The city released the following statement through email:
The City of Bryan is committed to the health, safety, and well-being of our first responders, as well as to all of our employees, while remaining fiscally responsible to the citizens of Bryan. The City follows all laws relating to protection of its employees. It is important to note that the Bryan Fire Department has successfully operated with full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and safety measures and has had no COVID-19 exposures to date. Recently, the Bryan Firefighters Association president has made public statements that State Law, specifically Texas Government Code 607, mandates that COVID-19 exposures are presumed to be covered as on-the-job illnesses or injuries for City of Bryan firefighters and first responders. Contrary to these statements, Texas law does NOT state that COVID-19 is automatically presumed to have been contracted on the job. Rather, Texas Workers’ Compensation law covers an exposure to COVID-19. The City of Bryan has always and will continue to follow that process. If the Texas Legislature changes the state law (Texas Government Code 607) to include COVID-19 in the list of illnesses which are presumed to be work-related, the City of Bryan will comply with that new law. Any information that states or implies the City is not following State law and does not plan to cover eligible work-related claims is inaccurate.
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We reached out to Kristen Waggoner, who is the communications director for the City of Bryan. She clarified the statement for us, saying the firefighter's association has been grouping Workers' Compensation law with Texas Code 607 in regards to COVID-19 exposure on the job. She said Workers' Compensation law and the 607 code are separate.
If a Bryan firefighter is exposed to COVID-19 on the job, it will be covered under worker's comp, not code 607, according to Waggoner.
This is a developing story. We will bring you more information soon.