BEAVER — Employees in four departments at the Beaver County Courthouse have tested positive for COVID-19, causing numerous employees throughout the courthouse to quarantine pending test results.

Beaver County Commissioners Chairman Daniel Camp said that at least one employee in the offices of the controller, district attorney, prothonotary and sheriff have tested positive for the virus. In total, 13 county employees have tested positive as of Tuesday afternoon. Numerous other employees who were deemed to have close contact with those who tested positive have been sent for testing and are quarantining pending test results. More than 800 employees work at the Beaver County Courthouse.

“The courthouse is still operating business as usual,” Camp said. “We’re following recommendations from the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the Pennsylvania Department of Health when it comes to quarantining and testing if someone is a close contact. We will remain open and encourage everyone to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing when they can.”

County officials say the cases in the prothonotary’s office are not related to the other positive cases. Camp said a single employee in the controller’s office tested positive but that case was traced to a personal interaction rather than at the courthouse. Sheriff Tony Guy said he has one deputy who has tested positive and seven others who are quarantining while waiting for test results.

The deputy who tested positive is related to one of the positive cases in the district attorney’s office, officials said. District Attorney David Lozier said there are two separate exposures in his office. One, among his detectives, is related to an Emergency Services Unit team deployment last week, he said.

“Part of one of the ESU teams were impacted by an ESU search warrant call last week,” Lozier said. “It impacted my office, several police departments and the sheriff’s office as six individuals were exposed.”

A second exposure happened among the assistant district attorneys, Lozier said. He would not confirm how many employees were quarantining, and said he has “several” positive cases in his office.

The number of county employees quarantining spurred President Judge Richard Mancini to issue an order Tuesday postponing a handful of hearings and trials until January. The judge also put restrictions in place on who can attend criminal Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition and plea hearings throughout November.

“The court’s judicial order gives flexibility moving forward,” Lozier said. “We recognize that this outbreak is hitting the whole county. It may be hitting defendants, police and others throughout the next few weeks.

“While my office is rapidly recovering, we need to be flexible going forward to keep the public and employees safe.”

Camp said the Beaver County Courthouse has increased its cleaning protocols and is continuing to clean regularly.