BEND — Seven Central Oregon law enforcement deputies attending the state police academy in Salem were sent home after a fellow recruit exhibited signs of COVID-19.

Local agencies say the deputies are being monitored and have not exhibited symptoms of the fast-spreading and potentially fatal virus.

On Tuesday, the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training announced it had suspended training classes and sent home approximately 300 recruits after two academy students — neither of whom is from Central Oregon — showed symptoms of coronavirus. One of the two was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, but was allowed to return to the academy after an evaluation.

The student tested positive for pneumonia, but results for COVID-19 test are not back yet.

Five of the deputies work for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which has placed them on a 14-day quarantine. If the police academy’s student tests negative for COVID-19, the Jefferson County deputies will return to work, according to Undersheriff Marc Heckathorn.

Three of the deputies on leave are assigned to patrol, while two are in corrections. One of the five was staying in the same dormitory as the man who left in an ambulance.

With only 30 total deputies — 10 in patrol and 20 in corrections — having five out of service hurts, said Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins.

“I’m down to the bare bones right now, as far as staffing is concerned,” he said.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office also had a deputy sent home from the academy, though spokesman Sgt. William Bailey said the deputy is not being quarantined.

“We are following the guidance of Marion County Health and Human Services,” Bailey wrote in an email.

At the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, a recent graduate of the academy has been told to self-monitor, according to Sheriff John Gautney.

“The deputy had no direct contact with the person from the academy, so this has been only a precaution,” Gautney said. “That deputy has had no symptoms and will continue to monitor for a short time more.”

Though recruits are not yet licensed police officers, they are still employees of their respective agencies, and those agencies have handled the matter in different ways, according to the head of the police training agency, Eriks Gabliks.

Portland Police Bureau has put its 20 recruits to work answering phones and writing reports at headquarters.