City operations continue unabated in light of the coronavirus pandemic, although there has been a recent strain on staff.
According to the Human Resources Department, the city has had over 60 staffers take COVID-related leave since the pandemic started in late March. Twelve of those were for the pay period that ended this past Saturday, with employees affected in the police, fire, human resources, water service and street departments. Specific numbers by department are not being released. Fourteen employees have tested positive since late March, with five in the last pay period.
On KVOE’s Newsmaker segment Wednesday, Mayor Danny Giefer says there has been some good news in that there has been no employee-to-employee transmission and city services have kept operating.
COVID leave can include positive cases and close contact quarantines. It also includes people who have to take time off to care for children without school or daycare.
Human Resources Director Jo Lynne Herron says the city works “lean and efficiently” with no excess labor in any department. She also says it’s important for employees to do their best to keep other staffers safe and infection-free so the city can still offer all the services that residents deserve. Giefer says the city was proactive in March, with staffers starting a lot of “what-if” planning on the budget and other operations that is paying off now.
Separately, Giefer discussed both the potential change in the city’s mask ordinance to align with the Lyon County ordinance two weeks ago and the enforceability of the ordinance. Giefer says the ordinance is enforceable, countering significant concerns from others, including Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman and Newman Regional Health Director Bob Wright, but he also says city residents by and large have done well in following the guidelines and he says the current situation could have been far worse if the city had not enacted the mask mandate in August.
