Are Fort Worth and other governments ready to operate remotely amid coronavirus pandemic?
Editor’s note: The name of Fort Worth spokeswoman Laken Rapier was misspelled in the original version of this story. (Updated at 10:18 a.m. March 18).
If the city of Fort Worth has to close all government buildings, most employees are ready to respond and to continue their work remotely.
“We’ve been quietly preparing for weeks,” said spokeswoman Laken Rapier. “Of course, there are many employees, including emergency responders, who simply can’t work remotely and have to come in.”
Some city employees assigned to COVID-19 response, including Rapier, have been working out the Joint Emergency Operations Center for at least a week. Anyone working in the 18,000-square-foot building, located a few blocks south of City Hall is screened for coronavirus related symptoms before entering.
Other government agencies across the state and in the nation’s capital have also been testing their emergency response and remote work systems. At the same time, misinformation of a national lockdown continues to spread online.
Misinformation
The National Security Council is warning Americans of a “FAKE” rumor circulating on social media that falsely claims President Donald Trump will impose a nationwide “mandatory quarantine.”
During a press conference Monday, Trump said his administration “may look at certain areas,” but it is not considering anything that would affect the whole country “at this time.”
A lockdown of six Bay Area counties in California started Tuesday morning and runs through April 7. The mayor’s office in San Francisco reassigned many employees to emergency response roles and directed many others to work remotely.
The spokeswoman for the mayor’s office in Fort Worth said the office has not heard anything about a national lockdown but have modified their natural disaster emergency scenario to fit COVID-19 response.
“If a tornado were to hit city hall, we have a scenario to continue operations,” said Rapier. “We took that scenario, and each department updated it with the current scenario.”
Some city employees have also been reassigned to the Joint Emergency Operations Center, where dozens of agencies and departments, including the mayor’s office have been coordinating disaster response activities. The center was co-founded by the city, Tarrant County and the Texas Department of Public Safety in 2011.
Employee leave
Despite what was a countywide ban on gatherings of more than 250 people, Fort Worth’s more than 6,700 city employees were back at work Monday morning.
On Friday, the city sent an email to their more than 6,700 employees explaining how they are handling employee leave related to COVID-19.
Employees who are sent home for a mandatory quarantine or for self-isolation will receive pay for 14 days or until they test positive for COVID-19. After the 14-day mandatory quarantine, employees who cannot return to work can use their sick leave, vacation leave or comp time.
Employees who test positive can only return to work with a doctor’s release.
Employees can also solicit leave donations from others with approval of their department director. Parents staying home to care for a well child out of school can work from home or use personal leave with a supervisor’s approval.
Texas and federal employees
State and federal civil servants have also been preparing for potential mass closures and testing their remote working capabilities.
This past week, the Texas Comptroller’s Office had a successful test run of its 1,800 teleworking capabilities.
“We are all living and working in uncertain conditions,” wrote Comptroller Glenn Hegar in a news release. “While panic will only exacerbate problems, taking practical, pragmatic steps now can ensure we maintain healthy working conditions and safeguard the continuity of critical state functions.”
On March 9, Eric Hargan deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wrote in a memo to staff that the agency was “evaluating and actively testing our IT systems to ensure we are prepared for greater than usual telework if required,” according to a Federal Times Report.
The Report surveyed more than two dozen federal agencies, including the Census Bureau and IRS and asked if they have performed stress tests on their networks.
At least one agency, NASA, held an agency-wide test for its mass teleworking preparedness.
Pending relief
A COVID-19 crisis bill package pending in the U.S. Senate would allocate key resources for counties, including unemployment aid and paid sick or medical leave.
House Bill 6201 establishes an Emergency Paid Leave Program that replaces a significant share of lost wages so that those who take leave to avoid spreading the virus or who take leave due to illness or caregiving responsibilities can pay their bills.
Employers with fewer than 500 employees and government employers will be required to provide two weeks of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate to facilitate self-quarantines and help those who might be infected to get tested or seek preventive care for coronavirus.
The bill would also require employees to be paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate to care for a family member or to care for a child whose school has closed, or if a childcare provider is unavailable, due to the coronavirus.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
