COUNTY NEWS
Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess announced this week that the County will continue the Essential Services status that began mid-March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to Governor Michelle-Lujan Grisham’s executive order, which was extended through April 30.
“I am pleased to report that things are operating smoothly under the existing system that we put into place on March 17,” Burgess said, “I would especially like to thank our County employees, who have responded heroically to this challenging situation while maintaining high levels of customer service. We will continue operating with a ‘skeleton crew’ through the end of April that greatly minimizes or eliminates interactions with the public. By doing so, we can keep our workforce as safe as possible, while maintaining reserves in the event that employees become ill.”
Burgess said there has been no change to his previous direction to employees on March 17:
- Employees providing essential services who have the ability to work from home (telecommute) will continue to be assigned work.
- Employees providing essential services who have a job that requires them to be in the field, such as public safety or utilities’ workers, will report to work as scheduled.
- All other employees who provide non-essential services, as defined and determined by Department Directors and with approval from the County Manager, will remain at home. They will be on special Emergency Paid Leave status, must be in contact with their Supervisor daily, and could be recalled to work at any time
Customer service windows within County facilities are still closed to over-the-counter transactions and communication with County employees is being provided via phone or e-mail. Individuals should not travel to County facilities without first phoning the department they wish to visit to inquire about their current level of services, restrictions on visits, and any other information they can share about their transaction. In many cases, services are available on-line and members of the public will be directed to these resources. If an in-person visit is urgent and necessary, an appointment will be scheduled by phone or e-mail.
“We have been fortunate so far that we only have two positive test cases of the COVID-19 virus in Los Alamos, but this pandemic is just now beginning to emerge and impact local communities across New Mexico,” said Burgess, “We will continue to support the Governor’s urgent message for all New Mexico residents to remain at home and maintain social distancing of six feet or more if travel within Los Alamos is absolutely necessary. We are also encouraging the use of face coverings for our employees out in the field, to keep them and the public safe, as the Governor and Centers for Disease Control have suggested.”
Burgess said that he would continue to assess the situation and update his directive to all employees at the end of April. He reminded the public that the County posts COVID-19 updates on the County’s website and encouraged residents to check the website daily for new posts: