San Mateo County cities, agencies cope with rising COVID-19 cases

San Mateo has dealt with increased internal cases, including having the Police and Public Works departments deal with positive cases affecting operations over the past few weeks. The positive cases have resulted in adjusted police operations, including pausing some specialty assignments to shift resources to patrol, Corbett said. San Mateo police spokesperson Officer Allison Gilmore said the police department is adjusting to the new normal. She noted the department was up to date with planning and preparation for staffing losses. She said she could not give details about where assignments were being adjusted or specific numbers about COVID cases.

“Like always, the San Mateo Police Department has adapted to the challenges brought by COVID-19,” Gilmore said.

Public Works has dealt with both heavy rains and positive cases affecting operations. San Mateo is focusing on weather-related maintenance, with preventative maintenance a lower priority currently, Corbett said. Public Works Director Azalea Mitch said by email that the department had contingency plans to ensure Public Works continues to provide services, particularly those related to life and safety.

“With the wet weather, our crews have focused primarily on maintaining our stormwater and wastewater systems running, clearing out catch basins, addressing localized flooding problems, and operating the city’s wastewater treatment plant. We are also following up on calls from residents and addressing critical issues throughout the city,” Mitch said.

The omicron variant was first detected in South Africa and has found its way to California and the Bay Area. The county’s total COVID-19 case count is 67,141, but 12,072 cases have occurred in the past 30 days. The days after Christmas saw more than 1,000 cases a day, significantly higher than early December. Those numbers are nearly double the peak number of cases recorded last December. San Mateo County Health Officials have previously said the county will likely see high case volume over the coming weeks.

San Mateo originally planned to have City Hall employees return to a more set schedule Jan. 3, but case increases led to the postponement until at least Feb. 7. The city will also continue remote council meetings, including its Jan. 29 strategic planning workshop. San Mateo is also allowing city employees through March to continue using the state COVID supplemental paid sick leave benefits. It had originally been expected to conclude at the end of December. Since it began, 102 San Mateo employees have used an average of 23 hours of leave, according to Corbett.

San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Detective Javier Acosta said it was seeing a surge of infections among staff and all divisions, like the rest of the country. The Sheriff’s Office is filling in the gaps with overtime from healthy staff and was encouraging all healthy people to pitch in and contribute.

“The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is doing everything possible to keep staffing levels where they are supposed to be and to continue to serve and protect San Mateo County,” Acosta said.

Burlingame City Manager Lisa Goldman said by email some of its departments had experienced staffing shortages in the past two weeks due to people out sick with COVID or quarantined because of exposure. The two Burlingame departments seeing the most significant staffing impacts are Public Works and Parks Maintenance. Goldman did not have any specific numbers on staffing shortages, as it changes daily. However, there had been no public impact from the shortages. Goldman said the city is encouraging city workers who can work from home to do so at least part of the week, if feasible. Burlingame City Hall remains open.

Half Moon Bay City Manager Bob Nisbet said the city does not have any staffing shortages, but the city was interested in buying rapid tests in bulk to provide to staff and other people in the community and working with the county to address any COVID issues.

“To some degree, we probably do mirror what’s going on at the county level and regionally, but I would only be speculating,” Nisbet said.

Millbrae spokesperson Justine Bleeker said by email Millbrae has a few employees out due to COVID but has not had to make changes, with City Hall remaining open. Millbrae has purchased rapid tests and is testing employees regularly.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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