Three municipal offices in Chatham-Kent will remain closed until next week after dozens of staff were possibly exposed to COVID-19.
The municipal service centres in Ridgetown, Tilbury and Dresden were closed on January 12 with rising numbers of staff under COVID-19 protocols. The municipality said on Tuesday that the offices will remain closed through January 26.
“The high transmissibility of the Omicron variant is leading to staffing issues across the general workforce and Chatham-Kent is no exception,” said Cathy Hoffman, GM and chief human resources officer with Chatham-Kent, in a news release. “We monitor the situation closely on a daily basis and are deploying our workforce to maximize safety of our employees and services to the community.”
There are currently 101 employees who are unable to work from the office due to COVID-19 protocols, however, 21 of them are working from home. The municipality said local residents may experience longer wait times for telephone inquiries due to the reduced staffing.
The Service Ontario offices in Chatham and Dresden will remain open by appointment only.
