COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Branch County Administrator Bud Norman has announced that effective Monday, the County will be implementing a system of progressive essential services.
Branch County will continue to provide services to its constituents but Departments will have a reduced staff in order to decrease the number of employees in a contained area and increase physical distance between employees. This allows for a replacement team if the active “essential services” team is compromised or exposed to the COVID-19 or becomes sick. In addition, this will also allow for team rotation to increase capability of ensuring continuity of operations.
The County anticipated moving to this step if one of three scenarios took place and two of those scenarios happened over the weekend. The State of Michigan announced on Sunday there were over 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Calhoun County. The third scenario involved the number of Michigan deaths exceeding ten. At last report, there have been nine deaths in Michigan from COVID-19.
Elected and Department Officials were told last Thursday to initiate final plans for a potential “essential services” scenario. The plans were discussed in a non-contact telephone conference call on Friday and a notification of the “essential services” step was communicated to employees on Sunday.
Norman says this move is a progressive step following the closure of county buildings to the public that went in effect at the end of business last Tuesday.
