Cobb County is preparing for an extended public health crisis by closing facilities and ordering many employees to work from home as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.
As of Monday, Cobb had the second-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 of any county in the state. Cobb's 22 cases include one death.
Over the weekend, county officials announced that senior centers, libraries and recreational facilities would remain closed indefinitely, but promised to keep essential services going.
“We’re not doing an overall county closure or shut down,” Deputy County Manager Jackie McMorris told commissioners during a special session Monday.
Instead, she said, Cobb would adopt “limited operational service” beginning Wednesday. Each department head will determine essential and nonessential personnel and services. The county government employs more than 5,000 people.
The intention of the changes is to limit face-to-face interactions, both among employees and the public, in line with public health recommendations to practice “social distancing” to slow the spread of the disease.
To that end, the board amended its inclement weather policy to apply to a broader range of emergencies, and updated its teleworking policy. It also adopted a brand new public health emergency policy specifically for COVID-19, including definitions of symptoms and exposure.
Fire Chief Randy Crider sought to remind the public that it was up to health care providers — not the county — to order coronavirus testing for specific cases amid a shortage of testing supplies.
“We’ve had a lot of people calling our public safety departments asking, ‘Where can I get tested? How do I go about getting tested?” he said.
He also said the county should prepare to take a financial hit.
“We want to identify and document direct and indirect cost,” Crider said. “Obviously, there’s going to be some cost that we take on as a result of what we’re experiencing.”
Other public safety measures taken by the county include removing the police and fire department from most 911 medical calls, and implementing specific measures for first responders who come in contact with a potentially infected person.
Additional actions include: Closing most public lobbies and transitioning all departments that take payments to online billing or alternative payment; implementing a six-foot buffer between employees and members of the public in lobbies that must remain open; no longer taking reservations for events at county-owned facilities; keeping outdoor parks open; indefinitely closing Cobb County’s administrative building at 100 Cherokee St.; only dealing with “essential matters” at county courthouses; and frequently disinfecting of buildings and buses.
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