Virginia Beach requires city employees to self-report symptoms after 39 recently test positive for COVID-19

Virginia Beach city employees are required to report if they are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms each day before they start work.

Soon employees will be able to upload that information to a digital platform so city leaders and department heads can easily track the data. The rollout of this technology comes after at least 83 employees contracted coronavirus.

Across the city, Virginia Beach, has reported 4,529 total cases as of today — which is more than any other locality in the Hampton Roads region. The city saw a noticeable uptick in July, and that was also evident when it came to the city’s staff.

“The month of July has resulted in more positive cases among our workforce than we had in the months of March, April, May and June combined,” City Manager Patrick Duhaney said in a letter to the City Council on Friday.

Thirty-nine of the city’s more than 7,000 employees currently have COVID-19, said Scott Kalis, the city’s occupational safety and health services manager.

The city has encouraged teleworking to reduce the spread of the virus. Inside offices, cleaning is happening more often and physical barriers, such as clear separation shields, have been installed in some areas. Workers are required to wear masks when unable to stay 6 feet from others.

In early March, the city began providing paid time off to employees with medical needs related to COVID-19 to encourage them to stay home to stop the spread. Workers were also offered child care to help them continue to work.

In April, the city began tracking COVID-19 cases among first responders, who have experienced many of the COVID-19 cases because those employees have a lot of interactions with the public, Kalis said.

Now the city is expanding the online tracking technology to all departments to document where outbreaks are occurring and how many employees are taking time off of work to recover from COVID-19, Kalis said. He manages the database and said the identifying information about individual employees will not be shared with other employees or managers.

After employees enter their health info, “the platform will provide immediate feedback to employees as to whether they need to remain at home and seek medical attention or if they are to report to work,” Duhaney said.

“The city government is what keeps the city running,” Kalis said. “We are here to provide a service and we can’t do that if our workforce is sick.”

Alissa Skelton, 757-222-5155, alissa.skelton@pilotonline.com.

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