Coronavirus infects East Point first responders; city considers hazard pay
27 confirmed cases in city as officials take steps to protect employees, residents
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Five first responders in East Point have been infected with COVID-19, a sign of how the coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on the city’s frontline workers.
The five infections among public safety workers come as East Point has also seen 27 confirmed cases of the virus in the city. It’s a small batch of the nearly 2,000 overall cases in Fulton County but the first public indication of the pandemic’s impact in the city.
The number of cases was made public on Monday as City Manager Frederick Gardiner briefed the City Council on East Point’s response to the pandemic.
“It’s been challenging for these guys,” Gardiner said about the city’s firefighters and police officers. “We’ve run into some issues. We still have one that is still in care that’s been gone for over a month with this issue.”
Gardiner didn’t indicate which agency the infected employees work in. But he added some infected public safety employees have recovered and are back to work.
As recently as April 3, police Chief Tommy Gardner said his agency had no reported cases of coronavirus.
The disclosure of the coronavirus cases – among public safety employees and East Point residents – comes as the city continues to combat the pandemic. But some of the city’s most aggressive actions – including shutting down a long list of businesses and imposing a curfew – were upended by Gov. Brian Kemp’s shelter-in-place order.
Hazard pay coming for essential employees
The city is finalizing details of providing hazard pay to frontline employees for April, May and June, Gardiner (photo) told the council on Monday. Some 230 employees would receive the pay boost if it includes firefighters, police and sanitation workers, Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham said.
City officials have not said how much the hazard pay will cost.
“We will be doing some type of hazard pay for our first responders and our essential employees and we will be rolling that out hopefully fairly soon,” Gardiner said.
Atlanta is paying $500 per month and 24 hours of compensatory time per week to more than 5,400 frontline workers, including employees in public safety, water and sewer, parks and recreation and sanitation. DeKalb is providing a pay boost to 3,500 county workers, including those in public safety, sanitation and water departments. On April 6, College Park finalized hazard pay of $250 to $500 in monthly bonuses for about 150 essential employees.
East Point is also taking other steps to help its essential employees. Public safety and sanitation employees are wearing protective gear during the pandemic. And police officers and firefighters now have access to a state-generated list of addresses of COVID-19 patients in the city so they can be prepared when responding to emergency calls.
City conducting welfare checks on seniors
The city also worked with local agencies and residents to compile a list of 200 seniors and vulnerable residents. Now, battalion chiefs from the fire department perform welfare checks on them.
“They are staying by themselves and even though neighbors tend to check on them, we just want to make sure that they are OK,” Gardiner said.
The city is also ordering 5,000 masks and gloves for city employees to be used once they return to work. City buildings were closed to the public in mid-March. Gardiner said when city buildings re-open, he wants to make sure employees are safe.
“Operating in a way in which is safe for our employees is going to be paramount for us,” Gardiner said.
“If we have to we will make it mandatory that every employee that walks into a city building is wearing a mask and gloves,” he added.
Managers may even be instructed to take the temperatures of employees every morning, Gardiner said. Common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough.
‘Events for 2020 should stop’
But don’t expect city buildings to open and be fully staffed anytime soon.
Kemp’s statewide shelter-in-place order is in effect through the end of April. With Georgia not expected to see a peak in coronavirus cases until then or early May, Kemp could extend the order. If not, the city could again take its own actions.
Gardiner said he expects the city’s summer programs for youth to be canceled and public events to be shelved until next year.
“My recommendation to this is I think any events for 2020 should stop,” he said.
Check out all the coverage of how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting East Point.