Officials in central Ky. cities making plans in case COVID surge impacts staffing for city workers

RICHMOND, Ky. (WKYT) - After the past two years, many may be ringing in 2022 with some hesitancy.

“I think any community might fall victim to an outbreak at just a moment’s notice. So we recognize our susceptibility to that,” Georgetown Mayor Tom Prather said.

Mayor Prather says they’ve learned a lot since March of 2020, when city-wide, staffing levels were stressed. Even with a rise in cases, they feel more prepared, as employees have learned to help each other across departments.

“We made pretty good plans for back up workforce to be able to protect our citizens as best we can,” Mayor Prather said.

In Richmond, Mayor Robert Blythe says they found creative ways to keep the city staffed, like cross training employees.

“For example, those in Public Works each know the other’s job. In the finance department, for example, enough persons knew all of the jobs that were handled by the department that folks could just step right in and keep the work moving,” Mayor Blythe said.

All while keeping employees safe who need to quarantine.

“We’re not out of the woods yet. As we move into the new year, we have to move with caution still, we have to move with concern and we have to move with caring,” Mayor Blythe said.

We also reached out to a spokesperson with the city of Lexington. They said in a statement that they have been acting to manage issues since the pandemic began.