FENWICK ISLAND – While it’s more or less business as usual for the town of Fenwick Island, officials are taking measures to protect their employees with a new workforce policy.
Last Friday, the Fenwick Island Town Council voted unanimously to adopt a COVID-19 policy that would allow employees non-chargeable sick time if they or a dependent family member are diagnosed with, or under observation or quarantine for, the novel coronavirus.
“The people that are sick with COVID-19, or attending to someone who is sick with COVID-19, basically will not be charged a sick leave for at least 14 work days,” Town Manager Terry Tieman said. “Even if they were attending to a family member, that would also apply.”
Tieman said the town borrowed the concept for a COVID-19 policy from the town of Georgetown. She noted that the policy had also been reviewed by the town solicitor.
“This is a policy I never thought we would have to adopt …,” she said. “Well employees will still be expected to work, unless there is a case of confirmed COVID-19 in which they are required to self-isolate, if they are in a Center for Disease Control level three area of concern for COVID-19, or if they are instructed to refrain from attending work by their personal physician or public health officials.”
Tieman said employees who are out sick will be asked to enter absences on their timesheets for recording purposes.
“This is just to monitor because we may be asked to report that for reimbursement purposes,” she said. “When they return to work, they would have to return to work with a written medical clearance.”
With no further discussion, the council voted 7-0 to adopt the COVID-19 policy, which will go into effect immediately.
“So far, and I’m very thankful for this, no one in our workgroup has had any symptoms,” Tieman said. “We are very lucky.”
For the most part, officials said the town would continue its normal operations. It should be noted, however, that town hall, the Cannon Street playground and basketball court, and the beach remain closed.
“We have mailed out and will be mailing out parking tags rather than coming to town hall to pick them up,” Mayor Gene Langan said. “There’s also going to be a drop box set up where you can put checks and things like that. We know we still have to conduct business, and we want to accommodate you and our residents.”
Langan also praised Governor John Carney for communicating with the towns on a weekly basis.
“I’ve got to tell you that the governor and his staff have been very open and sharing information with all the towns,” he said. “They have at least two conference calls a week with the mayors and bring us up to date on everything.”
In Delaware, Carney has declared a state of emergency and ordered all non-essential businesses to close. This week, he also ordered all out-of-state travelers into Delaware to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Fenwick Island officials issued a statement last week urging residents to stay home and practice social distancing.
“The demographics of our Town include a majority over the age of 60, the most vulnerable age at risk to be infected with the Coronavirus,” the statement reads. “We live in a very small community with limited hospitalization facilities that cannot handle the potential number of illnesses this crisis may bring. Although the county numbers of those infected remain low, trends across the nation show an exponential rise in cases from the very first illness, thus the critical nature of this virus. We do not want the virus to spread amongst us.”
Councilman Bill Weistling said he was concerned about the upcoming summer season.
“If this virus continues in the summertime, there’s a strong possibility we could be devastated down here with the lack of facilities and doctors down here to handle all of this,” he said. “It’s something to keep in the back of the mind going forward.”
