Some City of Burnaby employees may be working from home as early as mid-week next week, according to city manager Lambert Chu, as officials around the country and the world work to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Chu confirmed the veracity of an email obtained by the NOW, in which he updated city staff on the situation surrounding the recently emerged strain of the coronavirus, which was labelled a global pandemic by the World Health Organization this week.
“The city is reviewing a work from home policy that will apply to employees who are approved to work from home due to circumstances related to the COVID-19 situation,” Chu wrote in his email.
In a brief interview, Chu elaborated that officials hope a plan will be put into place in a matter of days, and he said the city and union have brokered an income protection plan for employees not covered by the city’s sick benefits.
Also in the email, Chu told staff the city has opened a Level 1 Emergency Operations Centre, to be led by public safety director Dave Critchley.
“Dave will be supported by a team of city staff in the areas of planning, logistics, operations, documentation, communication and risk management,” Chu wrote, adding Critchley would be providing staff with updates on emergency measures in the city “and how they would affect city operations, events and businesses.”
“I will continue to brief council on the developing situation and obtain council approval and authority as needed.”
The city is also freezing all employee travel related to training and conferences, adding it would review previously approved trips on a case-by-case basis.
According to the federal government, there were 46 confirmed cases in B.C. and 112 in Canada as of Thursday, March 12.
The B.C. government also recommended Thursday against non-essential travel outside of Canada, including the U.S., and innumerable events have been cancelled in recent days.
Earlier in the week, Chu informed staff of an employee who voluntarily self-isolated after attending a North Shore retirement community affected by the virus. In that case, at the Lynn Valley Care Centre, one resident died as a result of the virus.
The employee was not believed to have been infected by the virus, Chu said.
