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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County will be hiring two part-time employees in its human resources office to assist with the increasing number of COVID-19 reports.
The county office is fielding about 30 to 40 emails a day and a steady flow of phone calls from the county's 550 employees, Human Resources Director Katherine Swigart reported Thursday to the salary board.
"The reality is that you have three people in HR who are being run ragged," Swigart said. "We need helpers."
The salary board, made up of commissioners Bruce Erb, Amy Webster, Laura Burke and Controller A.C. Stickel, voted in favor of creating the two positions at $12 an hour, for 19 hours a week.
Both positions were capped at 999 hours to exclude them from pension eligibility and related expenses.
While neither position was budgeted for 2021, Swigart suggested that money from the federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act could be used to cover the expense.
Erb said that's not an option under the current CARES Act ending Dec. 31. Lawmakers have proposed some measures that could offer additional relief, but so far, nothing has drawn a consensus.
Swigart said her office, in March, established an email address for employees to use in reporting COVID-19 symptoms and testing information. The amount of submissions through that email address, she said, was manageable until October.
As employees report symptoms and test results, she said her office attempts to identify other employees who may have been exposed, if they should isolate and/or quarantine and when they can return to work.
Her office also addresses employees' sick leave options and eligibility under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act for financial help.
Swigart provided no numbers on how many employees have tested positive for COVID-19 or have reported potential exposure.
"It began getting heavier in October and didn't let up through November," she said.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.