I'm behind on all the links posted on the forum again. Will try to catch up today. Thought I'd talk a bit about what's happening behind the scenes in the courts.
I work in a building with six floors. Our department takes up an entire floor and is a mix of courtrooms, a front office area with glass partitions - (where the public check-in for appointments, make inquiries or payments, and request forms or submit documents); offices - (for administrators, judges, and commissioners, also for probation officers who regularly meet with clients); and a back office area - (for calendar coordinators and clerks that consists of cubicles, file walls and multiple file rooms).
In preparation for the "shelter in place" period, all jury trials and most hearings were cancelled to be rescheduled in the future. In-person probation appointments were shifted to phone appointments, and we shifted from fully staffed status to a rotating skeleton crew.
Jury trials were cancelled. Required hearings were done via phone conferencing. Jail related hearings were done via video or phone conferencing. Not sure which.
At the same time, our department provided us with disinfectant wipes, goggles, and gloves to be used as needed. Masks were ordered (but are still on backorder). I set up a cleaning station for smart phones that consisted of alcohol and cotton balls. All frequently used surfaces that need to be disinfected daily were marked with yellow tape for the facilities staff.
Within our back office, narrow walkways are lined with caution tape and signs stating "pass through only, no stopping". The public hallway is marked every 6 feet so people know how far to distance. Flowers were attached to stick pens for use by the public only. All stick pens throughout the department were thrown away and replaced with click pens for department staff use only. A station with forms and a drop off box, and two phone stations were set up outside our department doors so the public can talk with us directly as needed.
Not long after that, the building was, for the most part, closed to the public.
Last week, our department returned to fully staffed status.
All staff and the public are now required to wash hands prior to entering the building and to wear a mask in public areas of the building. The public is also required to wash hands prior to entering the courtrooms. And I believe benches in each courtroom are marked to insure proper distancing.
We've yet to receive the masks we ordered, so a sewing machine and supplies were provided to make fabric masks. A small work group is making and distributing them to the entire department.
I have five or six masks now, two professionally made by local businesses. Those use a denser fabric, are double layered, and when hand washed, dry overnight. The rest are made with thinner cotton fabric, also double layered, but seem to take longer to dry for reasons I don't understand. Perhaps I didn't wring the water out of them adequately.
When I hold the masks up to a bright light, I can see light shining through holes in the two layers of fabric. I'm doubtful as to how well they protect others from us. (Even N95 masks aren't completely protective).
The masks are hot and make it harder to breath. When I'm at my work station, I take the mask off. When I'm walking through the office, or in the public areas, I put the mask on. At first, I felt comfortable talking with co-workers briefly when wearing the mask, but increasingly, I feel less so. I change to a clean mask daily. We're been encouraged to communicate via phone or email with one another rather than in person.
Initially, we really made an effort to maintain 6 feet distance, and more recently, wearing our masks. But even so, it's hard to consistently maintain those two protective measures. Today, some do all the time, some don't, and most of us fall somewhere in between. It's sometimes intentional, often not. It just happens.
Three of us became briefly ill during the first week of March, but quickly recovered. Two with a really upset stomach, and I had a sore throat that improved over four days. A few weeks ago, another co-worker became ill but tested negative for COVID-19. I believe we'll see a new round of illnesses when flu season resumes this October.
Last week, additional steps were taken. All walkways in our back office area were marked with directional arrows with tape on the carpet - (walkways are all one way now) - and mirrors are being installed to stop or minimize staff from intersecting with one another while moving through the office. We're all making a good effort, but for those who bounce back and forth between multiple work areas throughout the day, it's particularly challenging.
I continue to pack in all my filtered water and food for the day so I don't have to use the water cooler, refrigerator, or microwave. We all continue to wash our hands multiple times throughout the day.
We're slowly resuming hearings with both the staff and public required to wash hands, distance, and wear a mask. In addition, the public has access to our court cashiers prior to, during, and after each hearing that has resumed, then closes again. At some point we'll have to resume all hearings, jury trials too. Not sure what impact that will have on our department. We likely won't be on the other side of this until next May.