Council prepared for an outbreak of Omicron

Published on 31 January 2022

Making sure council services remain available for all members of the community has been Waitaki District Council’s key driver throughout the Covid pandemic, and this won’t change should there be an outbreak of Omicron in the community. Council staff have been making risk assessments and contingency plans since before Christmas so that if there is a widespread outbreak in the community, essential services would continue.

“If there is a widespread outbreak here, we aim to keep providing essential services to the community,” says Chief Executive Alex Parmley. These include maintaining key infrastructure such as water treatment plants, animal control, road repairs, processing consents and other customer services at our facilities such as libraries and other cultural facilities. 

Since the start of the global pandemic, Waitaki District Council has activated a business continuity planning team who have been focused on how Council can ensure it is still able to meet the needs of residents. Services may operate at a reduced capacity if staff or contractors fall ill or need to isolate – so it might take longer to fix a small water leak, for example - but lifeline services will remain priorities.

“We know our residents might be concerned that a significant outbreak here could mean we don’t have the staff available to maintain levels of service,” said Mr Parmley. “Our planning has enabled us to check our core resilience, model swapping skilled staff from one team to another, while other staff work from home in order to reduce the risk of the workplace becoming a locale for infection. Systems have been put in place to ensure that if staff do get sick, the virus spread is limited, and we have other staff ready and available to fill their shoes.”

Despite this planning, Waitaki residents should be prepared for possible temporary facility closures or reduced levels of service.

“There is a possibility that due to staff shortages through illness or the need to isolate we may need to temporarily close a council facility, reduce some service levels, or pause some services. However, we will be working with staff and contractors to avoid this as far as possible and limit the impact on residents.  Should any temporary closures or reductions in service be necessary, we ask for your forbearance. Know it won’t be for long.”

Details regarding Council services under the various COVID Protection Framework settings can be found on the WDC website simply by typing 'Covid' into the search bar. Any changes to availability of facilities and levels of services will be well notified, should they be necessary.