Social distancing comes somewhat naturally for the Guthrie County Secondary Roads Department, but the staff is working diligently to limit physical interaction and the possible spread of COVID-19.

County Engineer Josh Sebern says he’s changed a few of the processes within his department to adhere to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s guidelines, such as eliminating gatherings of his staff in the morning and afternoon, and communicating more through radios and other electronic methods. Sebern says they’ve also been constantly cleaning their equipment, and trying to limit operators’ movements to simply in and out from their personal vehicle to their machinery, “That’s what we try to do, as much as we can, there are some jobs that we have that are heavy. (It) takes a couple guys to change blades and do those things. So we’re doing as much as we can with that and even then, we’re minimizing contact as much as we can, minimizing personnel in the shop and sanitizing in between each one of those occurrences.”

Sebern says he and his other office staff are still working at the department building pending further guidance from Guthrie County Public Health, but he says they are equipped to perform office tasks remotely if necessary. Sebern emphasizes that public health has done a great job so far in advising the County departments, and secondary roads employees strive to perform their duties as normal.