A metro Atlanta city that closed its City Hall due to employees catching COVID-19 during the holidays plans to reopen the building this month.
Avondale Estates announced it will reopen its City Hall on Feb. 14. City employees have been working from home since late December due to multiple employees testing positive for COVID-19′s omicron variant during the holiday surge in cases. Residents have not been allowed to enter the building.
In a statement, city leaders said they’re “monitoring the COVID-19 case load and hospitalizations in the state of Georgia, as well as staff infections” during the transition. The city also purchased N95 masks and rapid tests for employees.
“We look forward to returning to in-person work at City Hall,” the statement said. “Thank you for your support.”
According to the latest data from the DeKalb County Board of Health, the number of COVID-19 cases began decreasing across the county by mid-January. This matches the data from most Georgia counties, which saw a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases at the end of the year due to the omicron surge.
While City Hall remains closed, city meetings will remain on virtual platforms. Public works employees are also working with staggered crews at a lower capacity. Residents are asked to move their garbage containers to the curb by 7 a.m. daily, since back-door sanitation collection is suspended.
Multiple other DeKalb County cities followed in Avondale Estates’ footsteps by taking new COVID-19 precautions at the end of 2021.
Dunwoody gave itself the ability to hold virtual meetings via a local emergency ordinance, but the city has continued with in-person meetings. Brookhaven shifted to virtual meetings in early January, and the city has an emergency ordinance set to expire at the end of February. Clarkston also closed its buildings to the public and its meetings have remained virtual since early January.
Other cities, such as Stone Mountain and Stonecrest, have remained virtual since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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