As you have likely seen, on Monday, we announced a presumptive positive case of COVD-19 in Arlington. While the overall risk remains low in the County, we realize there is growing concern over the coronavirus and its potential impact. Keeping our community and employees safe is our number one priority. We will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will take necessary steps as needed. We are also actively reviewing our plans to ensure continuity of critical services to the community should the need arise.
One important element of our planning is to help ensure that employees who have jobs where telework is appropriate have the tools and resources available to do that successfully if the need develops. This need could arise year-round – not just for the COVID-19 situation.
I am asking that all departments conduct a “Telework Trial Run” on Wednesday, March 11, Thursday, March 12, or Friday, March 13. All employees who are telework eligible should coordinate with their supervisors to arrange their telework day.
If you are a regular teleworker, this will be a normal telework day. For those who do not normally telework, this is a great opportunity to try it. Below are resources and tools for successful telework.
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Telework Quick Refence Guide - Pre-telework checklist & step-by-step guide for mobile work
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Know how to forward your phone. Review the instructions on AC Commons
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Have projects available that could be worked on remotely
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Check voicemail periodically during a telework day if you are unable to forward.
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This allows you to stay connected. To access your voicemail from outside the office, dial 703-228-3300. When you hear the system greeting, press * and then your four-digit extension.
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Visit the Flexwork pages on AC Commons- tutorials, resources and tools for telework
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Take an online training course
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
MFA is the added layer of protection to verify it is you accessing your account. If you’re already enrolled in multi-factor authentication (MFA), you don’t need to do anything. However now might be a good time to login and verify your settings are still correct. If you haven’t enrolled, please do so now.
We are continually monitoring the situation and will keep you updated as we receive more information. I want to stress that we need to be prepared, but not panicked as this situation continues to develop. I am requiring that all staff returning from travel to/through one of the countries that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified as high risk for COVID-19 must stay at home for 14 days before returning to work (read the full message). You can also get up-to-date information from Arlington’s Public Health Department and the CDC. Thank you for all you do.
Sincerely,
Mark J. Schwartz
County Manager
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