COVID-19 and Reopening City Services

Reopening facilities like city halls and parks while continuing to find ways to reduce coronavirus spread is a task presenting plenty of challenges for city and town governments. With local governments operating in an entirely new situation, there are plenty of questions facing leaders about how to operate public facilities as safely as possible. 

To help, the Risk Management Services of the Municipal Association of SC has developed a list of considerations for leaders to find the best ways to protect both the public and their employees. The continually-updated list now covers many ideas for minimizing contacts that could lead to contagion, setting up cautionary signage and establishing procedures for ongoing cleaning of public areas. 

In many places, parks and recreation facilities are reopening, creating questions for officials about how to best clean playgrounds and gyms, establish new rules for team sports programs and youth camps and manage swimming pools. The checklist also offers ideas for administering these facilities and services as well. 

Beyond the short return-to-work checklist, Risk Management Staff has also pulled together a variety of resources on reopening public buildings, parks and recreation programs and facilities, attractions and municipal court operations. The material comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the governor’s accelerateSC task force and others. 

Find all of the Municipal Association’s coronavirus resources on topics ranging from emergency governance issues to budget planning and business support on this webpage.