Covid: A Cincinnati Emergency

“ensure full quality fire service in the coming weeks”

NYT reports the Cincinnati Fire Department will operate under an emergency decree by Mayor John Cranley as Covid-19 surges there.

Twenty-seven members are out sick with Covid, with twenty others out, as well.

(Full staffing is 774.)

Fire Chief Michael A. Washington requested the decree which will apparently suspend union agreements limiting department action around staffing.

Cancelled vacations and mandatory overtime are the likely result.

It’s not known whether the union will challenge the decree in court.

Covid-19 has posed a staffing challenge for many fire departments, some have attempted to retain the status quo while others have placed units out of service to deal with shortages.

Montgomery County, Maryland reported last night they are temporarily standing down two companies as they readjust staffing because of Covid-19 vacancies.

The Omicron variant is dealing a harsh blow to the mid-Atlantic and midwest.