After complaints by some employees of a slow response, the city of Chicago continues to take steps designed to help with prevention of the coronavirus.
Earlier this week, just one day after NBC 5 started asking questions about why the city had not communicated with employees about coronavirus precautions, Mayor Lori Lightfoot sent a citywide letter to every employee with guidelines on workplace safety, and what to do if they felt ill.
Some employees had complained that they faced shortages of supplies, and noted with some trepidation they had to share biometric scanners that read their fingerprints to enter departmental offices.
And now, just days after that story was first published, the city began installing hand sanitizers near those scanners.
“The health and wellness of both employees and the general public is the city’s top priority as it responds to the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019,” spokesman Hali Levandoski said in a statement. “As such, the Department of Assets, Information and Services, which oversees custodial services at public facing municipal buildings, is installing hand sanitizer dispensers at all locations.”
Levandoski, the spokesman for AIS, took special note of those entry devices.
“City employees are required to begin and end each day using biometric hand scanners,” she said. “Therefore, the city is taking additional steps to ensure increased cleaning of these scanners.”
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Employees welcomed the news, although one pointedly noted to NBC 5, “It’s a step in the right direction, but these are things that should be accessible to city employees at all times, not just during a crisis.”
The city says it is making sure to use only CDC-vetted products, and that all installations and necessary replacements are to be completed by the end of next week.”
