It will be a little over a year since I first experienced the challenges and tragedies of this pandemic, and yet there have been a few triumphs as well.

My current triumphs involve assisting employees in navigating the twisting turns of getting a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. I’m never completely sure if my guidance has paid off, but I have received a handful of emails thanking me. Some triumphs happen overnight and some take weeks. Each one takes us one step closer to reopening and a return to normalcy.

In a previous article, I mentioned that I would be advocating for my seasonal lifeguards to get the vaccine. Some of my colleagues have asked what category lifeguards fall under: essential worker, emergency personnel or educators. The answer is that they be categorized into each of them, and if one category helps them get an appointment faster, so be it. Lifeguards are essential in keeping the community safe, responding to aquatics emergencies, and educating the public on the importance of drowning prevention.

As a reminder, back in December, the California Department of Public Health deemed drowning prevention classes, including swim lessons, as essential and permitted classes in both indoor and outdoor facilities throughout all of the state’s county risk level tiers. Private swim schools have led the way with swim instruction, while public agencies have been slower to reopen. However, most public agencies have consistently provided outdoor lap swimming, swim team practice, masters swimming, and water exercise.

The biggest challenge that I believe we’ll have to address is staff: those who have been reassigned to a new location or job due to the pandemic, others who have worked at home and now must return to the work site, and individuals who need to be rehired because they were laid off, and seasonal staff being hired in anticipation of a busy swim season. All have unique issues.

At the East Bay Regional Park District, we have established a tentative opening date for the swim season, Memorial Day weekend. I’m grateful to be planning for a season and so are my permanent staff.

However, all of us will be working twice as hard. We won’t have any additional staff to take over our COVID-19 assignments. Personally, as our agency’s Infectious Disease Officer, my COVID-19 duties include COVID-19 assessments and contact tracing. My permanent staff will continue to provide COVID-19 Prevention Program site visits for all work locations within the agency for the remainder of the year. I imagine that many professionals are in the same situation, where additional duties have been stacked onto an already full workload.

Coming back together

All of us will be challenged to effectively bring staff back to a site where some haven’t worked in more than a year. Some staff will want to return. Some understand that they need to return. Some will want reassurances that the worksite is safe before returning. Some will have ongoing childcare issues, with limited in-person school or childcare availability, that need to be resolved before returning. Some have thoroughly enjoyed working from home and will resist coming back unless forced or directed. I recommend fostering compassion, grace, and kindness toward all these perspectives.

There are also employees who have worked in the field throughout the pandemic. One must consider how these individuals feel about the situation as well. Someone decided which employees should work from home and who would stay on at the workplace and in the field.

There will be lots of emotions: distress, awkwardness, anger, happiness, appreciation and triumph. Again, as the employer, I urge you to cultivate compassion, grace and kindness with staff both returning to the facility and continuing in the field. Remember to work actively to facilitate these two groups uniting again. Reunification might be slow and difficult, but this task demonstrates your role as a leader.

Once your permanent staff is synchronized and moving forward with the department’s goals, it will be time to begin bringing back laid-off staff and hiring the seasonal workforce. Be aware, some won’t come back due to other opportunities -- new jobs, internships, or different life choices. I remind myself that most of my seasonal workforce is also a temporary workforce. They will be with my department for about three years, eventually moving on to opportunities such as entry-level careers or graduate school.

For those planning to open after a 12-month hiatus, all protocols for working safely and interacting with the public should be in place. Facility and program capacity numbers should be established. For those who provided public service all year and last summer, identify what worked and what didn’t, and implement your updated operations plan. Hopefully, all will go according to plan and all of us will have a robust swim season.

Final stretch

As for me, making our operation plan work is going to take a lot of effort. I feel mentally and emotionally fatigued. Concentration is difficult, and I find myself needing more breaks to accomplish the same amount of work I could breeze through a year ago. I wish I could say that putting on my mask and considering what I need to do to prevent COVID-19 is all habit by now, but it’s not. None of this has been easy. I imagine all of us feel a little stretched thin.

As we ease into the next part of this post-pandemic world, I remind myself, that even with vaccination and schools reopening, we all still need to practice the three W’s: Wear a mask, Wash your hands, and Watch your distance.

I cautiously say that I’m blessed and haven’t caught COVID. However, I have professional colleagues who have. For some, the symptoms were mild. For others, they survived the virus but are having long-term medical issues. And for others, co-workers, friends, and family members, they lost their battle.

My heart goes out to all of you who share these challenges and tragedies, and I have hope and belief that this time shall pass, and we will stand together again in triumph. I know COVID is not going away, and we’ll have to live with it. And I know that we shall overcome and persevere.

Good luck, be safe, and keep loving your friends and family.