Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

City aids in county COVID response

CLOVIS — Last week the Curry County offices on Gidding Street were added to the list of buildings where workers had tested positive for COVID-19. Three positive cases from the Administration Office, County Clerk's Office, and the County Assessor’s Office were reported as of Friday.

Another county department that has been in the news for COVID cases is the Curry County Detention Center. At its peak the detention center had 43 positive cases.

Neither facility can simply shut down, with the clerk's office conducting early in-person voting and the Detention Center for obvious reasons.

Their sterilization after being exposed to the COVID virus was vital for the safe continuation of services, and so the City of Clovis's Emergency Management stepped in with its commercial disinfectant fogging machine.

“It's part of what we do,” Emergency Management Director Dan Heerding said. “Even though it's emergency management and we work for the City of Clovis we are a county representation for everybody. We help with all of that as it goes, that's part of our job to do those things to help everybody that we can within the county.

“It's for the betterment of the citizens that we serve, right? We want to make sure that the citizens along with the workers have the safest area to do their business at.”

Last Wednesday and Thursday Emergency Management went into the Curry County Offices and disinfected the area. On Friday they did the Detention Center.

“It's a fine mist product that charges the particles. We add a sanitizing solution to it and it sprays out. Once the sanitizing solution that is diluted with water is out there, we let it sit for about five minutes, and then the surfaces and the area is considered sanitized,” Heerding said.

He added staff will go back and spot clean the buildings as necessary.

County officials appreciated the efforts, and mentioned them specifically in Tuesday’s Curry County Commission meeting. County Manager Lance Pyle said during the meeting that two additional positive cases were recorded, one in the assessor's office and another at the detention center.

“This is a very difficult and challenging time, we are all tired, but our economy cannot face another shut down and our kids need to be in school safely,” County Manager Lance Pyle said. “By a community pulling resources, assisting and working together we can mitigate the spread and keep and open more businesses and schools.”

— Editor Kevin Wilson contributed to this report.