Clerk of Courts Maria Casey said she wanted the Schuylkill County commissioners Wednesday to “get a game plan” on the increasing COVID-19 cases among employees.

“It’s now becoming epidemic. We’re having at least five cases a week,” she said.

She asked if a “shutdown” was needed. “I’m extremely concerned. The place is filthy,” she said, claiming the ladies first floor bathroom “is a mess.”

Casey also asked for mouth swab tests so employees can use them.

“Let’s get a plan. Let’s be proactive not reactive,” she said.

She said the new variant, omicron, is prevalent.

“It was a horrible year by all accounts, 2021. I don’t think it could get worse, so let’s try to make 2022 a better year in terms of addressing all of these issues, especially the health of our employees,” Casey said.

Commissioners’ Chairman Barron “Boots” Hetherington and County Administrator Gary Bender took issue with Casey’s game plan comments.

“When the whole COVID situation started from Day One this county has followed every step of the way any guidelines, advice or mandates provided by the CDC and or the governor of Pennsylvania,” Hetherington said.

He said, “Everything has been done to protect our employees to keep the county safe.”

Hetherington called Casey’s claim that the county has no plan “baloney. We’ve had a plan all along. We’ve adhered to it,” he said.

There is protocol the county follows regarding COVID-19.

“At no point has Mr. Bender or Judge Baldwin let this county down, so her accusations are totally baseless and they are just drama,” Hetherington said.

Bender said the county has been “very proactive” with different things related to COVID-19.

He said Casey’s mentioning of a potential shutdown isn’t feasible.

“We’ve stepped up and done a whole lot of things to make sure the county keeps running and doesn’t shut down,” Hetherington said.

Those include lockboxes for the public to drop off items.

“I don’t think anybody gets sick from in here. Our contact tracing when we have somebody that tests positive, and we look around and do the contact tracing we generally don’t have anyone else to be quarantined because our employees are adhering to the guidelines we have masks. We are doing all the things we can, so I think we’ve done a good job on that. COVID is COVID. It’s out there,” Bender said.