Carbon County officials are working around the clock to make sure they are making the best decisions for the employees and residents.

At Thursday’s board of commissioners meeting, the commissioners extended their disaster declaration for seven days, now to March 30; and spoke about everything going on and the challenges they are facing in this very difficult time.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the board has been pretty much working at all hours trying to address one issue after another in the hopes of getting a solid plan for the county, but with the always-changing information coming out of the governor’s office and federal government on the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a challenge.

The county implemented the level 1 part of their plan earlier this week with shutting department doors to in-person interactions and moving to phone and email instead. Level 2 of the plan is going to be deciding on essential personnel and who can work from home to again distance more people from one another during this pandemic.

“This is in uncharted territory but working together, we will get through this,” Nothstein said.

“This is crisis management 101,” said Commissioner Chris Lukasevich, adding that Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency coordinator has done so much to make sure the board has the best information to make the informed decisions.

He also thanked the residents of Carbon County for being patient with the county and following the directives of using phone and email for any county business.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner commended the other departments for working together to make the best out of this situation.

He also outlined several initiatives going on to help keep people safe, including area grocery stores altering their hours to help keep shelves stocked, stores clean and people safe; the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corporation for putting together a page on its website with businesses that are open during the pandemic; and the food pantries for keeping up with distributions via drive-up services.

Ahner also commended the medical personnel and volunteers who are on the front lines of all of this.