Health advisory board taking applications for Covid-19 business task force until 5 p.m. Thursday

The Whatcom County Health Department seeks applications for a task force to help businesses get back to work in a way that’s safe for employees and customers. The task force should represent sectors and businesses across the county and create guidelines for infection control and workplace safety measures, the health department said.

The Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board voted on April 23 to create a Covid-19 business support task force and it’s taking applications for the group until 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 30. The advisory board will vote to appoint members to the task force at a meeting on Friday, May 1, at 2 p.m. The group will begin meeting the week of May 4.

Health department director Erika Lautenbach and others on the public health advisory board described the task force as a group of business stakeholders that would create guidelines for businesses to safely reopen, and where business owners could talk through the challenges they face in meeting social distancing guidelines and get support in implementing safety measures. It would listen to business stakeholders and adapt its guidelines as the situation changes.

The advisory board didn’t say how many members should be on the task force, but its web page for the task force lists 17 different industry sectors and categories that it hopes to represent. The board also said there will be opportunities for people to participate who are not on the task force.

“I think this group should be as large as it needs to be to ensure we have adequate sector representation,” Lautenbach said at the April 23 meeting.

Find more information, including online applications, at whatcomcounty.us/3398/COVID-19-Business-Support-Task-Force.