After the Iowa Department of Public Health announced evidence of community spread of COVID-19 had been found in Iowa, the University of Iowa announced the creation of a “temporary workforce pool” with the goal of assisting work units that are unable to close. 

According to an email from the UI to students, leaders in the colleges and vice presidential units are working with University Human Resources to identify staff and students whose work can be paused and can be reassigned to work in areas where they’re needed. 

Work units that cannot stop operations or are “focused on the necessary life, health, and security of our campus” would receive extra help if those available in the unit cannot handle the workload. 

Employees will be able to volunteer to be reassigned through a link which will be provided later in the week, according to the email. 

“This plan would be activated only if campus experiences a large number of employees absent from the workforce or if mission-critical units experience more work than their available workforce can complete,” the email stated. 

The UI Employee Assistance Program is available at (319-335-2085) or [email protected] for employees in need of support. 

There are currently 23 cases of COVID-19 in Iowa, 15 of which are in Johnson County. There has also been evidence of community spread, where the patient can’t easily identify where they were infected.