Madison County Auditor Rick Faccin said one of his priorities as his office operates with a reduced workforce is security, particularly that private and personal information does not leave the office with his staff.
Faccin said that if necessary, his staff are on call to return to the office.
"What we are doing is we are down to a skeleton crew with some people taking work home with them, with the understanding that they are on call," Faccin said. "I am concerned about security issues and we are making sure people do not take stuff that is secure as security is a very sensitive issue.
"We have never been through anything like this before and we have to take precautions."
As the county's watchdog, the auditor, who is retiring later this year after nearly two decades in the post, said there is not normally much foot traffic from the public to his office, or over-the-counter work. Much work can be done via telephone, he added.
Effective April 1, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) passed by Congress in March requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.
The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, mostly state, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. There are exemptions for employers with fewer than 50 employees.
Gov. JB Pritzker also has signed a series of executive orders in response to the outbreak, and most recently, on April 1, extended to April 30 the state's stay-at-home order. Non-essential staff must stay at home, while non-essential services are suspended.
To date, there have been no reports of any Madison County government employee having contracted coronavirus.