The success of this process will be the driving force behind individual, family, and business activities that depend on public sector operations. This includes basic health services, education, transportation, and food, and those related to business procedures.

 It has been more than three and a half months since the government, businesses, and citizens closed ranks to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, 155 people have lost their lives to the new strain of the coronavirus, as of yesterday, according to official data. Although it is still on the rise, the rate of contagion here contrasts with the escalation of coronavirus cases and deaths in the United States.

The fact that relative control of local infections remains stable amid the gradual reopening of the economy is largely due to effective measures taken by the first businesses authorized to operate. Technology was a key ally.

These measures serve as a guide for government offices. Each agency must ensure that workers and citizens seeking services receive disinfectant and hand sanitizing products. In the face of water rationing, offices must be equipped with reserves that allow them to follow one of the fundamental rules against the coronavirus, hand-washing, and keeping bathrooms clean.

Waiting rooms and counters, as well as spaces between employees, must maintain physical distance, a measure that has proven to minimize the risk of contagion, as well as the appropriate use of masks. Citizens visiting these offices must also observe these protection standards.

Representatives of public employees have complained of inconsistencies in protocols and requirements regarding tests and equipment. Some are required to present a medical certificate before being tested. However, not all could see their doctors. In other cases, the reliability of the self-certification process established is questioned given limited resources of the Department of Labor and Human Resources to evaluate each agency. Such concerns must be addressed.

Meanwhile, entities such as the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority and the Driver Services Centers (Cesco, Spanish acronym) of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP, Spanish acronym) have online appointment services. More than 14,000 citizens got appointments the first day services were activated. According to the DTOP, less than 1 percent of the applicants faced some type of technical problem that was detected and corrected. The agency has designed a schedule to handle license-related transactions according to expiration dates. The DTOP estimates that 167,000 licenses expired while the agency was closed due to the pandemic. The system proposed allows cases to be handled on a priority basis.

Besides, Nutrition Assistance and WIC programs participants can request or access information through digital platforms.

While agencies take measures to ensure efficient services, they must also consider implementing other actions involving technology, since the global emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet, as the 50,000 daily infections in the United States last week have shown us.

Similarly, the Department of Education has countless models to adopt in schools to ensure that next August students can safely catch up on COVID-19´s lost learning.

U.S. Health officials have warned that the end of the pandemic is far away, so monitoring and compliance with prevention measures must become part of our life.