In the wake of many cities issuing tighter restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (“CISA”) has issued guidance on the identification of “essential critical infrastructure workers.” It is important to ensure continuity of functions that are critical to public health and safety, as well as economic and national security; however, non-mandatory activities should be delayed until the resumption of normal operations, and workers should be encouraged to work remotely when possible.

While the CISA’s list is advisory in nature, it is not a federal directive or standard, and such implementation directives are coming from state and local officials. That said, the list provides helpful guidance to assist in prioritizing activities related to continuity of operations. The following list of sectors are an initial recommended set of essential critical infrastructure workers, with examples:

• Healthcare and public health
  • Physicians, nurses, pharmacists
  • Workers conducting research critical to COVID-19 response
• Law enforcement, public safety, first responders
  • Personnel in emergency management, law enforcement, Emergency Management Systems, fire, and corrections, including front line and management
  • 911 call center employees
• Food and agriculture
  • Workers supporting groceries, pharmacies, and other retail that sells food and beverage products
  • Restaurant carry-out and quick serve food operations; carry-out and delivery food employees
• Energy
  • Workers who maintain, ensure, or restore the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power, including call centers, utility workers, reliability engineers, and fleet maintenance technicians
  • Petroleum workers; natural and propane gas workers
• Water and wastewater
  • Employees needed to operate and maintain drinking water and wastewater/drainage infrastructure, including operational staff at water authorities, community water systems, and wastewater treatment facilities
• Transportation and logistics
  • Mass transit workers; automotive repair and maintenance facilities
• Public works
  • Workers who support the operation, inspection, and maintenance of essential dams, locks, and levees, and other essential public works facilities and operations (e.g., bridges, water, and sewer main breaks)
• Communications and information technology
  • Workers who support radio, television, and media service, including, but not limited to front line news reporters, studio, and technicians for newsgathering and reporting
  • Client service centers, field engineers, and other technicians supporting critical infrastructure
• Other community-based government operations and essential functions
  • Workers to ensure continuity of building functions
• Critical manufacturing
  • Workers necessary for the manufacturing of materials and products needed for medical supply chains, transportation, energy, communications, food and agriculture, chemical manufacturing, nuclear facilities, the operation of dams, water and wastewater treatment, emergency services, and the defense industrial base
• Hazardous materials
  • Workers at nuclear facilities, workers managing medical waste, workers managing waste from pharmaceuticals and medical material production, and workers at laboratories processing test kits
• Financial services
  • Workers who are needed to process and maintain systems for processing financial transactions and services (e.g., payment, clearing, and settlement; wholesale funding; insurance services; and capital markets activities)
• Chemical
  • Workers supporting the chemical and industrial gas supply chains, including workers at chemical manufacturing plants, workers in laboratories, workers at distribution facilities, workers who transport basic raw chemical materials to the producers of industrial and consumer goods, including hand sanitizers, food and food additives, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and paper products
• Defense industrial base
  • Workers who support the essential services required to meet national security commitments to the federal government and the United States Military

Note that the above list is not exhaustive, nor is the CISA’s guidance, which can be found here. That said, it provides helpful guidance in ensuring that essential operations continue during this time of uncertainty.