Baltimore City Department of Public Works officials told city council members Tuesday that more than a third of their trash and recycling crews didn’t work in August because of the coronavirus pandemic, allowing some neighborhoods to go weeks without pick-ups.

“We have been hit on all sides by COVID,” John Chalmers, Head of DPW’s Bureau of Solid Waste, said in a hearing before the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

The agency has had to close sanitation yards and quarantine workers as outbreaks occur. They’ve dealt with larger than usual trash tonnage as people spend more time in their homes. And they’ve struggled to both retain and attract workers.

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