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A framed proclamation and a plaque will soon adorn the walls of the Port Arthur Health Department as a thank you from the City of Nederland for the department’s work related to COVID-19.

City Manager Chris Duque and Fire Chief Terry Morton made the presentation Friday morning. Duque explained Nederland does not have a health department, nor do any of the Mid County cities, and they rely on the work of the Port Arthur facility.

The health department assisted Nederland with COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, data collection, testing reporting, public education and vaccination efforts, he added.

Morton noted how helpful the department and its staff were with providing daily information.

“They kept a database up sometimes hourly, during the height of COVID and helped first responders be aware,” Morton said of the need to know which addresses had individuals with positive cases of the illness.

LaTasha Mayon, assistant health director, said they have worked hard during the past year-and-a-half.

“Some days we did not see our family,” Mayon said of the 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. workdays.

When the health department began working on COVID-19 cases, it functioned seven days a week. When vaccinations became available, staffers provided them to first responders, then the elderly then everyone else fell into place per CDC guidelines.

“For us, the health department and the nurses to be recognized is tremendously overwhelming and humbling,” Mayon said.