Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Department of Motor Vehicles reopened March 19, after being closed for more than a week because of COVID-19. The Columbia County Clerk’s office, county Department of Motor Vehicles, and county Real Property Tax Services all welcomed back customers for the first time since March 9, after seven staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. When the DMV outbreak was first reported, there was concern about the potential presence of the U.K. variant of the virus. State lab testing proved that not to be the case. “It’s going swimmingly, it’s been going great,” Columbia County Clerk Holly Tanner said around noon Friday. “I don’t have full capacity back yet, mostly unrelated to COVID, so I’m working a window along with the other folks that are here and as always we have a sheriff’s deputy on site.” Tanner posted online that the DMV was trying to limit transactions to only Columbia County residents on the first day back because they were not yet operating with a full staff. The DMV reopened at 9 a.m., but some people were queued up outside as early as 7 a.m., Tanner said. She said by Monday the full staff will be back at work. “..We’re following all of the safety procedures, all of us wear our masks. I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable when they come to the DMV, and if they do feel uncomfortable, people should know they can reach out to me and I will certainly make accommodations for them. We do take this very seriously," she said. Read more at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.