Narrative:

I was working 3 low altitude sectors combined plus ZZZ approach control. It is highly unusual for us to ever be working approach airspace outside of the normal midshift times; but we are during morning rush hours to reduce ZZZ approach control employee's exposure due to covid-19. We are also working ZZZ1 approach into the morning hours. The complexity of multiple approaches and unfamiliarity with operations at ZZZ airport inside ZZZ approach airspace led to a missed readback error while we were formulating a plan how to deal with the situations. I had a aircraft X northwest bound at XX0 and an aircraft Y southwest bound at FLXX0 who needed lower to also do multiple approaches at ZZZ with all the other aircraft doing the same. I descended the aircraft Y to XY0 above the aircraft X and missed that he read back ZZ0. The aircraft Y read the clearance backward which was awkward and caused me to miss the altitude readback. Instead of the aircraft Y saying aircraft Y descending to ZZ0 altimeter 30XX; he said 0XX ZZ0 aircraft Y. When I heard 0XX I looked for a data block with a 0XX in it not realizing it was the aircraft Y clipping the altimeter and saying it first so I missed the ZZ0 part.center is working sectors combined with fewer people than normal which is fine; but now just this week they now have us doing ZZZ1 approach and ZZZ approach during hours we normally do not work approach control. The frequency congestion and lack of frequency coverage at the lower approach control altitudes adds an undue burden and complexity to center normal operations which are fairly busy at times with the combined sectors and reduced staffing. We are also working those 2 approach controls earlier in the evening than normal. The approach controls need to work their normal hours and this incident would not have occurred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Center Controller and Front Line Manager reported an airborne conflict event while working Center airspace along with three other Approach Control airspaces.

Narrative: I was working 3 low altitude sectors combined plus ZZZ Approach Control. It is highly unusual for us to ever be working approach airspace outside of the normal midshift times; but we are during morning rush hours to reduce ZZZ Approach Control employee's exposure due to COVID-19. We are also working ZZZ1 Approach into the morning hours. The complexity of multiple approaches and unfamiliarity with operations at ZZZ airport inside ZZZ Approach airspace led to a missed readback error while we were formulating a plan how to deal with the situations. I had a Aircraft X northwest bound at XX0 and an Aircraft Y southwest bound at FLXX0 who needed lower to also do multiple approaches at ZZZ with all the other aircraft doing the same. I descended the Aircraft Y to XY0 above the Aircraft X and missed that he read back ZZ0. The Aircraft Y read the clearance backward which was awkward and caused me to miss the altitude readback. Instead of the Aircraft Y saying Aircraft Y descending to ZZ0 altimeter 30XX; he said 0XX ZZ0 Aircraft Y. When I heard 0XX I looked for a data block with a 0XX in it not realizing it was the Aircraft Y clipping the altimeter and saying it first so I missed the ZZ0 part.Center is working sectors combined with fewer people than normal which is fine; but now just this week they now have us doing ZZZ1 Approach and ZZZ Approach during hours we normally do not work Approach Control. The frequency congestion and lack of frequency coverage at the lower Approach Control altitudes adds an undue burden and complexity to Center normal operations which are fairly busy at times with the combined sectors and reduced staffing. We are also working those 2 approach controls earlier in the evening than normal. The approach controls need to work their normal hours and this incident would not have occurred.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.