Small Aircraft
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (mon) 0; Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 30
Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Workload; Troubleshooting
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Staffing
Aircraft X was on heading direct to ZZZ [VOR] at 3;000 feet and cleared for a visual approach; Aircraft Y was on the [Runway] XXR Localizer for ZZZ [Airport] and descending to 3;000 feet. Conflict alert activated and I noticed Aircraft X turned east directly towards Aircraft Y. I turned Aircraft Y to a 090 heading to avoid. This incident occurred because Sector 1 and Sector 2 and Finals where combined with too much volume to safely run the amount of traffic at the time. At the time we had no one on break do to having the Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) opened and reduced staffing levels for COVID. We should have flexibility to close SFRA and open a radar position that would alleviate sectors being overloaded.
ATC TRACON Controller reported an airborne conflict and cited short staffing levels due to COVID-19 scheduling as a contributing factor.