-- UPDATE ON MARCH 14, 2020 --
Dear North Shore residents:
We reach out as the chief executive officers of our seven communities. In the last few days, we are operating under states of emergency at the national, state and county level. Each of our municipalities are also in the process of issuing city and village states of emergency. We want to offer assurances and best practice recommendations to our residents.
COVID-19 is a global pandemic. It is spreading quickly, and the intensity of this virus is more severe than the flu or pneumonia. Our aging populations are at increased risk with this virus.
As you know, travel has been restricted around the globe. Local schools are closed for a four week period. Libraries are closed, sporting and entertainment events and venues are closed, and many workplaces are trying to conduct their business from remote locations.
In addition to the many recommendations you are seeing about washing hands, disinfecting surfaces and bathrooms, and maintain social distance, we want to offer some additional recommendations to allow our local municipal governments to remain open and offer services.
You can obtain accurate and timely information about local resources at these sites:
We are encouraging ALL of our residents to request an absentee ballot for the April 7 election. Voting through the mail reduces public contact with our poll workers, many of whom are elderly retirees. You can request a ballot here: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/. Please do so as
soon as possible. It takes time for a ballot to be mailed to you and for you to mail it back. While you have until April 2 to request a ballot, the possibility of receiving it and having it be received back in the municipality by Election Day is not guaranteed the closer we get to April 2.
Please limit visits to City Hall and Village Halls. All of our communities operate with very small city and village staff. We need to ensure that they remain healthy in order to continue to provide vital municipal services. You can pay utility bills online or through the mail. Tax payments can be mailed and receipts will be sent to you. Please utilize our various municipal websites to obtain information, or call city and village halls, before coming in for information and services.
https://www.bayside-wi.gov/
https://www.browndeerwi.org/
https://www.villageoffoxpoint.com/
http://glendale-wi.gov/
https://riverhillswi.com/
https://www.villageofshorewood.org/
https://www.wfbvillage.org/
Lastly, please make sure that you are checking on your neighbors—particularly your aging neighbors—to make sure that they have adequate food and supplies. Offer to do their grocery shopping for them or run errands for them so that they can limit contact in large public spaces.
Collaborate as neighbors on childcare and other day-to-day errands and chores. Our goal as local leaders is to work with county, state and national leaders to ensure that this
virus is contained as quickly as possible, that exposures in our communities are limited, and that we can return to “normal” life as soon as the situation allows.
In community,
Bayside Village President Sam Dickman
Brown Deer Village President Wanda Montgomery
Fox Point Village President Douglas Frazer
Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy
River Hills Village President Steve Anderson
Shorewood Village President Allison Rozek
Whitefish Bay Village President Julie Siegel
-- UPDATE ON MARCH 12, 2020 --
COVID-19 has been a significant part of our work here this week. The public, our employees and their safety is very important. Earlier today, Governor Evers declared a public health emergency related to Coronavirus in Wisconsin. Here is an official statement from Governor Evers on the coronavirus.
For planning purposes, department heads met earlier this week to identify essential functions within each department should we need to limit our service delivery. The Village Clerk’s office is in communication with the State of Wisconsin regarding our upcoming April election. At this time there have been no changes instructed to local governments regarding the upcoming April election. You may want to consider voting in-person absentee and have a ballot mailed to your home to prevent contact with others. Please contact our Village Clerk Sara Bruckman at sbruckman@villageofshorewood.org if you want to learn more about in-person absentee voting.
The Village is in regular communication with the Village’s Health Officer, Director Ann Christiansen of the North Shore Health Department, to receive updates and discuss possible next steps in light of many unknown factors relative to COVID-19. Here is a link to the NSHD webpage for your reference. It updates regularly and provides links to CDC updates, the Interactive Global Map of COVID-19 cases by Johns Hopkins, among other resources. In addition, as NSHD public updates are provided, they will be provided to you via email, the Village’s Facebook page and website.
Staff will be following up with the Village Board on Monday, March 16 during the Village Board meeting on specific actions related to managing personnel and services in regards to concerns of the Coronavirus. Please reach out if you have any questions at 414.847.2701 or via email at rewald@villageofshorewood.org.
-- UPDATE ON MARCH 5, 2020 ---
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Wisconsin Department of Health of Services (WI DHS) and the North Shore Health Department (NSHD), along with other local health departments are responding to an outbreak of respiratory disease caused by a novel corona virus, COVID-19. First detected in Wuhan, China, the disease has spread to other countries throughout the world, including cases in the United States. CDC travel recommendations and risk management procedures are changing rapidly. For the most current information on COVID-19, please visit the CDC’s website or WI DHS’s website.
The risk of getting COVID-19 remains low for Wisconsin residents. Wisconsin currently has reported one case of the disease. Those most at-risk will have recently traveled to an affected country or have been in contact with someone with COVID-19.
The signs and symptoms for COVID-19 are similar to seasonal influenza or the flu. For most people, it is experienced as mild to severe respiratory symptoms including a dry cough, fever and shortness of breath.
There are steps to take to keep yourself and others healthy for both COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.
- Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Stay home when you are sick. Keep children home from school if they are sick. Children should be free from fever without use of fever-reducing medications for 24 hours before returning to school.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
NSHD is providing local public health support through a variety of channels.
- Surveillance. We are monitoring cases through multiple websites including WI DHS, CDC and Johns Hopkins.
- Investigations. We will respond to notifications for potential cases in the North Shore and initiate contact investigations with confirmed cases.
- Containment. NSHD uses federal and state guidelines to assess risk of exposure to COVID-19 and determine need for quarantine and monitoring.
- Communication.For the most current information on COVID-19, please visit the CDC’s website or WI DHS’s website.
Additional information about COVID-19 is on our website at www.nshealthdept.org. If you are concerned about your risk of getting COVID-19 or have recently traveled to an affected area, please contact the North Shore Health Department at 414.371.2980.