CLEVELAND — The city of Cleveland is preparing just in case the new coronavirus makes its way here.
“It’s a very fluid situation but yes we’re in constant conversation,” explains Mayor Frank Jackson who says he had meetings Monday with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals and county leaders to discuss public safety.
“There is a plan that is being discussed that coordinates all of the people that need to be involved from public safety, to the health departments, county and city, to the hospitals, all of them are involved in some way.”
Ward 6 Councilman and chairman of council’s health and human services committee, Blaine Griffin says there is a pandemic plan in place.
“With every plan you have to make adjustments and there’s some unknowns about the coronavirus (covid-19) that we have to make sure that we update, but we’re already in the process of doing that,” he says. “These plans are fluid, they’re not cookie cutter plans, you actually have to adjust the plan accordingly.”
Cleveland City Council President Kevin Kelley says he hasn’t been trained on a plan but has confidence coronavirus is being taken seriously.
“Right now I believe this is something where we need not be in a panic mode but in a concerned mode and we need to prepare for what hasn’t happened yet, in the event it does happen,” he says.
Mayor Jackson says “there’s an overall plan but the situation changes form day to day right now, we don’t have the level of concerns that they have in Washington state but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen, so we’re working.”
According to NBC News, at least six deaths are linked to the disease in Washington.
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