Coronavirus Statement – Mayor Dan Horrigan

“As the threat of COVID-19 continues to develop in Ohio, and in our region, the City of Akron has been proactively taking steps to mobilize our safety forces and other resources to prepare and protect our employees and community, and to assure that all essential City services are continuously provided.
As Mayor, the safety and well-being of our residents remains my top priority. At my direction, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Charles Brown—a thirty year public safety professional with training from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency related to large scale emergency events—has been leading preparedness efforts with our first responders from Fire/EMS, Police and the Safety Communications Center. His team has been receiving continuous guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Summit County Public Health and from lessons learned by other affected communities.
Our first responders will continue to be on the front lines, providing health care and emergency assistance during this event, and will therefore respond to potential COVID-19-related calls for service wearing Personal Protective Equipment to better safeguard our citizens and themselves. We are taking all necessary steps to ensure that we will have the staffing levels needed to address possible increased demands on our emergency medical services.
Yesterday, Governor DeWine announced his decision to close all schools for three weeks. In alignment with that statewide directive, all City of Akron community centers will be closed beginning Monday, March 16. We will plan to reopen centers Monday, April 6, unless otherwise advised by state and local public health officials. All programming at community centers will cease, with the exception of Election Day, Tuesday, March 17, for those centers that serve as polling locations. Voters can look up their polling location here.
For City of Akron employees, we have cancelled business travel through June 30th and postponed non-essential meetings. We continue to review other City employment policies in light of the evolving guidance from public health officials. We have authorized new purchases of necessary cleaning and sanitizing supplies and have increased frequency and coverage of cleaning services within City buildings.
While this situation continues to change rapidly, I have full confidence in the City of Akron’s skilled workforce, especially our first responder community. We are well-trained and well-prepared for events such as this and we will continue to adapt as necessary to safeguard our community during this difficult time. I commend our public health officials at the local state levels for their diligent work so far and encourage everyone to follow their guidance when making decisions about events, travel, and good hygiene practices. I will stand alongside them to do what is best for our community in the days, weeks and months to come. To learn more about City updates and closures, visit akronohio.gov. For the latest on COVID-19 updates, please visit coronavirus.ohio.gov.”
For more information on City updates in regards to COVID-19 please visit akronohio.gov/COVID19