‘It’s around us, it’s here’ — Coronavirus in Belleville

Belleville City Manager Tracy Schultz Kobylarz said the COVID-19 is likely to get worse before it gets better and people need to stay home and stay safe.
The numbers reported daily of new cases and total cases appear to be by the 48111 zip code, and all the cases – which are growing – are reported as being in Belleville.
[On Monday, the total for “Belleville” was 62, with 0 for Van Buren and Sumpter, and no deaths. Eleven new cases were confirmed on Monday.] “It is around us. It’s here. The numbers are the numbers. They don’t matter,” she said on Tuesday.
She said she knew of one positive case in the city.
City Manager Kobylarz said to wash your hands. She said it’s a simple thing we learned in elementary school and forgot.
She said children also learned to cover their mouths with their hands when coughing and now that has to be relearned with coughing into your elbow.
She said although city hall is closed, the staff is working diligently with a remote process and although it is inconvenient, it seems to be working.
“But, we miss the face-to-face contact,” she said.
Kobylarz said the waste hauler has eliminated bulk pickup and they will pick up only what fits into the refuse can. There will be no yard waste pickup, that was due to start this week, but Belleville residents may use the dumpster in the DPW yard that is clearly marked.
Also, she said, the city is switching from monthly to bimonthly water billing, to reduce the foot traffic and make less paperwork. She said the water billing procedure has been changed several times in the past.
Kobylarz said she has been on the job about six weeks and the office team is stepping up and working differently.
She said that both she and Police Chief David Robinson, who also is new on the job, are happy with the attitude and morale of the staff that has embraced them both.
Chief Robinson said he is working on a news release for next week’s paper on all the assistance the city has received for help with its corornavirus battle. He said he has sent home most of the staff to protect them and he is answering the phone. He said 80% of the phone calls are from people who live outside of the city limits.
Chief Robinson said only one of his officers was on quarantine and that was because she was off on a honeymoon out of the country. He said he takes his officers’ temperatures every day and has a policy for cleaning the office. He said he was delayed answering the Independent’s telephone call because he was wiping down the doorknobs with a bleach solution on the other side of the room.