During its virtual meeting on Monday night, Delaware City Council heard from three department heads concerning operations during the COVID-19 health crisis. The presentations came at a time when confirmed cases of the virus total 89 in Delaware County.
Sharing an overview of operations in the Fire Department, Chief John Donahue stated that the primary role of that department has been in transporting to health care facilities. Importantly, Donahue shared, there has been no significant exposure to firefighters and EMS staff because of the protective equipment used; no one has been required to go into quarantine. The community has done a great job in notifying the Fire Department of potential exposures, he said.
Fire inspectors have been reassigned temporarily to allow the department to focus on the task at hand, while the operations of the Fire and EMS personnel have been separated as much as possible to reduce risk. While there has been a small increase in response time, the Chief said that runs have decreased by about 100 calls compared to the same period of 2019.
Donahue concluded by noting the a public health plan was created in March with the county fire chiefs, with the county divided into four quadrants for COVID-19 response. That plan has not needed to be implemented yet.
Police Chief Bruce Pijanowski told Council that the department staff is healthy, “Knock on wood,” he added.
The Delaware Police Department’s current goals are to maintain emergency response, continue with visual patrolling, and maintaining accessibility. On the topic of accessibility, Pijanowski emphasized that the lobby of the department remains open, providing the only real in-person regular contact with the City of Delaware. The records window has been open until 8 PM nightly.
Calls have decreased during this period, with 200 less calls in March 2020 compared to March 2019, the Chief continued. Crash and suspicious person calls have increased somewhat, although domestic violence and mental health calls have remained steady or actually decreased.
Parks and Natural Resources Director Ted Miller told Council that parks and trains remain open, while all playgrounds and indoor facilities are closed. In terms of spring sports, soccer, baseball, softball, and lacrosse have all been cancelled, as have events such as the Easter Egg Hunt and Safety Town.
Miller shared results of a survey of other US cities, noting that Delaware’s closures are typical of most communities. Summer activities and sports are now being reviewed, and will depend on the state of social distancing mandates at that time.
Lastly, the Director shared that 2,000 recreation surveys are hitting mailboxes in Delaware this week. Returning those surveys will assist in parks and recreation programming. To be valid, at least 400 need to be returned, which can be done both via mail and online.
