Photo: Post-Gazette

From the Cook County Emergency Operations Center - May 13, 2020

The Cook County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) announced today that it needs additional cloth face coverings for employees of local businesses.

With local businesses engaging in curbside service and looking toward full reopening, the EOC has been trying to gauge their needs for items such as cloth face coverings, said EOC Logistics Officer Lori Ericson. To better prepare, she worked with Jim Boyd of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce to message local business owners over the weekend.

“We had a tremendous response to that message, such that we’ve given the Cook County Chamber of Commerce 165 cloth face coverings for local business owners and their employees,” said Ericson. “And that is just the start.”

Ericson said that the EOC is requesting donations of 600 more cloth face coverings for employees countywide. “That, combined with the cloth face coverings received to date, should put the county in good stead for the foreseeable future,” she stated.

And putting the county in good stead is important, said Cook County Board Chair Myron Bursheim, adding that that cloth face coverings are one of the tools individuals will encounter more as the county – and nation – acclimate to a “new normal” under COVID-19.

“Thanks to the generous support of our community, we’ve been able to provide the masks that our healthcare and essential workers need,” Bursheim said. “Now we can help support our local businesses by providing cloth face coverings for their employees.”

And not just employees may be wearing cloth face coverings in the weeks and months to come, as some businesses are asking customers to wear masks while in their stores.

“Whatever one’s feelings about cloth face coverings, I encourage you to think of wearing one as an act of kindness toward one another,” Bursheim said. “Our efforts to date have kept our confirmed case count at zero and, while that will change, wearing a cloth face covering in public spaces helps lessen the risk of unknowingly infecting others. If we all do our part, together we can slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community over the next several months.”

EOC Donations Needs List

As of May 13, the list of items needed is as follows. Quantities needed are specified if known:

• 600 cloth face coverings
• 1200 yards ¼” twill tape or shoelace tie
• 60 face shields
• 30 direct vent safety goggles
• N95 masks
• Tyvek suits and gowns coated with polypropylene

The EOC can accept protective masks created utilizing the approved pattern on the Cook County COVID-19 hub site, www.cookcountycovid19.org.

Cash donations can be made through the North Shore Health Care Foundation at www.northshorehealthcarefoundation.org or by mail to North Shore Health Foundation, COVID-19 Response Fund, PO Box 454 Grand Marais, MN 55604.