PHS to serve as shelter for healthcare, emergency workers

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Perry County is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases, leaving those on the frontline of the fight against the virus in a precarious position: their work could be endangering their own families.

According to a news release issued Wednesday morning by Perry County School District 32, local healthcare and emergency services workers will no longer have to worry about that particular problem.

At the request of our partners at the Perry County Emergency Management Agency, District 32 has opened a shelter for them at Perryville High School. According to the release, the shelter opened April 1 and will remain open throughout the community’s fight against the coronavirus.

“When we learned of this need, we immediately offered to do whatever possible to serve these heroes in our community,” said PCSD superintendent Andy Comstock. “They are working to keep us safe and healthy, at great personal risk. We don’t want them to have to risk the health of their families, too. It’s our honor to welcome them into our school family and home.”

The gym will serve as a barracks, while locker rooms, kitchen and laundry facilities will be available for the community’s hospital, health and mental health clinics staff, law enforcement, paramedics/EMTs, firefighters and others who may come into contact with the virus while serving the community. Those workers who become symptomatic or test positive for COVID-19 will not be sheltered in the school.

Once the shelter is closed, District 32 staff will sanitize all areas following guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, employing the hospital-grade disinfectant system it purchased before the pandemic.

“We’re grateful to District 32 for opening its doors to us and working to make sure our healthcare and emergency workers can be comfortable while they are away from home to protect their families,” said Andrew Bohnert, director of the Perry County Emergency Management Agency. “This is truly a community that cares.”