Anna City Hall closes through March 31

The City of Anna has been monitoring the COVID-19 issue closely over the past few weeks and has maintained close communications with federal and state health officials, the Southern Seven Health Department, Rural Health, Shawnee Mass Transit, Anna School District No. 37, Anna-Jonesboro Community High School District 81 and the Illinois governor’s office to maintain the most current and accurate information possible so that we can respond appropriately to this rapidly evolving situation. 

The city said in a news release that the “health and well-being of our  residents, businesses, and visitors to our community is our top priority.”

At the time the news release had been issued early this week, there had been 93 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Illinois. 

Although none of the cases have been linked to Anna, “as your local government we must do everything possible to mitigate the spread of the virus,” the city stated.

The CDC recommends (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html) implementing community mitigation strategies to slow the spread of the virus, primarily for the purpose of protecting people that are at higher risk for severe illness and to protect the healthcare and critical infrastructure workforces. 

As such, the City of Anna is implementing the following protocols effective immediately:

Anna City Hall will be closed to the public through March 31. City staff will continue to report to work and will be available by phone or email to assist the public. 

For those residents that need to pay a bill, you can do so at http://www.cityofanna.org (Utility payments in the top left-hand corner), via regular mail or your payment can be placed in the drop box at city hall. 

The City of Anna will waive late fees for those customers that have difficulty making payments via these temporary arrangements.

All public safety personnel will operate normal shifts and will provide normal 24-hour coverage.

Public works departments will continue to operate as normal.

The Anna City Hall was an official voting location which was scheduled to remain open for the primary election on Tuesday, March 17.

The city said that implementing these temporary measures will mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the community, while also protecting city employees, who must be available to ensure that City operations continue to run smoothly. 

The City of Anna encourages other agencies and businesses to implement measures to assist in reducing the spread of the virus. 

Those measures include:

Practice social distancing. The virus spreads mainly through person-to-person contact within 6 feet of one another. Avoid large groups and give consideration to limiting group meetings or events.

Employers should allow employees to work remotely when possible.

Employers should consider implementing paid sick leave policies to encourage employees that are not feeling well to stay home.

Clean your hands frequently with warm soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

Use hand sanitizers with at least 60 percent alcohol.

Implement advanced cleaning measures in offices and common areas to disinfect surfaces more frequently than normal.

Stay at home when you are sick and call your primary care physician if you experience fever, cough, or shortness of breath, which are the primary symptoms of COVID-19.

Most importantly, don’t panic. Most people that contract COVID-19 experience mild flu-like symptoms with only 16 percent of cases being serious. 

But, for our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers that are in higher risk groups, please join us in doing everything you can to minimize the spread of this virus.

The City of Anna will continually reevaluate conditions to keep the community informed of this public health issue.