Dearborn distributes 10 reusable masks to every home
DEARBORN, Mich. (FOX 2) - Dearborn's COVID-19 rates are still climbing, now the city is taking steps to slow the spread and is making sure everyone in the city has a proper mask by going to door to door.
The city of Dearborn delivered ten reusable masks to every household and police chief Ronald Haddad says he thinks it’s the only community of this size in Michigan doing something like this.
On Friday, Dearborn Police and Fire departments started delivering the washable masks to make sure every household has them. Haddad said early recipients will be vulnerable populations, like the elderly.
"We’ve also partnered up with the health department to determine which areas in our zip codes have the highest are of COVID infected reports," Haddad said.
The initiative is meant to help mitigate the spread of coronavirus in Dearborn which, according to Wayne County Health Department data, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any suburb in the County. The city has reporter over 6,200 total infections since the outbreak started.
Haddad said they're trying everything to make sure everyone knows the warnings and precautions.
“It’s hard to determine exactly why we’re flaring up right now but certainly we urge people not to go in large groups and to follow the CDC requirements," Haddad said. "We try to bridge the language barrier, we issue all our bulletins in 3 languages."
Police and fire are leaving 10 masks per household on home porches in east Dearborn neighborhoods and in the geographic area commonly known as The South End of Dearborn as the city also looks to get its citizens vaccinated.
"It’s my hope that we’ll be recognized as a vaccination center and be able to dispense that in our communities as well," Haddad said.
According to a spokesperson for the city, Wayne County provided 300,000 masks for this initiative and the distribution began Wednesday
"I just want to urge our community and all of Michigan to mask up and we will get through this," Haddad said.