North Riverside’s mayor issued a stay-at-home advisory for all residents on Nov. 13 as new COVID-19 cases continue to proliferate throughout suburban Cook County, state and nation.

“Although these restrictions are difficult, they are necessary to keep us all healthy,” said Mayor Hubert Hermanek Jr. in a mass notification email sent to residents Nov. 13. “Hopefully, by us being proactive now, we will be able to prevent another total shutdown.”

The advisory asks residents to stay home unless engaged in an essential activity, to limit travel and avoid contact with people outside of your immediate household. It also asks residents to properly wear face coverings and maintain at least a six foot distance from others when in public.

Riverside Fire Chief Matthew Buckley issued a similar alert to residents of that village in an e-flash message Friday afternoon, pointing to Illinois Department of Public Health recommendations to work from home if possible, participate in only essential activities and limit travel and gatherings.

On Nov. 12, state officials urged Illinois residents to stay home as much as possible during the next three weeks to limit the spread of COVID -19.

“With many community leaders choosing not to listen to the doctors, we are left with not many tools left in our toolbox to fight this,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during his daily COVID-19 briefing in Chicago last Thursday. “The numbers don’t lie. If things don’t take a turn in the coming days, we will quickly reach the point when some form of a mandatory stay-at-home order is all that will be left.”

 

Libraries pivot to curbside service

Riverside Public Library and Brookfield Public Library have both announced they will close their doors to patrons this week, but will offer curbside service and continue to provide online programming.

Riverside Public Library instituted the change effective Nov. 16, while Brookfield Public Library announced over the weekend that it would move to a curbside service model on Nov. 18.

More information on hours of operation and how to use curbside services are available on the libraries’ websites at riversidelibrary.org and brookfieldlibrary.info.

Brookfield Library is also offering Holiday Survival Kits and take-and-make craft activities, which can also be picked up curbside, to help families get through the next couple of months.

Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.