UW-River Falls is sheltering in place for the time being, after 84 active cases were reported.

“Most of you have heard by now that Chancellor Connie Foster announced Friday, that students will be sheltering in place and taking classes online for the next two weeks,” Mayor Toland said in his weekly address from home. “They are doing all the right things to control the spread,” he said of UW-River Falls measures to prevent virus transmission. But there was more.

“We are also aware that some students in the River Falls School District have tested positive for COVID-19,” Toland said, saying that close contacts of those testing positive would quarantine for 14 days from their last dates of exposure. There was a further consequence of the COVID numbers, Toland noted however: the library remained closed to in-person traffic in River Falls.

“Of course, we always have curbside pickup, which remains popular, as are the main events and programs online.” Toland shared that absentee ballots were getting sent out by the city staff.

“They will continue to send ballots as requested at myvote.wi.gov,” he said. Voters can register online until October 14 online or October 20 at City Hall and can also vote November 3 at the polls, failing all else. Proof of residence and ID requirements do apply for those who choose to register at the polls, and voting twice is a Class I felony under Wisconsin law, although procedures are in place to prevent such double voting and city staff committed to ensuring an honest and safe election this November.

“If you plan to return your ballot by mail, please allow ample time for it to be returned and processed” Toland instructed city residents, directing those with further questions or inquiries to www.rfcity.org/elections. From there, it was into the COVID numbers.

“Because of the outbreak at the university, they have gotten behind with contact tracing in Pierce County and are not meeting the benchmarks,” Toland said of health department guidelines for local preparedness. An “outbreak” is defined as two or more people diagnosed with the virus, while Pierce County increased its active case count between September 14 and September 21 by 39, to come out with 72 active cases. To date as of September 21 there had been six deaths in Pierce County from COVID, with no change over the past week. The cumulative case count for Pierce County as of September 21 is 408, while for the state of Wisconsin the cumulative total at the same point was 102,498, with an increase between September 14 and 21 of 12,542, and 104 of these cases being in St. Croix County.

“So a couple more things before I wrap this up,” Toland said. First, city-wide fall cleanup was on October 5 and open to River Falls Municipal Utilities customers only. More information can be found at www.rfcity.org/cleanup. Additionally, the River Falls Mayor called on citizens to unite in the face of current events through a citizen-led initiative called “Let’s Do Our Part River Falls,” with more information at www.rfcity.org/covid19.

“We have to remember that we are all in this together,” he said. “In this trying time we will never all agree on anything, and that’s ok. Disagreement used to be how we could move forward, with good conversations and discussions… We need to remember that is the way forward.” In other words, don’t yell and scream, or steal your neighbor’s yard sign. “All that does is show our ignorance,” Toland said of such behavior. Let’s do our part to show otherwise!