CLEVELAND, OH — The City of Cleveland announced changes to its health outreach program after 5 On Your Side Investigators caught some workers ignoring the same health guidelines they were supposed to promote.
In a statement Wednesday, the city announced the outreach workers will no longer hand out information to residents in neighborhoods with a high number of COVID-19 cases. Instead, the city said those workers will now only leave information on the doors of homes.
It comes days after 5 On Your Side Investigators notified the city that some health outreach workers were caught on camera ignoring social distancing rules, and not wearing masks while in city vans, and while handing out fliers to residents.
The city said it met with workers and "reemphasized the importance of safety, wearing PPE like face coverings, frequently washing or sanitizing hands and social distancing."
The statement said that the re-training was "in addition to an initial session at the first training that each Outreach Worker participated in."
The city also said managers were told to stress the importance of wearing face coverings while transporting workers in vans.
In all, the city said more than 100 workers are taking part in the outreach program, which expanded to Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood this week after targeting Slavic Village, Collinwood, and the Lee-Harvard neighborhoods last week.
