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Home My WebLink About2020-03-13; Coronavirus Response Update 1; Harrison, DavidFire Department Safety Center 2560 Orion Way ï Carlsbad, CA 92010 ï 760-931-2141 t Council Memorandum March 13, 2020 To: Honorable Mayor Hall and Members of the City Council From: David Harrison, Assistant Director of Emergency Services Kristina Ray, Communication & Engagement Director Via: Scott Chadwick, City Manager Re: Coronavirus Response Update 1 The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the City Council with an update on city response actions related to COVID-19. Staff will provide regular updates moving forward through the duration of this public health emergency. Public Safety •The city activated the Emergency Operations Center at a modified staffing level the evening of Thursday, March 12, to coordinate communication and support for the city’s response actions. •Staff continued to coordinate and provide information to community organizations and businesses: o 30 assisted living/residential care facilities o 33 faith based institutions o School districts serving Carlsbad, MiraCosta College and 15 private schools o Homeless service providers (Interfaith, Catholic Charities, Showers of Blessings) o 3 main shopping centers (Shoppes at Carlsbad, Premium Outlets, The Forum) o Ready Carlsbad Business Alliance/Chamber of Commerce o LEGOLAND California o Carlsbad Village Association (Farmers Market to be closed next two weeks) o New Village Arts •Maintained contact with other public agencies: o Continued to coordinate with County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency and County Office of Emergency Services. o Maintained communication with neighboring cities. •Worked with all public facing city staff to address how to implement social distancing measures with the public. •Worked with staff to reconfigure work stations and other measures to achieve appropriate distance. •Canceled all staff travel/conferences. •Distributed signage to all city facilities with health reminders and other related messages. •Distributed disinfecting wipes to nine city facilities. Memo ID#2020025 CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS March 13, 2020 Page 2 Police Department • Encouraging use of online/telephone reporting of non-emergency crimes. • Canceled annual department awards ceremony. • Suspended fingerprinting by Records (except case by case exceptions as necessary). • The department training shoot scheduled for next week is canceled. Range staff will work individually with any officer who has a need to qualify before the next scheduled shoot. • The ride-along program is suspended until further notice. • Patrol cars will be disinfected by the assigned officer prior to each shift with the provided supplies. • Implemented dispatch screening questions to provide info for responding officers regarding potential risks. • Confirmed that all officers are equipped with the appropriate protective equipment and gear for COVID-19, and that all officers are briefed regarding when to use them and how to disinfect or dispose of the equipment if necessary. • HOT team limiting exposure opportunities. Avoiding large group situations, enclosed contacts, not pro-actively going into encampments and also not doing encampment clean-ups for now. • Have provided prevention and awareness fliers geared toward special needs of homeless population. Focus on offering outreach and continuing to respond to calls-for-service and assist patrol. • Cancel senior volunteer patrol until further notice, maintaining YANA program by phone. • Canceled all Explorer activities until further notice. Fire Department • Responded to 24 medical aid calls, three of which reported flu like symptoms. • Canceled or postponed: o Ride-Alongs (Public or Explorer) o Station Tours o Public Education Events o Explorer Academy o CERT Academy • Worked with Carlsbad Firefighters Association and Human Resources to identify solutions that enable the engineers promotional exam to continue Monday, March 16, while adhering to public health guidelines. Administrative Services Branch • Finalized telework process and procedures and distributed to city staff. • Prepared the following information to city employees: o Answers to commonly asked questions o Roles as Disaster Service Workers o Workplace accommodation information • Canceled all trainings, employee panels, testing, interviews, bus tour, academies, volunteer events through the end of March. • Converting all interview panels to online. • Researching child care options for employees to reduce absenteeism. • Prepared unemployment insurance for part-time employees. CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS March 13, 2020 Page 3 • Respond to more than 40 individual employee inquiries regarding various COVID-related topics. • Developing protocols for employees returning from high risk areas. Public Works Branch • All custodial staff have focused on cleaning and disinfecting areas that the public or staff have touched such as door handles, push plates, grab bars, handrails, restroom surfaces, public computer stations and keyboards. • Increased cleaning at city facilities, including utilizing contract with Urban Corp to conduct ongoing cleaning and disinfecting of heavily utilized facilities. o Starting today, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the Senior Center, Pine Ave Community Center and Cole Library. o Starting on March 16, 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Monday to Friday at the Cole and Dove libraries. • Staff have contacted Tyler Court to increase cleaning and disinfecting of public areas. The property manager indicated that their custodial services contractor has already increased cleaning and disinfecting of public areas. Community Services Branch • Canceled/postponed the following: o Total of 411 Library, Cultural Arts, Parks & Recreation programs o Parks & Recreation Commission Monday, March 16 o City Council Tuesday, March 17 o Planning Commission Wednesday, March 18 • Working with City Attorney’s Office and IT to determine options for alternative formats. Planning • Staff was instructed to minimize time at the counter and perform data entry at their desks. • Staff has been reminded to inform customers they see in close contact about the social distancing recommendations. • Contacting applicants with appointments for next week about email or dropping off applications. Beta testing this with building first. • Applicants were notified of the cancellation; Planning Commissioners were emailed and planning web site updated with the cancellation. • Staff is contacting applicants about meetings already scheduled to reschedule or reformat (phone, WebEx) the meeting as needed. Library & Cultural Arts • “No longer accepting donations” signage posted, donation acceptance bins made inaccessible • “Avoid cash if possible” signage posted. • Individual use Antimicrobial Hand Wipes were delivered courtesy of EOC. All packets were distributed in convenient locations around the library. • The following meetings canceled: o Carlsbad Library & Arts Foundation meeting March 17 o Friends of the Library board meeting March 19 o Library Board March 25 CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS March 13, 2020 Page 4 o Arts Commission April 2 • Monitoring regional and national library practices regarding public services. Parks & Recreation • Canceled Parks & Recreation programs, classes and events through March 31, consistent with the County of San Diego’s public health order. • Posted handwashing instructions in public restrooms and hand washing stations. • Coordinated changes to the senior nutrition program service delivery methods with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (e.g., no seated meal service within the Senior Center; meals in containers will now be available for pick-up instead). • Requested and obtained eight stand-alone hand washing stations from the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency. o Stations located at Alga Norte Community Park, Stagecoach Community Park, Dove Library, Magee Park, Maxton Brown Park, Pine Avenue Community Park, Holiday Park, Frazee State Beach (Sculpture Park) • Obtained one stand-alone hand washing station for City Hall from local vendor. o This station is not associated with the county’s hand washing station program • Ensured three portable restrooms with hand washing stations – originally placed in response to Hep A outbreak - remained in place and received routine servicing. o Restrooms located at public parking lots on Roosevelt Street, State Street and Laguna Drive (adjacent to Cole Library) • Coordinated with California State Department of Parks & Recreation for the request of 6 additional stand-alone hand washing stations. o Stations located at state beach entries between Tamarack Avenue and Avenida Encinas • Increased the cleaning and sanitizing services of parks’ blockhouse restrooms and portable restrooms. • Coordinated additional staff inspection and monitoring of supplies in parks’ blockhouse restrooms, portable restrooms and hand washing stations. City Attorney • Determined that a local declaration of emergency is not necessary under the law due to the city’s ability to rely on the County declaration. • A declaration will be drafted and ready should it become needed. Could be adopted at a special City Council or at the 3/24 meeting, if that is not canceled. • Participated in a call with San Diego regional agency and city attorneys about how to interpret and implement the Brown Act provisions contained in the Governor’s order. Implementation will vary widely as cities and agencies have very different facilities and technologies. Communication & Engagement Public Provided regular updates via the city’s communication channels: • 14 Facebook posts • 87 Shared posts • 11 Tweets • 9 Retweets CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS March 13, 2020 Page 5 • 6 website updates • 1 Next Door post Prepared and distributed news releases: • Handwashing stations provided • COVID-19 update, March 12 • Event, program cancellations Media interviews • Spoke with reporters from the Coast News and San Diego Union-Tribune Prepared and distributed the following videos: • Message from the City Manager and Fire Chief • Hand washing demonstration • March 10 City Council update • Stay informed, stay healthy slide show Sent the following emails: • COVID-19 update, city programs and events update (March 12) • Preschool program on hiatus (all participants) Prepared and distributed the following materials • Facility signage • Hand washing station map • Flier with information tailored to those experiencing homelessness Employees • Prepared and sent four updates for city employees • Created a “dark” website employees can access from any device and on any network to get updated information related to COVID-19 and their employment with the city CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS March 13, 2020 Page 6 CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS March 13, 2020 Page 7 cc: Celia Brewer, City Attorney Gary Barberio, Deputy City Manager, Community Services Paz Gomez, Deputy City Manager, Public Works Laura Rocha, Deputy City Manager, Administrative Services Michael Calderwood, Fire Chief Neil Gallucci, Fire Chief Maria Callander, IT Director Judy von Kalinowski, HR Director