Good afternoon Team Carlsbad,
Hope you all had a restful weekend.
Last Friday, Parks & Recreation staff once again worked their magic to implement new COVID-19 safety guidelines so we could reopen our city playgrounds, which have been closed for more than six months. I know our local families were eager to get back outside and play. Thank you to staff for working tirelessly to put the state’s safety plan in action and ensure our families and children stay safe and play safe in Carlsbad.
Libraries welcome back (some) patrons
Libraries opened last week for computer use and other limited services. I’d like to thank our incredible staff from the Library & Cultural Arts Department, who worked to put processes in place to safely welcome computer users back to all three library locations last Tuesday. Unlike many library programs and services, public computer use could not continue in a virtual or no-contact environment. Making computers and printing available helps bridge an important gap for community members who rely on library computers and internet. Here’s a short video showing our library team in action. Great job!
Our other city departments and teams are also doing incredible work during this time. If your team has a success story to share, I want to hear about it! Email your stories and any pictures to communications@carlsbadca.gov.
Remote work
With a few very select exceptions, city employees are continuing to work remotely, and this will continue for the time being. The county health order allows essential workers to come to the office, but stresses that working remotely is preferred when possible.
I couldn’t be more impressed with how well our workforce has adapted to this new remote structure. Extra kudos to IT staff who have worked around the clock to make sure everyone can stay connected, secure and productive from a wide variety of locations and devices. This has been a great team effort.
COVID-19 update
Since my last update, we’ve had no additional employees test positive for COVID-19.
This would not be possible if not for everyone’s cooperation in following COVID-19 health precautions:
Work remotely if you can. If you need to come to the office:
o Utilize the self screening stations
o Cover your face according to our face covering policy
o Maintain a 6-foot distance from others
o Wipe down commonly used surfaces often
o Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently
o Don’t bring in food to share from a common container, plate, etc.
Practice all other health precautions and health order provisions in your daily lives to avoid infection.
o Don’t gather with people not from your own household
o Avoid crowds
o Stay home if you have any symptoms of COVID-19 or have been around someone who has
Your individual actions are making a difference for our team and for our community. Carlsbad’s case rate per 100,000 in population is still among the lowest in the county, second only to Solana Beach.
Thank you! Keep it up!
Upcoming City Council meeting
Our next COVID-19 actions and expenditures report to the City Council will be tomorrow, Oct. 6. We have a full agenda with other topics including:
· Report on city investments
· Award of Local Roadway Safety Plan Grant
· El Camino Real and Cannon Road intersection improvements
· Lease for Chapters Café at Carlsbad City Library
· Memo of understanding with CUSD for payment of school resource officers
· Revisions to the Carlsbad Firefighters’ Association employment agreement
· Adding no parking zones on both sides of Paseo Del Norte and Car Country Drive from Cannon Road to the intersection of Paseo Del Norte and Car Country Drive between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m.
· Update to Municipal Code concerning public nuisances and property maintenance
Avoid the “Twindemic” and get your flu shot
Between the extreme heat waves or the coming of cooler weather in the winter, people will inevitably be spending more time indoors, so the spread of the flu could increase along with COVID-19 cases. Health officials are calling this the “twindemic,” referring to simultaneous outbreaks of flu and COVID-19.
Flu severity varies from year to year but could always bring serious conditions. The good news is that flu shots are easy to get and help decrease your severity of symptoms, hospitalization and even death. I encourage you to contact your primary care provider to schedule your flu shot this month. The CDC recommends that people get a flu vaccine by the end of October since it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection against flu. If you don’t have a regular health care provider, call 2-1-1 to find out about local flu clinics.
The flu and COVID-19 share many symptoms and characteristics such as:
· Fever/chills
· Cough
· Shortness of breath
· Fatigue
· Muscle pain or body aches
· Headache
· Can be spread to others by people before they begin showing symptoms or who are asymptomatic
The biggest differences? COVID-19 may include change in or loss of taste and smell, is even more contagious than the flu and there are currently no drugs or other treatments approved by the FDA to prevent or treat COVID-19.
Bottom line – please get your flu shot.
Shop local, support Carlsbad businesses
More Carlsbad-based small businesses are being added to the Gift Carlsbad shop local program every week. Gift Carlsbad is a great way to support our local businesses during this time as the road to recovery will be a long and arduous one. When you buy a gift card for a local business through this website, you get extra money added to the card, providing extra value for shoppers and a much-needed boost in revenue for our local businesses.
Don’t see one of your favorite places? Let us know what restaurants, shops or other local vendors you want added to the Gift Carlsbad program and check back often to support our local Carlsbad businesses and business owners.
Let’s go Padres!
Where are my San Diego Padres fans at?
Last Friday, the Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals and won their first postseason series in 22 years. The last time that happened was in 1998. For context, 1998 was the year when AOL 4.0 launched and the series finale of Seinfeld aired. All to say, this is a much overdo victory! The Padres play the LA Dodgers starting tomorrow for the best-of-five National League Division Series matchup.
Padres gear and showing off your #SLAMDIEGO team spirit is highly encouraged through the playoffs and World Series when appropriate (City Council meetings are unfortunately not one of them). Send your pictures showing off your Padres pride to communications@carlsbadca.gov.
That’s it for now, Team Carlsbad. Thank you for all your hard work and continued flexibility during this time. We are adapting, pivoting and coming out stronger because of this!
Miss my last update? Read it here and get other staff updates and training opportunities on the staff page.
Have a great week!