COVID-19 updates, who’s eligible for vaccines, celebrating engineers

Hello Team Carlsbad,

This week San Diego County officially met the criteria that allows some outdoor adult and youth sports to resume. We are also getting closer to becoming eligible to move up to the red tier, which means more businesses in our community could reopen including:

• Gyms – Indoor capacity at 10%

• Movie theaters – Indoor capacity at 25% or 100 people

• Museums, zoos and aquariums – Indoor capacity at 25%

• Restaurants – Indoor capacity at 25% or 100 people

• Retail and shopping malls – Indoor capacity at 50%
  

Under the current state rules, counties need to meet the red tier criteria two weeks in a row to move, which would mean the soonest this could happen is about three weeks from now. Of course, rules change from time to time, so stay tuned.

Vaccine update

Late last week, the county announced three new groups would become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, including emergency services, child care and education, and food and agriculture. As you’ll see from the county’s guidelines for emergency services, many city employees qualify under this designation, and some also qualify under the food and agriculture description. Please refer to the information sent to all employees last week for some of the specific city jobs and areas of responsibility that fall under these categories.

I am thrilled that more city employees can get vaccinated, and I hope this brings added peace of mind as we approach the one-year mark of the pandemic.

Next eligible groups

The next big milestone is coming March 15 when those 16 or older can get vaccinated if they have a condition that makes them at a higher risk of a severe case of COVID-19.

Vaccine availability

While news of more eligibility is welcomed, the reality is that supply is still limited. Fortunately, as soon as vaccines are received, we in the City of Carlsbad are well-positioned to administer them through Operation Collaboration. If you missed it, here’s a video of Fire Chief Mike Calderwood explaining how our firefighters got to become vaccinators and how the tiered system works.

If you are eligible for the vaccine but haven’t been able to get an appointment yet, don’t be discouraged. Vaccine appointments at various sites are continually being updated. Once you determine you are eligible and have an appointment, don’t forget to insert your name into the eligibility letter that was emailed to you to show on-site. To ensure that you are eligible please refer to this Intranet post.

Employee cases

Since my last update we have had three new employee cases of COVID-19 and no new workplace exposures.

Our decreasing employee cases are mirroring the county’s and city’s decreasing number of positive cases, so it’s been very encouraging. Thank you for continually doing your part to slow the spread and protect others from exposure. I’ve said it before, but your daily actions continue to make a big impact in the long run. Thank you for caring for Carlsbad!

New touchless thermometers at city facilities

Employees are required to continue screening for COVID-19 symptoms and taking their temperature immediately upon entering a city building.

If you’ve been to Faraday lately, you may have already used new touchless temperature screening stations and over the next week, they’ll be available at all city facilities.

Here’s how to complete the screening process:

• Place your forehead four inches away from the touchless thermometer. Your temperature will appear in less than two seconds.

• Check for symptoms of illness including fever, cough, shortness of breath and sore throat.

  • If your temperature is above 100F or you’re experiencing other symptoms, return home immediately and call your supervisor.

    • Supervisors will contact Human Resources for further direction.

  • If your temperature is below 100F and you do not have other symptoms, you must fill out the online screening form.

• Scan the QR Code available at each touchless screening station with your phone’s camera, or visit carlsbadca.gov/covid to complete the mandatory screening form before further entering the building.

This process helps ensure we protect each other and reduce any workplace exposures.

National Engineers Week

Last week was National Engineers Week, and to celebrate, the City Council presented a proclamation recognizing the diverse engineering workforce and their positive contributions to our quality of life.

Our city engineers apply math, science and technology to find creative solutions to a wide range of projects. Some might say they even walk on water. Check out this Instagram post to see what I mean.

I’m grateful for the talented and skilled engineers we have as teammates who work on everything from making sure we have safe roadways to designing safe and reliable water and infrastructure. Below are just a few of our talented engineers!

Inside Carlsbad: Keeping Team Carlsbad Connected!

Did you catch Inside Carlsbad, a reboot of our employee newsletter? Based on your feedback from the employee survey, we’re excited to find and highlight meaningful connections and comradery among Team Carlsbad. If you have suggestions for the next edition of Inside Carlsbad, let us know at communications@carlsbadca.gov. Enjoy!

Celebrating Women’s History Month

Did you know Carlsbad had its first female mayor in 1960?

Jane C. Sonneman served as a member of City Council from April 1958 to April 1962. She was appointed mayor in April 1960. Prior to 1966, mayors were appointed by the City Council rather than being elected to that position. Sonneman was known as an advocate for slow and limited development of our young city. Prior to serving on the City Council, she was a member of the Planning Commission, and the only commissioner to vote against the Carlsbad Raceway, which would later become a major attraction for Carlsbad (and an annoyance to its neighbors as development got closer to the site). In addition to her civic duties, she was a German teacher, real estate broker, and co-owner with her husband of a bakery and the Carlsbad Theater on State Street.

Keep an eye out on the city’s social media for more celebrations of significant women in Carlsbad, including our elected leaders and staff!

Mandatory trainings

Don’t forget to complete two important trainings:

• Mandatory sexual harassment prevention training. The deadline is March 31 but the sooner the better.

• Mandatory cybersecurity training Cybercrime activities happen every single day, and employees are our first (and sometimes last!) line of defense. You were assigned the training in January and only have 90 days to complete it.

Maybe it’s my background in Human Resources, but I take employee training very seriously and would like to thank HR for making sure we not only meet all of our training requirements but have a wide variety of enriching training sessions offered each month to keep everyone learning and growing.

That’s it for this week, Team Carlsbad.

Each way you’re tackling emergency response on top of your every day job is just another example showing why the City of Carlsbad is the best local government around! Thank you for the great work and your continued dedication. There is light at the end of the tunnel, I promise.

Miss my last update? Read it here.