Nov. 5, 2020
Yesterday the state reported that San Diego County’s case numbers exceeded the threshold to stay in the “red” tier. This means that if our numbers miss the mark again next week, we will be moved down to the “purple” tier.

The county’s case numbers have been very close to the maximum of seven per 100,000 people for the past several weeks (they’ve actually been higher than seven, but we get credit for testing more than the state average and for our focus on populations most vulnerable to COVID-19).

What would moving to the purple tier mean?
  • Restaurants may only operate outdoors
  • Places of worship may only operate outdoors
  • Indoor gyms must close
  • Indoor museums must close
  • Maximum occupancy of indoor retail falls from 50% to 25%

A small silver lining for personal care business owners and their patrons is the recent change to what is allowed in the purple tier. Hair stylists, massage therapists and others can now remain open, with precautions in place.

You can see a handy comparison chart here and the full list of rules for each tier here. The California Department of Public Health assesses counties on a weekly basis. The next report is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Complacency = risk
When asked by the media at yesterday’s news conference, the county health officer said there is no one reason why our cases are increasing, but the trend is real. She urged everyone not to become complacent with the “non-pharmaceutical interventions” that have proven effective in slowing spread. What does that mean? It’s basically all the things we can control, like washing our hands, wearing face coverings and maintaining a 6-foot distance from people outside our household.

Nicholas Christakis, a Yale professor, sociologist and physician, just wrote a book about the lasting effects of the COVID pandemic on the way we live. He talks about the swiss cheese stack. Each slice has random holes, but if you layer enough slices, all of the holes are eventually covered. In other words, one approach is not enough. We need everyone to do all they can to limit the spread.

Case numbers
Community Setting Outbreaks
  • Seven new community outbreaks were confirmed on Nov. 3: three in restaurant/bar settings, two in business settings, one in a grocery setting and one in a health care setting.
  • In the past seven days (Oct. 28 through Nov. 3), 25 community outbreaks were confirmed.
 
More Carlsbad-specific information is available on the “North Coastal” dashboard, including
  • COVID-19 rate by sex, ethnicity and age
  • Hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths

The county also tracks:
 
Troubling trends
More reports are coming in showing increasing COVID-19 spread in the U.S. and abroad. Yesterday the United States recorded more than 100,000 new cases in a single day for the first time since the pandemic began. Many states – 19 to be exact – reported more cases last week than any other seven-day period to date.

Overseas, Europe is reacting to a significant spike in cases by re-imposing lock downs. So far, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Austria and Greece have announced new restrictions.
Here is the map from the World Health Organization’s latest report, covering the week ending Nov. 1
Jobs for veterans
The Carlsbad City Library has launched Job Now/Vet Now™, an online service that supports job seekers, veterans and their families. Job Now is designed for all stages of the job-hunting process, including:
  • Career coaching
  • Expert resume assistance
  • Interview preparation
  • Standardized test preparation
  • Building marketable academic skills
 
Job Now/Vet Now is free for Carlsbad City Library cardholders through the library’s website. Look under “College and eLearning.”
 
Election results
The County of San Diego Register of Voters is busy counting ballots and updating its results website every weekday after 5 p.m. Here is the status of city races as of this morning.
As the Registrar of Voters continues to count ballots and prepare its certification of the election results, we are busy getting ready to officially swear in our newly elected City Council members from districts two and four on Dec. 8. With this election, the City of Carlsbad is now fully transitioned to electing City Council members by district. The mayor is still elected by voters citywide.

Measure G is showing strong support. This measure makes the part of our municipal code covering City Council compensation something that can only be changed by another ballot measure. It doesn’t change what the code says, which is that the City Council may increase its compensation annually by not more than the rate of inflation.
Carlsbad resident takes top prize
Today’s update has some sobering news, so I want to end with a bit of inspiration. I am constantly reminded that Carlsbad is full of creative, talented and caring people who are not letting the fact that we are in the middle of a global pandemic keep them from doing some good in the world.
 
Carlsbad’s very own Jonah Parks recently took first prize in the "Autism's Got Talent" fundraising event, which showcased the talents of San Diego area children and adults on the Autism spectrum. Modeled after the popular “America’s Got Talent” competition, contestants showed off their unique gifts, and the finalists were put to a public vote. Jonah, or DJ Jonah “J the King” as he is known on stage, took top honors for the way he can pump up a crowd through music and encouragement. You can see him in action in this clip from Channel 8 news. Congratulations to Jonah and all of the talented participants.

I will be back with more updates next Tuesday. Thank you for continuing to do your part to slow the spread of COVID-19. Your actions make a difference. Please keep it up.

Scott Chadwick
City Manager
City of Carlsbad | Website