This Friday is a milestone day in the COVID-19 public health emergency, with a long list of activities and businesses allowed to reopen. Like with many other changes to the health restrictions, significant modifications are required to resume operations. For example, when movie theaters reopen, they must limit the number of attendees in each theater to 25% of capacity or a maximum of 100 guests, whichever number is lower. They must also ensure employees and customers are screened for symptoms, practice good hand hygiene, use face coverings when not eating or drinking, and maintain physical distance.
Here is the latest list of what can reopen Friday (keep in mind, many may need more time to prepare, so always check first before heading out):
- Movie theaters
- Gyms
- Day camps
- Youth sports practices
- Swimming pools, including condominium and community pools
- Bars, wineries and breweries
- Hotels and other rental properties for tourism and individual travel
- Card rooms, racetracks and satellite wagering facilities
- Family entertainment (bowling alleys, batting cages)
- Zoos, galleries, museums and aquariums
- Film/TV production
- Professional sports without spectators
The following remain closed:
- Nail and facial salons
- Tattoo parlors
- Massage therapy
- Playgrounds
- Theme parks
- Conventions
- Concerts
Guidance and support for businesses
As part of our update to the City Council yesterday, city staff reported out on the work of the City Council Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Economic Revitalization. To date, the City Council has approved a $5 million package of assistance for local businesses. The biggest chunk of this funding is set aside for a small business loan program. We have already had over 100 local businesses fill out the pre-screening questionnaire, which will help streamline the application process. If you know of a small business that could use a low interest microloan (up to $25,000) to help with COVID-19 related business impacts, it’s not too late to start the process. Here is a link to
more information
.
The lists of industry-specific guidance put out by the California Department of Public Health are another key resource for businesses. These online booklets provide step by step instructions for reopening, including physical modifications, employee training and other measures specific to each industry. The
main list is here
,
but the
rest of the guidance
is on a “county variance” page that is a little hard to find on the main state website. The county requires a
safe reopening plan
that is based on the state guidelines.
Even if you don’t have a business or work for a local company, I encourage you to read through some of these booklets. It will give you a good idea of what to expect when you go to these places and an appreciation for what our business owners are doing to keep you safe. As you do resume some of your normal shopping and errands, please consider patronizing Carlsbad businesses first. They have been through a lot and really need our support!
Health order still in effect
I know everyone is excited about the easing of restrictions, but please keep in mind that the county health order is still in effect.
I want to acknowledge again that some of the state and county rules feel arbitrary or seem to contradict one another. I think everyone is doing their best to keep up with all the changes and adapt as needed. My best advice is to keep your focus on the goal of slowing the spread of COVID-19. By now, we all know the advice on that:
- Limit your exposure to people you don’t live with
- Stay home if you’re sick
- Cover your face when you’re around other people so you don’t inadvertently put droplets of virus into the air where others could breathe them in
- Stay 6 feet away from others
- Wash your hands thoroughly and often
- Don’t touch your face
City services, facilities, programs
The latest easing of restrictions means that many of our parks and recreation activities can now resume, with modifications. The state guidelines were posted only in the last few days, so some of these won’t quite be ready by Friday. Your safety and the safety of our employees are our top priorities, which means we are going to double and triple check everything before opening. Once we’re ready to resume, you can feel confident that all the proper precautions are in place.
- Carlsbad High School tennis courts (open 6/12)
- School sports fields managed by the city (open 6/12)
- City pools (by 6/22)
- Youth sports camps (start next week!)
- Day camps (6/22)
- Community centers (6/22)
- Libraries (open for curbside service now)
- Cannon Art Gallery (coming soon)
Our staff is so excited to once again welcome you to these activities. I’ll keep you posted as more details are available.
COVID-19 case information
If you’ve been following the news, you’ve seen reports from other areas that have seen a spike in COVID-19 cases after reopening. As a result, the county is monitoring our numbers even more closely now. So far, our region hasn’t seen a change. Let’s continue to follow all the precautions to keep it that way.
Carlsbad has two more cases since my last update on Monday, bringing our new total to 86. We estimate 13 of these cases are currently active.
I’ll continue to provide stats for Carlsbad and the overall 14-day average of new positive cases based on the number of people tested (3% currently), but start to focus the rest of this section of my update on the dashboard of indicators the county is now monitoring. You can easily access the
detailed case data
here if you would still like to see that.
The
triggers dashboard
(
mobile friendly
version) lists the criteria that indicate how well our region is doing in managing COVID-19 cases. The three most important, any one of which would trigger a modification to the current health order, are:
- New community outbreaks
- ICU capacity
- Availability of personal protective equipment for front line responders
