Coronavirus Updates From City Of San Mateo, County Health

From the City of San Mateo:

March 5, 2020

County Health & City of San Mateo Monitoring, Responding to Coronavirus

(Last updated March 10, 2020)

The County of San Mateo is working closely with state and local agencies to monitor and respond to COVID-19 and its potential impacts on the Bay Area. The Centers for Disease Control, CDC, and San Mateo County Health remain the best resources for current information about the novel coronavirus and information is available at www.cdc.gov or https://smchealth.org/coronavirus.

San Mateo County Health continues to advise that the steps to prevent the spread of flu will also guard against the spread of COVID-19: cover your cough and sneeze, wash your hands frequently, and avoid shaking hands or touching your face with unwashed hands. If you are not feeling well or are experiencing cold, flu, or other symptoms, contact your primary care provider and stay home from school or work, according to County Health.

Please see below for a list of City-specific updates and what we’re doing in the City of San Mateo.

We understand the public’s concerns, and the City of San Mateo will continue to work closely with our partner agencies and public health officials. We encourage the public to stay informed with reliable, timely information directly from County Health and the CDC by visiting www.cdc.gov or https://smchealth.org/coronavirus.

March 10, 2020 Update from San Mateo County Health

San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow issued an updated statement which includes the implementation of the following activities at this time:

• All non-essential gatherings should be canceled, postponed, or done remotely. Unfortunately, at this time, the county did not provide standard definition of “non-essential” or “gathering” to guide your decisions. Use your best judgment.
• Stop shaking hands.
• Increase in the amount of remote working or teleworking to the extent possible especially for those who appear at higher risk for developing the disease, those over the age of 60 and those with co-morbid conditions.
• Under all circumstances, stop touching your face, eyes, nose, or mouth with your unwashed hands.

For more guidance and to read Dr. Morrow’s updated statement in its entirety, go to https://www.smchealth.org/coronavirus. You can also sign up for updates from the County of San Mateo’s Emergency Operations Center by visiting https://cmo.smcgov.org/eoc.

What this Means for the City of San Mateo

We are working closely with the County of San Mateo on this evolving situation, its potential impacts in the City of San Mateo, and how we can best support and protect our community. We’re carefully reviewing the latest recommendations from the CDC and the County Health Officer as we evaluate what changes to make.

At this time, all essential City services remain uninterrupted and formal public meetings – including Council and commission meetings – will continue as normal. Based in part on the Health Officer’s recommendation, we have postponed or cancelled non-essential public events and will scale back some programming that either typically draws a large crowd or involves sensitive populations. We have also increased our janitorial and cleaning efforts in publicly-accessed spaces at City facilities.

We recognize the County Health Officer’s recommendations could change over time, and we are working with our staff on a variety of contingencies should program cancellations or facility closures become necessary in the future. Our community’s health and well-being are our top priorities, and we will continue to provide updates as they become available.

(List updated March 10, 2020)

Library:

We are cancelling all San Mateo Library public events and weekly storytimes through the month of March.

We are continuing to offer regular library services, literacy tutoring, our job center, passport services and will host the AARP Tax Help workshops.

Parks and Recreation:

All Parks and Recreation programs are currently continuing as scheduled and we are taking extra measures at our facilities based on recommendations from public health officials.

We are cancelling non-essential Parks and Recreation events including: March 13 Dance Fest, March 13 Police Activities League Family Night at the King Center, and the March 20 Volunteer Recognition Dinner at the Senior Center.

Citywide:

We are postponing the 52nd Anniversary Celebration of our relationship with the 101st Airborne originally scheduled for March 21.

Public Meetings:

We record, livestream and broadcast our City Council, Planning Commission and Sustainability & Infrastructure Commission meetings.

You can always watch these meetings remotely on our Public Meeting Portal; our YouTube Channel, or local stations: Comcast/channel 27, Astound/channel 26, or AT&T/channel 99.

Want to comment on an agenda item? You can email your comments on upcoming public meetings.

• City Council meeting: email polds@cityofsanmateo.org
• Planning Commission meetings: email planningcommission@cityofsanmateo.org
• Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission meetings: email sandicommission@cityofsanmateo.org

Call 2-1-1 for Non-Medical Information

The County of San Mateo has replaced a local call center number with a new service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Residents with non-medical questions should call 2-1-1 for information about the coronavirus. 2-1-1 is a confidential service accessible in 180 languages. Callers can get answers to questions about how residents, schools and businesses should prepare for COVID-19, as well as ways to prevent the spread of the virus.

Please do not call 9-1-1 for information about the COVID-19.

The 2-1-1 information service also offers a text option. Text “coronavirus” to “211211” to receive useful information from the CDC. After receiving a return text message, residents can enter a ZIP code for county-specific health-related links.

The opening of the call center follows the proclamation of a local emergency in San Mateo County by County Manager Mike Callagy and the declaration of a local health emergency by San Mateo County Health Officer Dr. Scott Morrow. Following the state’s own emergency declaration, the County’s two emergency announcements makes the County eligible for reimbursement dating back to when the documents were signed. The County chooses to take both actions because the COVID-19 response has the potential for countywide disruptions beyond the impact to public health.

Actions You Can Take

Health officials advise us to reduce the risk of getting sick by taking simple, preventative measures that are used to reduce impacts of seasonal colds or flu viruses, including:

• Washing hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol
• Avoid shaking hands or touching your eyes, nose and mouth
• Cover your cough or sneeze properly
• Stay home and avoid public or crowded areas if you don’t feel well
• Get your flu shot to protect against flu or symptoms similar to COVID-19
• If you have recently returned from regions with ongoing COVID-19 impacts, monitor your health and immediately call your physician if you experience flu-like symptoms

You can also prepare for the possible disruption caused by an outbreak:

• Make sure you have a supply of all essential medications for your family
• Make a child care plan for if you or a caregiver are sick
• Make arrangements for how your family will manage a school closure, if necessary
• Make a plan for how you can care for a sick family member without getting sick yourself

For the latest information on the outbreak, please visit

• San Mateo County Health, smchealth.org/coronavirus
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cdc.gov/coronavirus

Additional Info...

This press release was produced by the City of San Mateo. The views expressed here are the author’s own.