When I wrote to you last month about the importance of handwashing and a virus on the other side of the world, never did I imagine that we would be where we are today.
Our schools, parks, recreation centers Library and even City Hall closed, our businesses shuttered, and the entire state asked to stay home, for all but essential services.
Like many of you, I am deeply concerned by the impact of Coronavirus and the speed at which daily life in Murrieta has been altered. I am also extremely grateful to our connected community for taking the steps necessary to slow the spread of this disease, and doing it with the grace and optimism that makes this City special.
From all the parents learning how to homeschool, particularly the dad who now homeschools his five children so mom can work at the hospital; the customers who are leaving large tips to help support our struggling restaurants; the Murrieta Unified School District who supplied masks and gloves to all of our local hospitals and our Police and Fire Departments; the selfless efforts of our first responders, healthcare providers--and all of you staying home and protecting the most vulnerable in our community. On behalf of the City Council and all City employees, Thank You.
While City Hall has temporarily closed to the public, we are still working behind the scenes to continue essential operations and keep major projects on track. We are doing that with safety in mind; for example a combination of social distancing; half of staff telecommuting; and adapting some processes to digital formats to minimize contact. This is new for all of us too, but we are making it work together.
Last week we declared a local State of Emergency to help us coordinate services and access emergency funding. We have activated our Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and coordinate daily with our partners at Riverside County Public Health and at the state and national level. You can be confident that your City is closely following all developments and will continue to implement best practices to protect all of you as much as possible.
What can you do to help today? I would ask four things:
- Follow the Stay-at-Home guidelines (link). This is the best way to flatten the curve and get us all back to normal. Experts are asking us all to act as if we have the virus;
- Do not hoard, there is plenty of food if we all shop for only what we need. I know it is hard, I feel the same inclination. Fight it;
- Get good information. Our website, Public Health and the CDC are reliable sources of the latest information. Avoid watching the news for hours on end as it will increase the fear for you and your entire family; and
- Be kind and stay connected. Uncertainty brings out the best and worst in us as we have seen. When things get hard, remember that we are all in this situation together and it will be over eventually. When we look back let us all feel great pride that we did our part to help protect each other and our great community of Murrieta.
In Good Health,
