The City of Sarasota has taken several important measures to help slow the spread of the coronavirus in our community and protect the health and safety of the public.

Working in regular consultation with officials at Sarasota County Government and the Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County, and following the guidelines and latest information from federal and state officials, we remain in a local public health emergency, which has been extended through at least April 3.

This week we also issued new emergency orders : First, we are prohibiting gatherings of 10 or more in the city limits. We’re asking everyone to voluntarily comply with this regulation based on important Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, but those who insist on congregating in large groups may be subject to a second-degree misdemeanor citation from the Sarasota Police Department.

We are also strongly urging residents to stay at home through April 3, except for essential activities such as shopping for food or other necessities, going to work or taking care of others. Everyone should practice social distancing by maintaining at least 6 feet between themselves and others.

All City buildings, including City Hall, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the Robert L. Taylor Community Center and our other recreation centers and auditoriums, remain closed to the public. We’ve also closed playgrounds, basketball courts and tennis courts at the City’s more than 50 parks. We’ve advised walkers, joggers and bicyclists using the John Ringling Causeway Bridge to go with the flow of traffic so as to avoid passing others face-to-face and reducing the risk of transmitting COVID-19.

Although the City’s facilities are closed, our dedicated City employees are still serving the community every day: collecting your trash and recycling, ensuring you have safe drinking water, repairing the roads, patrolling the streets of your neighborhood and more.

All of us have had to adjust to this new reality while still performing our duties - whether it’s our Building Division creating a drop box so that the general public and those in the construction industry can still submit or pick up important plans and documents, our Parking Operations Division designating curbside parking to make parking quick and easy for restaurants that now suddenly are providing takeout/delivery service only or our Parks and Recreation District staff sharing on social media some creative ways to keep citizens healthy, active and entertained. Many other dedicated City employees are standing by to help you conduct City business via phone (941-263-6000) or on the web at www.SarasotaFL.gov , and we are thankful for their public service.

As a reminder, news releases and COVID-19 resources are available on www.SarasotaFL.Gov . We are very active on our social media pages -- Facebook , Twitter , Instagram and Nextdoor -- where we are seeing an increased number of people seeking information and we are providing it. In addition, when warranted, we're producing and disseminating a special COVID-19 newsletter with the latest information and resources. Subscriptions to the newsletter have jumped 13 percent in the past couple of weeks, and we appreciate the community's interest in obtaining timely, accurate information directly from the City of Sarasota. By the way, if you are currently subscribed to Weekly Briefs, you will automatically receive the COVID-19 updates, no need to re-subscribe.