CITY OF COALINGA The Sunny Side of the Valley
March 18, 2020
During these times when the United States is taking precautionary measure to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 virus, the City of Coalinga has the following requests from our community. While these requests that you are about to read may seem extreme, we would like to do our part to help flatten the curve and protect our community members who are most vulnerable to this virus. At this time, we do not have a local hospital and we need to be Coalinga strong, looking out for each other and coming together as a community.
As such, we are requesting businesses consider the following now through April 12, 2020:
Small businesses limit their maximum occupancy to no more than 10;
Larger, essential businesses limit their maximum occupancy to no more than 50;
Grocery stores, hardware stores, pharmacies and gas stations, as deemed to be essential businesses, consider only serving the most vulnerable community members (those 65 and older and people with disabilities or pre-existing health conditions) during the first hour the business is open each day and then open to the general public after that hour;
Businesses that sell essential products, such as food, water, and over the counter medication, place a limit on the number of items that customers can buy;
Businesses that sell essential products adopt a temporary policy not to refund over purchased items;
Restaurants stop dine-in service and instead operate solely on take out and delivery orders;
Each business adopt a more stringent cleaning and disinfecting policy;
Grocery stores and pharmacies develop a delivery method to serve the most vulnerable community members;
Additionally, we are asking each individual community member to consider the following now through April 12, 2020:
Do not over purchase items. There is currently no shortage of food or supplies. Do not create one by overbuying;
Support your local businesses. When you shop local, your tax dollars benefit your own City and help fund your Police and Fire Departments who are on the front lines keeping this community safe. When you shop in other cities, you are contributing to their Police and Fire Departments, not your own;
Support local businesses as best as you can during this time. Order take out or delivery meals, order online products, purchase gift cards for use at a later date, etc. We will get through this and we want our local businesses to navigate through these times successfully as well;
Attempt to stay home unless you need to leave to obtain essential goods or services;
Frequently wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. When possible, wash with soap and warm water. If warm water and soap are not available, use hand sanitizer;
Minimize hand to face contact;
Greet people without a handshake;
Medically fragile individuals should take extra precautions based on their medical condition to plan for social distancing, social isolation, or a complication from a respiratory ailment;
Talk to your physician about getting the flu vaccine and pneumonia vaccine (these will not prevent COVID-19 but can help minimize additional illness);
Stay home when sick. Remain at home until fever has been gone for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medicines;
Cover cough with a tissue or sleeve;
Enhance cleaning and sanitation efforts at your home and workplace;
Consult with a medical professional if you feel ill;
Call to check on the most vulnerable community members during this time. If you are generally healthy with no underlying health conditions, see how you may be able to help them. Perhaps you can volunteer to walk their dogs, pick up their groceries or medications, sanitize things outside their home that may be touched by others such as their mailboxes, door handles, gate latches, etc. In short, be a good neighbor and look out for those around you;
Unfortunately, in times of crisis, there are always people who will take advantage of the situation. If you see something, say something. Look out for each other;
At this time, these are not orders or directives. These are simply requests, though things within the State or County may change at any time taking a more strict approach and we will need to adjust.
Lastly, do not panic. We will get through this. We just need to take additional precautions that we may not be used to taking in order to help reduce the spread of this very contagious virus.
Our resources are limited. We do not have a local hospital and the hospitals around us only have a finite number of hospital beds, medical staff, and medical equipment. We only have a finite number of ambulances and Fire Department staff.
Thank you,
Marissa Trejo, City Manager
Ron Lander, Mayor