Around the Island: Alameda police, fire ready for emergencies
Published on March 20, 2020
In two weeks, our community went from celebrating the grand opening of the Cross Alameda Trail to hearing the news of the Grand Princess cruise ship docking at the Port of Oakland, to one of our Alameda firefighters testing positive for COVID-19, to the entire community being directed to shelter at home for three weeks.
Alameda is a resilient community. And with scientific evidence showing us that social distancing is one of the most effective approaches to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, we are taking directives very seriously to reduce the risk of illness to our most vulnerable residents. We also understand how challenging this is to all of us. Most of us are being asked to do something that we have never even thought about before, and the rapid changes make living in this environment especially disruptive. The city wants you to know that all essential needs will be met. Our police and fire departments are fully staffed and ready to respond to emergencies. We urge Alamedans to remain patient and calm as we adapt to these changes together and protect ourselves, our families and our neighbors.
Shelter-in-place order: On Monday, Alameda County’s health officer joined five other Bay Area counties and the city of Berkeley in issuing an order directing all individuals living in their respective jurisdictions to shelter in place at their residences, with some exceptions to provide or receive essential services or engage in essential activities and work for essential businesses and governmental services. The full order and additional information about it can be found at alamedaca.gov/alerts.
The intent of the order is to slow the spread of COVID-19 to the maximum extent possible. We know a lot of you have questions about the order and what is defined as an essential service or essential activity. Please refer to the order directly for guidance and contact the Alameda County Public Health Department at 510-268-2101 or ncov@acgov.org with questions. For Alameda residents who are older than 65 or with chronic health conditions and at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19, the order urges individuals to stay in their residences to the extent possible, except as necessary to seek medical care.
Where to find updates: Please bookmark alamedaca.gov/alerts for the city of Alameda’s latest updates. In addition to local updates, we have links to resources with additional information from health experts. Also, please be sure to subscribe to emergency alerts at acalert.org — in an emergency we will contact you by text, phone and email using this alert system. The shelter-in-place order creates big challenges for our local businesses. We are working with the state to identify available resources and will continue to update those online at alamedaca.gov/businessalerts.
City operations: The city continues to follow state and local guidance with the number-one priority of ensuring the health and welfare of our community. Essential city services will remain in place, but we’ll conduct most of those services online, by email or by phone. Additional details including who to call and email are posted at alamedaca.gov/alerts.
Most city buildings are now closed to the public, including City Hall, City Hall West, our three libraries, Alameda Municipal Power offices and ARPD offices. City Hall will be open only if there is a public meeting. All other city events are canceled or postponed until further notice. We are providing refunds for all city facility rentals, and Alameda Municipal Power (AMP), our city-owned electric utility, is suspending service disconnections for nonpayment, effective immediately. This applies to residential and commercial customers and will remain in effect until further notice.
Keep calm and wash your hands: While we have experienced coronaviruses before, this is a new strain and a vaccine has not yet been developed. That’s why health experts continue to tell us the best thing we can do is not be exposed to the virus. To do that, we must stay home when sick, practice social distancing when we leave our homes for essential activities and services, wash our hands frequently and cough or sneeze into a tissue that we then immediately discard. If every one of us takes these preventative measures, we’ll slow the spread to our community.
For helpful information and guidance on COVID-19, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at cdc.gov/COVID19, the California Department of Public Health at cdph.ca.gov/covid19 and the Alameda County Public Health Department at acphd.org/2019-ncov. Thank you for your continued cooperation, patience and understanding.
Read the article here: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/03/17/around-the-island-alameda-police-fire-ready-for-emergencies/