Matt Leonard
Chairman of the Board
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce
At this time of uncertainty due to the Coronavirus the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the City of Carlsbad to provide joint updates to our business community. We also thought it would be useful to provide a Q&A with the city on some of the common questions we are fielding as we try to keep our local businesses informed.
What does our business community need to know?
The situation is rapidly changing. For the freshest information from the city go to www.carlsbadca.gov/COVID19. The Chamber of Commerce, Carlsbad Village Association and the city are also sending out joint communications with everything you need to know. To signup send an email to [email protected]. Finally, pay attention to the federal, state and San Diego County updates. These provide helpful information regarding the coronavirus and what residents and businesses need to do to help combat the spread of the disease.
What can our business community do to support our first responders, healthcare workers and essential employees?
The most important thing that we all can do is follow the public health orders and encourage your colleagues and employees to do the same. For example, the stay at home order means people should only go out for groceries, medical appointments, taking care of someone in need or exercising around your home. If you are a business that is considered essential under the governor’s order, please have your employees work remotely to the greatest extent possible. If you aren’t sure if you should be operating, the city has a link to the governor’s order that lists the types of businesses considered essential. Finally, please do your part to maintain 6’ social distancing and practice good hygiene. The simplest actions can have the greatest impact.
What is the city doing to help flatten the curve and reduce the community spread of this disease?
When it comes to protecting the health and welfare of the community, we are taking a very active role. We have had to make difficult but necessary decisions to close all public parks, libraries, community centers, trails and other city gathering places and to temporarily suspend all in-person services in response to the state and county public health orders. This includes walk-in services for licensing and permitting, although all of our core services continue to be available by phone and online. Our City Council meetings are now virtual, with the public still able to comment using digital tools. We’ve stood up a teleworking system so essential city employees can work remotely. Those who remain at city buildings are maintaining 6 feet of physical distance from each other. City police officers personally visit every bar and restaurant in the city to explain the health orders and how to comply. Finally, we have an entire team of city staff focused on communicating with the community, providing important public health updates practically around the clock, seven days a week. We’ve seen website traffic go up almost 40% as people follow our updates. This is a serious time, and we appreciate everything our residents and businesses are doing to help us weather this emergency.
Hopefully, this Q&A is helpful to you. We will continue to keep you updated using our Chamber of Commerce webinars, social media and emails. Take care and be safe!