An update on Covid-19 Response from the PBG Council
March 30, 2020
To our friends and neighbors of Palm Beach Gardens,
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant challenges for everybody and federal, state, county and local governments all have their roles to play. The mayor and council along with the city manager have received many calls, emails, facebook messages, etc. with questions as to what the city of Palm Beach Gardens is doing to help protect the residents of our city. Let me try to explain our role in this unprecedented outbreak.
- We are a city within a county and as a result, our emergency orders MUST be in coordination with Palm Beach county and the state of Florida. Know that your elected officials and city staff are in constant communications with the county and state representatives, including Mayor Kerner and county administrator Baker providing support and input.
- The city has followed all emergency orders including:
- Closing all city parks, pools, public gathering areas, etc.
- Closure of all recreational activities, including public and private clubs
- Adjusting city hall hours, and staff with many of our staff working remotely.
- Encouraging stay-in-place behaviors
- Ensuring all non-essential businesses remain closed
- The city has followed all emergency orders including:
- Our first responders have developed a plan and safety protocols for our fire-medics, police and residents should any COVID-19 related calls come. They have done a fantastic job responding to our resident’s concerns.
- All nursing homes, independent-living facilities and assisted-living facilities have prohibited visitors for the past two weeks (or more in some cases) thus doing their part to self-quarantine the most vulnerable residents in our community.
- Many of our private, gated communities have restricted guests and visitors, again for the past one-to-two weeks to avoid spreading of the virus within those communities. These gated communities make up a significant percentage of our overall population and as a result, the risk of spread is being minimized in those communities.
- The city can not coordinate with suppliers to add more supplies to our local stores (toilet paper, sanitizers, etc.). All grocery stores and pharmacies will be responsible for stocking supplies but I have noticed that our local grocers have done a good job replenishing supplies and hoarding by some people seems to have lessened.
- The city can not tell the local hospitals how to operate and have no better access to PPE’s than our hospitals and emergency rooms. Our city staff are in communications with the local ER’s, along with our first responders to ensure proper patient care, when needed.
- Please sign up to receive emails from our city at www.pbgfl.com. The city has issued multiple press releases to the local press and have posted on our website and sent emails to our residents who are signed up to receive them. The city has also posted to our social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram- @cityofPBG) as well. This is the best way for our residents to receive the most up-to-date information as possible.
Sincerely,
Mayor and Council
(editor note – above was received from Mayor Marciano; this information will be constantly changing, and you should go to the website, social media or subscribe to the city email releases for up to date status).