COVID-19

ILG is committed to helping local government leaders navigate the complexity of their important roles. As such, we want to ensure that local leaders and our business and community partners are equipped with the latest information and resources related to COVID-19.

This resource page will be updated daily. In addition, ILG will be sharing real-time updates related to COVID-19 on our social media pages as the situation develops. Please be sure to follow ILG on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date. In addition, we have compiled a number of useful links with COVID-19 information for cities, counties and special districts and included them below.

California’s cities, counties and special districts are working closely with local and statewide public health officials and policymakers to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus and keep those at particular risk from contracting the illness.

The safety and well-being of our communities is paramount. Please encourage your communities to follow your local and statewide public health guidelines for practicing proper hygiene and preventative measures.

Local leadership is always on display during times of crisis and we are heartened by the many examples of collaboration and good governance we have seen across the state.

Local Government Resources

County Tier Level Changes

In total 54 counties (nearly 100% of the population) are now in the Purple Tier (most restrictive), 3 counties are in the Red Tier, and 1 in the Orange Tier.

For counties in the Purple Tier, the state’s Limited Stay at Home Health Order took effect Monday (November 30) at 10pm READ HERE.

A number of our partners have developed COVID-19 specific resources to help local governments navigate this pandemic.

City Resources

• The League of California Cities
• League of California Cities Map of City Emergency Declarations
• National League of Cities
• National League of Cities – COVID-19: Local Action Tracker Preview
• NLC’s CitiesSpeak: Prioritize Equity in Covid-19 Response

County Resources

• The California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
• CSAC’s Interactive Map of Shelter in Place Emergency Declarations
• National Association of Counties
• National Association of Counties Tracker

Special District Resources

• The California Special Districts Association
• CSDA COVID-19 Community: A CA special districts resource for sharing latest updates from the State, what’s happening with your district, ask questions, and find answers.

Other Local Resource

• Emergency Preparedness Amidst COVID-19
• International City/County Management Association
• California Association of Public Information Officials
• Engaging Local Government Leaders – ELGL
• Sustainability Best Practices During the COVID Crisis
• Social Distancing: Apps for Seniors

State and National Resources

• California Department of Public Health updated guidance around the statewide Travel Advisory on January 6, 2021. Read the updates here.
• The FDA approved the second vaccine by Moderna, which has arrived in California. Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup has confirmed it is safe for public use. California’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee continues to hold public meeting deliberations on priority distribution for phase 1B  of the vaccine. 3,226,775 total doses shipped to California between Moderna and Pfizer; 1,525,815 total vaccines administered to date as of 1/19/21. California’s Community Vaccine Advisory Committee has finalized priority distribution for phases 1A, 1B and 1C of the vaccine. Public meeting notices and guidelines for each phase and tiers within each phase are available at covid19.ca.gov. Meetings are live streamed via YouTube. Details of committee decisions can be found here.
• Governor Newsom launched a “Vaccinate All 58” Campaign based on Safety and Equity to get everyone in all 58 counties vaccinated in order of state working group-established priorities based on a phase and tier system outlined on covid19.ca.gov.
• CA Notify launched New Exposure Notification System
  The state is working with Google and Apple on a CA Notify smart phone app. CA Notify leverages Apple and Google technology to notify participants when they have been exposed to a COVID+ individual. The app is 100% private (does not track location or collect personal information), secure and voluntary (users must opt-in). For details on the app and access instructions visit covid19.ca.gov.
• State hotline for people to call for local non-medical services, such as food delivery and mental health care. The number is 833-544-2374.

State Resources

• California COVID-19 main information page
• New State Website Outlining Volunteer Opportunities
• California COVID-19 Medical Supply Contributions
• California Health Corps
• California Department of Public Health
• Go BIZ (Gov Office of Business & Economic Development
• CA Labor and Development Agency – Resources for Employers and Workers
• California Public Utilities Commission
• State Parks COVID-19 Resource Center
• CalRecycle COVID-19 Resources and Updates
• Blueprint for a Safer Economy
• Blueprint for a Safer Economy – Equity Focus
• California Re-Opening Tier Levels
• The California Healthy Places Index

National Resources

• White House guidelines for Opening up America Again
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• FEMA Coronavirus Rumor Control
• Optimizing Supply of PPE and Other Equipment during Shortages (updated July 16)
• When to wear gloves - When Gloves Are and Aren’t Needed (updated July 16)

Executive Orders, Directives and Guidelines

California Governor Signs Executive Order Updating Cal/OSHA Requirements Related to Quarantine Guidelines (12/14/20). The order updates the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) emergency temporary standard in keeping with new guidance from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) related to quarantine guidelines. The text of the Governor’s executive order can be found here and a copy can be found here.

The state’s new regional stay at home order went into effect Sunday December 6. This order is more restrictive than the purple tier level of the county color coded system. Counties that fall within a region with less than 15% ICU capacity get placed into the stay at home order. If the ICU capacity increases beyond 15% capacity after three weeks remaining under the order and with four additional weeks of additional ICU projections, counties within a region get bumped back down to the county colored tier system.

Access the Shelter in Place order HERE.

Stay At Home Order Update:

The Bay Area, San Joaquin Central Valley and Southern California regions are currently under the stay at home order. The Greater Sacramento Area region order was lifted January 13 due to consistent above 15% ICU capacity projections over the next four weeks. The Northern California region also remains excluded from the stay at home order with consistent above 15% ICU capacity numbers. Current (1/19/21) percentages by region are:

• 0% – Statewide
• 0% – San Joaquin Central Valley
• 0% – Southern California
• 7.4% – Bay Area
• 8.9% – Greater Sacramento
• 30.5% - Northern California

Initial stay at home orders were set for at least three weeks so regions could recover ICU capacity.

• San Joaquin Central Valley: : extended indefinitely
• Southern California: : extended indefinitely
• Bay Area: extended indefinitely

List of counties by region:

Northern California: Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Trinity

Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma

Greater Sacramento: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, Yuba

San Joaquin Valley: Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, Tuolumne

Southern California: Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura

Visit covid19.ca.gov for more information.

Stay at Home Travel Advisory In Effect:

• Restrict travel in areas under stay at home order.
• Hotels and vacation rentals should not rent to people within regional stay at home orders except for essential purposes.
• Hotels may still be used for quarantine and isolation.

Read the CDPH Travel Advisory here.

• Effective 11/30/2020 California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“OSHSB”) adopted temporary regulations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace (“emergency regulations”)
• Governor Signs Law (AB 1867) Providing COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave to Emergency Responders and Health Care Providers
• Read all Executive Orders here

State Legislative Updates

Assembly Speaker Rendon appointed Assemblymember Eloise Reyes, D-San Bernardino, as Assembly Majority Leader for the 2021-22 session. Assembly and Senate leadership pushed the start to the legislative session to January 11th in response to COVID-19 case surges and hospitalization/ICU capacity stress. Lawmakers have until Feb. 19. to introduce bills, which have been limited to 50 per member in the Assembly and 40 per member in the Senate.

Business, Community and Partner Resources

Responding to the Coronavirus/COVID-19: ILG Partner Liebert Cassidy Whitmore has developed a resource page with information for public agencies, non-profits and school districts. Access their resource page here. They also recently released a Public Agency Return to Work Toolkit.

COVID-19: Legal Update: ILG Partner Best, Best & Krieger has developed a resource page for local governments to help them understand legal rulings and executive orders surrounding the pandemic. Access their resource page here.

Communications Resources: ILG Partner Tripepi Smith has compiled a resource page for local governments including: social media resources, sample language for dedicated webpages, and a communications checklist. Access their resource page here.

COVID-19 Resource Page: ILG Partner Burke Williams & Sorensen is committed to helping our clients stay up-to-date on developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have created a resource page with legal alerts, blog posts, articles and other resources. Access their resource page here.

COVID-19 Resource Page: ILG Partner Hanson Bridgett has created an online toolkit to help their clients confront and address legal issues arising from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Hanson Bridgett has assembled a multidisciplinary response team available to help our clients navigate the myriad unique issues presented by the developing worldwide pandemic, and to protect their companies and employees. Access their resource page here.

COVID-19 Information and Updates: ILG Partner Renne Public Law Group has created a resource page providing information about COVID-19’s impact on California’s political and administrative landscape. Access their resource page here.

COVID-19 Legal Alerts: ILG Partner Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard has released a number of legal alerts providing guidance to local governments. Access their alerts here.

COVID-19 Resource Page: ILG partner HdL Companies has created a resource page to help local governments navigate the crisis. Access their resource page here.

Facebook’s Local Alerts: As of March 12th, Facebook has opened up local alerts to all local governments, public health agencies and first responders. This is a free tool that allows local governments to send critical alerts to their community. When posts are marked as local alerts, Facebook amplifies their reach so that people living in an affected community are much more likely to see them. Find out more.

Local Government Response to COVID-19

• What is Open in Each California County
• Tracking CA Counties Reopening

Local Government COVID-19 Response Highlights

• Cities of Alameda, Foster City, Petaluma, Redwood City and San Mateo restricted or reduced traffic on designated roads so residents would have more space for socially distant exercising. Open streets without traffic are helping provide more space for residents to safely be outside and for businesses to increase their foot traffic while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read more.
• City of Bakersfield launches new business assistance grant program. Read more.
• City of Benicia created an online LEGO® camp to keep kids connected through creative, COVID-19 safe recreation programs. Read more.
• City of Beverly Hills approves $700K rent relief program. Read more.
• City of Burbank In the continued effort to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus, pedestrians & bicyclists no longer have to press the Walk Button at intersections. All Burbank signals have been set so the Walk signal turns on automatically between 6AM-10PM. Read more.
• Camarillo Health Care District is providing dementia and resources for caregivers throughout the pandemic. Read more.
• Chino Valley Fire District continues to deliver to seniors during the crisis. Seniors and others at high risk of contracting COVID-19 can contact the Fire District and ask that firefighters and other employees pick up and deliver prescriptions and groceries and perform other essential services. Read more.
• Coachella Valley Public Cemetery District approved funding to help families bury loved ones during pandemic. Read more.
• City of Costa Mesa partnered with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to create a high-quality summer camp offering sports, music, and art activities to local youth, including those in underserved Communities. Read more.
• City of El Cajon brought their “Rec Squad” online providing a series of videos to keep kids entertained including arts and crafts lessons, cooking instruction, sports, camp games, and nature activities throughout the pandemic. Read more.
• City of El Centro hosted a virtual meeting to discuss improvements to their Downtown area. They took official comments from residents via Zoom and Facebook live. El Centro, is one of ILG’s BOOST communities, which is working on enhancing their public engagement efforts virtually during COVID-19. Read more.
• Elk Grove Unified School District created drive through zones outside 13 schools so that families can pick up food for their children. Read more.
• City of Fresno, even before Gov. Newsom’s June 18 Executive Order requiring all Californians to wear face masks in public, is providing 10,000 disposable surgical masks for small businesses to hand out to their customers and 4,000 cloth masks for employees. Read more.
• Hanford Fire Department introduced new Fire Recruit Pups to improve first responder’s health as tensions continue to rise during the pandemic. Read more.
• City of Lancaster created a campaign called “Turn your Tassel,” in which the city provides an array of tactics to celebrate the graduating class of 2020 through social media campaigns, banners, certificates, and videos. The city also encouraged residents to decorate their yards to celebrate graduates with free take-home celebration kits provided by the city. Read more.
• Los Angeles County is giving $10,000 each to businesses as Coronavirus hits bottom lines. Read more.
• Modoc County has become the last best place to avoid the deadly virus. This high desert county of alfalfa fields, wildlife refuges, and 9,000 people has not recorded a single case of COVID-19. Not even one. Ever. It’s the only county in California that appears to be coronavirus free — one of only five in seven Western states that can still make that claim, at the moment. Read more.
• Monterey and Ukiah Public Libraries in partnership with the California State Library, are starting the COVID-19 Diaries compiling any essays, poems, letters, photos, videos, or other artworks about individual experiences in the pandemic. Read more I Read more
• City of Morgan Hill hosted a virtual Business Resiliency Roundtable Webinar focused on discussion around the reopening of retail businesses within the City and answering questions from their community. The video was broadcast live through the City’s Facebook page. Watch.
• Natomas Unified School District is practicing social distancing with “drive through” school food service. Read more.
• Nevada and Santa Clara Counties worked together to get treatment to critically ill Coronavirus patient. Read more.
• Orange County’s Clerk Recorder is offering marriage licenses and civil marriage ceremonies through a pop-up mobile ticket counter for couples whose marriage appointments were postponed due to closures and stay-at-home orders. Read more.
• Palo Alto Unified and La Honda-Pescadero School Districts are looking at bringing in outdoor educators who lost their jobs when programs were canceled in response to the pandemic. Schools can bring them in to share their expertise by working with students on playgrounds, in school gardens or at nearby parks. Read more.
• City of Paramount is partnering with its community to provide free 24/7 academic support to its students including multilingual live help and essay review for all subjects from trained, qualified tutors. Read more.
• Placentia Library District continues to reach out to the public, receive positive feedback, give patrons a feeling of comfort with their programs and services, and most importantly, become a dependable constant to its patrons during this time through unrelenting passion to serve the community regardless of circumstance. Read more.
• City of Sacramento launched a new webinar series to help local Sacramento businesses survive, thrive and retain employees through the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more. The City also created new virtual resources and activities to help keep youth socially engaged. Read more.
  • Sacramento plans $1 million emergency economic relief fund amid coronavirus outbreak
  • City of Sacramento Leaders Announce Free Childcare Plan
• City of San Diego is converting its convention center to a homeless shelter. Read more.
• San Diego County’s small army of public health investigators & contact tracers are working on identifying every resident who has been exposed to #COVID19. No small task within a county of 3.3 million people. Read more.
• City of San Francisco rolled out a Shared Spaces Program to assist business by providing flexible use of sidewalks, streets, and other public spaces to serve customers. Under this program, restaurants can use a portion of the public right-of-way, such as sidewalks, parking lanes, streets, or other nearby public spaces like parks and plazas for restaurant pick-up and outdoor dining. Read more.
• City of San Jose distributed hand-washing stations, portable toilets, and clean water to homeless encampments. Read more.
• City of Temecula developed a COVID-19 smart phone app, dedicated hotline and email address, along with many other forms of rapid response communication tools and technologies, for citizens to report, communicate and understand the City’s recovery efforts, among many forms of rapid response communications the City set up. Read more. The city and Temecula Valley Unified School District partner to create free WiFi gardens. Read more.
• Ventura County created a Pandemic Rental Assistance program to help reduce the amount of tenants’ back-owed rent, while assisting landlords. Read more.
• Yolo County and Washington Unified School District teamed up with a local restaurant to serve over 10,000 families in need Read more.

Other News

• Californians shouldn’t travel more than 120 miles from home, state says
• California’s new goal: Vaccinate a million people in 10 days
• Governor announces partnership with CVS and Walgreens to provide Pfizer vaccines to residents and staff in long-term care facilities
• Newsom: COVID-19 vaccine line-skipping will be met with sanctions
• California’s COVID-19 vaccinations lag behind every other large state, national average
• Even more contagious? Here’s what you need to know about the mutating virus now in California
• Another coronavirus variant linked to growing share of cases, several large outbreaks, in California
• California urges providers to halt use of batch of Moderna vaccines
• California Governor Gavin Newsom Relaxes Quarantine Rules For Covid-Exposed Workers
• Gavin Newsom announces new stay-at-home order tied to ICU capacity in California
• California sets record with most COVID-19 hospitalizations since pandemic began
• California urges weekly COVID-19 testing for hospital workers
• States Face Monumental Challenges Readying Vaccine Distribution