Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

This Sunday morning www.ncov2019.live shows 152 confirmed cases in Arizona. The spike in the number may be due to tests taken days ago. But what is concerning is that several days ago Arizona had 9 cases.

It is critical that we only make trips to grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies and banks. Going to local parks is no longer advisable because you cannot control the mandate to practice social distancing.  You may be healthy but others may be asymptomatic. If we are going to stop the spread we must be smart and careful.

So, what am I doing? I have voluntarily stayed home the past two weeks with the exception of one run to Safeway during their new senior hours program to pick up prescriptions and a few staples. I also have attended one Glendale council budget meeting during which social distancing of 6 feet was practiced. I will attend this Tuesday’s council workshop meeting and voting meeting. They have been moved to the Civic Center Annex. Social distancing will again be in place and the only personnel at the meeting will be the councilmembers, the City Manager, the City Attorney, the City Clerk and several staff making presentations. The count of persons will be about 10 or less. I have become the Lysol Queen and I carry a can with me and spray my entire work area and chair. I also carry wipes and use them liberally.

The city is currently working to enable teleconferencing for city council that hopefully will be soon in place. The public will not be allowed to attend council meetings but we still want to encourage public participation. If you go to the city website, www.glendaleaz.com you can obtain instructions that will guide you should you wish to participate. The city website will also have information about what’s open and what’s closed. If you need to pay your water bill, make sure you check out the site. It also lists reputable links for information on the virus and how to protect you and your family. Please check it out.

As new numbers and new information becomes available, the city reacts as quickly as it can to implement new advisories and directives. We are working hard to keep city personnel and the public as safe as possible.

If you are tired of cooking dinner every night, try “dine-out” at your favorite restaurant. I checked out the restaurants at Westgate and every one is now offering “dine-out” which you can have delivered or pick up at their location. Remember you still have a back yard. Use it to get out of the house to get some fresh air.

Text message friends or family or use Skype or Facebook Live. How about giving your senior neighbors or relatives a phone call? Find out if they are OK or need anything critical such as a prescription.

This is not any easy time for any of us. The best thing we can do is to follow federal, state and local advisories. Social distancing is more important than ever.

The phrase of the day is “Stay at home, don’t roam.”

Be smart. Be careful. I pray that all that read this stay safe and well.

© Joyce Clark, 2020         

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which is in accordance with Title 17 U.S. C., Section 107. The ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law and who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such material. For more information go to http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.