As the coronavirus has continued to grow with at least two recorded cases being Peoria residents and one city employee, a rallying cry has emerged from the city: We Are In This Together.
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As the coronavirus has continued to grow with at least two recorded cases of Peoria residents and one city employee, a rallying cry has emerged from the city: We Are In This Together.
Mayor Cathy Carlat addressed the city via streaming broadcast promising there will be no disruptions to essential services.
“When you dial 911, police and fire will answer the call. Your water supply and delivery is secure. Your trash will be picked up and your parks and streets will continue to be well managed. We are in this together, and we are unified with the fortitude that comes with the American spirit. Together we can and we will stay strong,” she said.
A number of task forces have been created consisting of city staff and leadership to prepare for and address the wide ranging effects of the COVID-19 virus including public safety, response, business support and supplemental services.
City manager Jeff Tyne said cities are at the front line for addressing essential services, and to be effective at responding to all those different services, the city needs be prepared, be resilient and be adaptive to the changing needs of Peoria’s residents and businesses during this difficult time.
“We believe we are well prepared to continue with whatever it is that confronts us,” he said. “It’s a fluid situation. That means there are residents out there who could fall through the cracks if we are not specifically careful. At the same time we have had so many not-for-profits and businesses and school districts that have stepped up to say, ‘what can we do?’ It has been so exciting to watch that.”
Public safety
The Peoria Fire-Medical Department is taking a number of precautions to ensure continuity of operations.
Crews have been provided with Personal Protective Equipment, including masks, eye protection, gowns and gloves
Chief Bobby Ruiz said the department has a three to four month supply of PPE, and personnel are following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved disinfection of all equipment including the ambulances.
He said the department has been collaborating and pre-planning with other agencies Valley-wide, looking at alternative response plans should things escalate.
Firefighters follow a fit for duty check list and their body temperature and blood pressure are taken two times a day.
Additionally, Chief Ruiz said dispatchers follow a pre-screening protocol to minimize exposure for possible coronavirus calls.
“Dispatchers have pre-screening process asking callers a series of questions to ascertain if they have the COVID-19 or something else to prepare us before (paramedics) get there. And when we get there we minimize the exposure and figure out how to treat the situation,” Chief Ruiz said. “The pre-screenign has worked well. ...This is what we train for on a daily basis. We took an oath to respond to citizens needs and we will do that no mater what comes our way.”
Response team
The COVID-19 Action Response Team was formed the last week of February to assess preparedness, make recommendations, define priorities and roles, as well as implemented a communication plan in relation to the coronavirus crisis.
Neighborhood Services Manager Jay Davies, who spearheads the team, said the meeting frequescy of the group has increased since then and now meets remotely on a daily basis. He said the guiding principle
of the team is to balance the health and safety of city employees with service delivery. The team has worked to bring accurate information Peoria residents.
“We learned early on that our role in this, rather than perhaps the CDC, was to address the needs of our employees and our residents and defer to the CDC and other health authorities on the virus itself,” he said. “So we developed an internal website for employees and how to navigate the situation from a policy and prevention standpoint. And for the public we have a landing page that is regularly updated about core service delivery, virus links and communication updates. From there you can find information by department on how to access services.”
Business stands still
To provide immediate outreach and support to Peoria businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, officials have launched a small business task force in partnership with the Peoria Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Development Council, and ASU-Peoria Forward.
Gov. Doug Ducey announced an executive order March 19 that requires restaurants in Arizona counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases to provide dine-out or delivery options only, and that all bars in those counties close. This also applies to movie theaters and gyms.
A downturn in economic activity followed with local business owners struggling to survive.
Deputy City Manager Katie Gregory said members of the task force have come together to provide resources on the immediate and midterm levels for businesses in need.
Businesses had to pivot very quickly with how they were delivering their services, she said.
“We were able to survey them and start getting some information out to our citizens about who is open, who is doing takeout,, who is doing delivery, and we’ve continued to expand that list as we’ve had restaurants come back to us with information about individual circumstances,” Ms. Gregory said.
The Small Business Development Center, 8385 W. Mariners Way, Ste. 3, is available to bring important services to small businesses faced with the COVID-19 crisis. Business owners may request one-on-one business counseling in Peoria for no fee.
“We have our own small business center in Peoria, which is going to be extremely helpful and useful to our small business community when it comes to those who are looking for help with financial resources and small business loans and disaster relief that is out there at the federal level,” she said.
Members of the small business task force are also looking at long term solutions to problmes the business community is facing because of the coronavirus.
Ms. Gregory said there may be bigger policy questions regarding the local economy to consider as the pandemic progresses.
This is just tip of iceberg for businesses, she said.
“It is cumulative for some. As we go into the next few weeks we will see a need for additional resources, so we will work with our partners to try to come up with what some of those things may be,” she said.
“We know at some point this will hopefully start to subside, at least that is all of our hope, and in doing that, we know there is going to be some reaffirming and coming back into business. Many businesses have reduced their staffing levels and things like that. They are going to need to gear back up when some of this passes, so we want to start thinking now about how we are going assist those businesses in doing some of that.”
Philip Haldiman can be reached at 623-876-3697, phaldiman@newszap.com, or on Twitter @philiphaldiman.
Philip Haldiman is a third generation Arizona native with brief residencies on the east and west coasts.
He has bachelor’s degrees in Theater and Journalism at Arizona State University, and is an award winning journalist with more than 15 years worth of experience in reporting and editing.
Most recently, he took first place for investigative reporting and third place for best sustained coverage or series at the 2023 Arizona Newspapers Association awards.
In his free time, he produces an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.
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