Twin Lakes Church Moves Worship to Live-Stream; Santa Cruz Warriors to Play Without Fans, Kirby School Prepares for Online Classes
By Jondi Gumz
Rio Del Mar Elementary School in Aptos will be closed March 12 and 13 “due to a confirmed COVID-19 case,” according to Alicia Jimenez, public information officer with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. The school is to reopen March 16.
The individual, who was placed on quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, has not been on campus since Feb. 28, according to Pajaro Valley schools superintendent Michelle Rodriguez.
Twin Lakes Church in Aptos is shifting worship services to live-stream only for March 14-15 and 21-22, responding to Santa Cruz County Health Agency March 9 guidance to halt gatherings of 50 or more people to prevent spread of coronavirus COVID-19.
The church regularly hosts about 3,000 people each weekend, making it the largest regular weekly gathering in Santa Cruz County.
“Church is not cancelled — it’s just changed,” said senior pastor Rene Schlaepfer. “I think of it as TLC moving into a thousand homes.”
The church is encouraging parishioners to gather in homes to view services, which will be live-streamed services on YouTube, Facebook Live, and Vimeo, Saturdays at 6 p.m., and Sundays at 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
Four cases of COVID-19 have now been confirmed in Santa Cruz County, the first having taken a Grand Princess cruise ship from San Francisco to Mexico February 11-21. Others include a person who had traveled to Seattle, a person who is currently hospitalized in another county, and most recently a person associated with Rio Del Mar Elementary.
Georgiana Bruce Kirby, a private school, closed Tuesday for cleaning after a member of a staff household was exposed to a confirmed case of COVID-19 at a conference in New York and showed symptoms.
Teachers at Kirby School met Wednesday to discus options for future online classes, which would start March 16. Students will return to the classrooms Thursday and Friday in preparation for the online classes.
The coronavirus, which broke out in China in late December, has spread globally: 125,851 cases, 4,615 fatalities and nearly 67,000 recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracking site. Three-fourths of the fatalities are in China, and more than 800 people have died in Italy, which has shut down the northern provinces, 350 in Iran and 60 in South Korea.
The U.S. has 938 cases, with 771 under investigation, and 29 deaths as of March 11, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control. California has not updated its March 10 numbers: 157 cases and two deaths, but the CDC reports the state has “sustained community transmission.”
Warriors
The Santa Cruz Warriors announced March 11 that the March 12 game vs. the Oklahoma City Blue at Kaiser Permanente Arena will be played without fans. In addition, all events through March 21 will be cancelled or postponed.
The Santa Cruz Warriors vs. the Austin Spurs matchup scheduled for March 15 at Chase Center in San Francisco will be played at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, also without fans in attendance.
Fans with tickets to the affected games will receive a refund in the amount paid
Cancellations
March 10-22: Capitola Recreation adult classes
March 10-11: Georgiana Bruce Kirby School closed March 10 for deep cleaning with classes cancelled March 11 for faculty to prepare to offer distance learning March 16. The Kirby website said this is because of identified COVID-19 cases in the household (household staff or family) of a member of the Kirby staff, students, and contractors who work inside the building. A normal schedule with in-person classes is planned for March 12-13.
March 11
- Cannabis compassionate use stakeholder meeting sponsored by Community Prevention Partners.
- Nikka Silva at Porter Memorial Library, Soquel. Library closed until the end of March.
March 14
- Capitola Historical Museum reception for new exhibit, “Then and Now.” New date to be announced.
March 21
- Battle of the Bands in Capitola. New date to be announced.
- Grand opening for Outdoor Supply Hardware, Capitola.
- Passport Saturday at the Santa Cruz County Clerk’s Office. The next Passport Saturday will be May 16.
Santa Cruz Public Libraries
Suspended toddler time, storytime and Tail to Tale programs; suspended events with attendance of 50 or more using the upstairs meeting room. Libraries remain open, with hand-sanitizers for public and staff to use and staff washing hands, earing gloves and wiping elevators, door handles, tables, computers and self-checkout machines.
UC Santa Cruz
March 11-April 3: Campus events expected to attract 50 or more attendees are being canceled or postponed. Alumni Weekend April 3-5 is postponed to a future date although Margaret Atwood, author of “The Testaments” and “The Handmaid’s Tale,” is still slated to be in conversation with UCSC 2003 alum Kate Schatz at 5 p.m. April 5 in connection with the campus Deep Read initiative.
Lecture classes, discussion sections and seminars will change from in-person to alternatives such as Zoom, a video conferencing platform, with in-person quarter-final exams shifting to alternate means of assessment on a course-by-course basis. Lab and studio courses will continue to meet in person where necessary.
New process
March 12: The Capitola City Council agenda for this meeting has been revised at cityofcapitola.com and presentations are not scheduled. The public will be able to comment via email during the meeting by emailing [email protected](link sends e-mail).
Emailed comments will be accepted only for general government and public hearing items, not for non-agendized items. Comments must be sent after the start of the meeting, but before the mayor announces that public comment for that item is closed.
The subject line should name the item on the agenda. Each emailed comment will be read aloud by a member of staff for up to three minutes, or displayed on a screen. Emails received by [email protected](link sends e-mail) outside of the comment period will not be included in the record.
Cabrillo College in Aptos announced non-essential out-of-county business travel is cancelled for all employees through the end of March.
Effective March 16, public events on campus of 50 or more attendees will be postponed or cancelled through the end of the month. Booking future events and facility rentals is suspended through March 31. Effective March 16, athletic contests will take place without spectators.
For all ongoing recruitments, hiring committees are required to provide candidates the option to appear for first and/or second interviews via Zoom. Special cases requiring teaching demonstrations are to be addressed with the Human Resources Office.
Cruise ships
The city of Monterey cancelled all cruise ships entering Monterey Bay. Ships had been scheduled to arrive in March and three times in April. The Royal Princess and Holland America are the companies affected.
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For general information on COVID-19 call 211, or text coronavirus to 211211, or visit www.santacruzhealth.org/coronavirus for updates and links to state and federal guidance.
Here are some more information sources:
Health Professionals: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- nCoV/hcp/index.html
Schools and Communities: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019- ncov/community/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.go v%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fpreparing-individuals-communities.html
Higher Risk: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/index.html
California Department of Public Health: www.cdph.ca.gov