City of Palmdale's Coronavirus Update – 4/17/20
Palmdale City Manager JJ Murphy gives the COVID-19 Update for today:
With the Safer at Home order in place through May 15, just about everyone is looking for some things to do. After all, binge watching episodes of your favorite Netflix shows can only keep you occupied so long.
So, to help during these stay at home times, our Parks and Recreation staff has compiled a list of virtual recreation ideas to help you make this time of social distancing productive and interesting for your whole family .
They’ve put together a ton of great activities with links on our website,
www.cityofpalmdale.org/VirtualRecreation.
Some of the activities include arts and crafts like :
• Chalk Your Walk, where you draw or write encouraging messages on your driveway or sidewalk with chalk. Then take a walk and look for other prints and messages written by your neighbors.
• Amazing Virtual Museum Tours such as the Smithsonian, The Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Children’s Museum and many more.
• Science Fun at various aquariums around the country and world
• Free Art Lessons for Kids and Adults
• Online Story Time for Kids and Adults, from various places including our very own Palmdale City Library
• Free Space Projects for Kids and Adults Stuck at Home
• Or you can enjoy a Virtual Concert. Billboard and NPR are keeping updated lists of online concerts, who’s playing, and where you can watch.
All these activities are free. If you have a laptop, you can sit in your backyard and get some fresh air while enjoying a tour of one of the world’s top museums or listening to your favorite band in concert.
One other activity that you and your family can do during this Safer at Home time---and win prizes--- is to participate in the City’s new creative mask making contest. To help promote good health and encourage community involvement, we’re encouraging people to make a cloth faced covering and then post a photo of it on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtags #PalmdaleMakeaMask and #PalmdaleCares.
We’ll choose a first and second place winner will each week through May 7. The first place prize is $25 gift card to a local restaurant, while second place winners will receive a $10 Amazon gift card.
This is a fun, family friendly activity with a good purpose. Be as creative as you can and share your masterpiece on social media. You could be a winner! For tips on how to make a facial covering, visit www.cdc.gov and click on the “Cloth Face Mask” box.
Since the beginning of this pandemic, the City and various community members have been stepping up in a lot of different ways to help our residents.
We’ve seen doctors and small businesses donate key items such as masks and gloves to people on the front lines. Restaurants are donating food to essential workers.
The faith community has been holding services online to keep their members connected, while maintaining social distances.
Retailers have created special hours to assist our seniors and those with special needs so they can have unfettered access to the food, medicine and supplies they require.
Groups of people who are following the safer at home orders are using social media to combine forces to produce facial coverings to give to those who need them most.
So a big thanks to everyone who is making a difference by helping out…whether you are a medical professional on the front lines…an essential employee in a grocery or hardware store…or your part of a group that’s donating food, masks, gloves….or if you’re just staying home like they’re asking us to do…you’re all making a huge difference!
So stay safe, and remember, #PalmdaleCares about you!