Mayor Shea COVID-19 Community Update - March 26, 2020

Thursday, March 26, 2020

To our Irvine community:

As we navigate the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Irvine residents have shown why this city is a model of what it means to be a community. I’ve heard countless stories over the last several days of community members and businesses volunteering time and resources for the good of their neighbors and the City. I want to thank our residents for showing compassion and unity during these unprecedented times. I also want to thank our dedicated City staff and police officers, who are ensuring that our City is maintaining high levels of service for our residents amid this uncertainty. 

For the last several weeks my City Council colleagues and I have been working with the County of Orange and Supervisor Don Wagner to encourage the County to provide city specific COVID-19 case counts. I am pleased that the County is now ready to share this important information with the public, as soon as tomorrow. Our residents deserve to have pertinent facts.

As we prepare to receive statistics from the County of Orange regarding the number of COVID-19 cases in Irvine, I want to assure residents that the City Council and I are doing everything possible to mitigate the impacts on our community. We are working around the clock to employ strategies that slow the spread of COVID-19 and soften the economic hardships felt by many. We’re partnering with agencies at all levels as well as private organizations to accomplish this, the most important task any of us has ever faced. Working together as a city, a state, a nation toward the shared goal of flattening the curve of this disease is the best strategy for success.

Please look for a video detailing our efforts to be posted on our website and social media channels tomorrow. I have invited Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel, OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy, and one of the top epidemiologists to join me in this important announcement. In the meantime, for the latest information and links to resources, visit cityofirvine.org/covid19.

Thank you,

Christina L. Shea, Mayor
City of Irvine