Spotted in downtown Walnut Creek.
Facial Covering Required for Branch Access
—Wells Fargo
I remember a time when facial coverings were not permitted when entering banks. My, how times have changed!
Spotted in downtown Walnut Creek.
Facial Covering Required for Branch Access
—Wells Fargo
I remember a time when facial coverings were not permitted when entering banks. My, how times have changed!
Plaza Escuela, Walnut Creek
It’s interesting to compare and contrast different shopping centers and restaurants around town. Here you can see the benches at Plaza Escuela in downtown Walnut Creek have been wrapped in caution tape with a note stating that, “due to the recent health crisis and mandates from the local authorities, this area is temporarily closed until further notice”, while a few blocks away at Broadway Plaza the benches are open and this weekend were occupied by the most amount of people I have ever seen since the shelter in place order went into effect last month. Within Plaza Escuela itself you can the patio tables at Chipotle in the background are publicly available and many times occupied.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Moraga Commons Park closed playgrounds, the skate park and recently removed the basketball hoops. However, the volleyball nets are up, even though it’s closed according to the town website. Almost every time I walk by I see people playing. Why go to the trouble of removing the basketball hoops a short distance away but leave the volleyball nets up?
It’s interesting to read the different messages retail stores have posted about closing for the coronavirus pandemic. Most post that they are “closed until further notice”. For some reason a few stores post reopening dates. Considering nobody knows when stores will be reopening there’s no point in adding a date when you’ll reopen.
Recently, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Emeryville eliminated the need for pedestrians to press buttons when crossing crosswalks. Should Walnut Creek and other nearby East Bay cities implement this as well? On the one hand people can use their elbows to press the button, on the other hand, anything that can be done to minimize touching common surfaces would help in the fight against coronavirus.
Photo provided by Mike Wooldridge
Local Walnut Creek residents Mike Wooldridge and his son Griffin Wooldridge helped design and make face shields as part of the Open Source Shield project which can be seen here. So far this week they’ve delivered face shields to Contra Costa Health Services, Carlton Senior Living and Hospice East Bay. “The design is based on existing face shields used in hospitals but employs materials that are easily obtained online or at a hardware store.” It’s good to see local residents helping out during the pandemic!
I love reading about companies supporting local businesses as well as their own employees during tough times!
From a reader:
Republic Services is buying a lunch for our “front-line” employees (200+ drivers, mechanics, etc who still have to physically come to work, out of our Pacheco yard), and a grab-and-go “dinner for 4” for our drivers etc. to take home to their families, every week during this COVID-19 situation.
We’ve been trying to support our community by ordering from small and local businesses each week. For example, today was boxed lunches from A Sweet Affair Bakery in Walnut Creek. They even came to deliver at 2:30 am in time for our first shift of garbage drivers who start at 3 am! Terry, the owner, came and did the second delivery around noon for our PM mechanics.
I know restaurants are especially hurting right now so we’re trying to spread the support each week – we’ve also done breakfast burritos from Rancho Grande in Pacheco, family lasagna trays from Wise Girl in Pleasant Hill, pizza from Vinnie’s and Slice of Italeigh in Martinez, and Mountain Mike’s in Walnut Creek. Coming up – Mexican food from a restaurant in Antioch, bagel breakfast sandwiches from Pleasant Hill, etc.
Sometimes it’s the little things. For the longest time I used Touch ID on my iPhone using my finger to to get in. Rarely had any problems. Now I upgrade to the latest iPhone with Face ID and I can no longer use it while wearing a mask. This is a pain for those with long passwords. Sometimes it’s the little things.
As I walk around town it’s heartening to see most people following the stay-at-home order so as to preserve critical hospital capacity for those who need it. Hopefully the curve will flatten, hospital capacity will improve, rapid tests and eventually medicine to alleviate symptoms become available, followed by a vaccine in the long term.
In the meantime we also have inconsiderate people who think only of themselves as they flout the stay-at-home order and clearly marked signs indicating closures. I notice the same thing at grocery stores. Some folks are considerate and give each other plenty of space while shopping. And then there are the oblivious ones. No wonder why the United States leads the world in coronovirus infections.
As the weather warms up with social distancing shelter-at-home orders in effect until at least until May in the Bay Area, I have a feeling the next battle in social distancing is going to be the restaurant patio. Currently, restaurants can offer either take-out or delivery. Recently I noticed one city’s local email newsletter tout open restaurants. Some offered take-out while others offered both take-out and delivery. What surprised me were those that only indicated they were open. Surely this must be a mistake I thought. So I called a few of them up to see what the deal was.
I asked if I bought something could I eat it there. They said I could eat out by the patio if I wanted to. And there you go. They know they have patios, but instead of publicizing patio dining, they leave it as an unspoken feature.
My prediction: the first weekend with nice weather, restaurant patios are going to be semi-packed with diners eager to get out and enjoy the weather. The media will report about it, possibly with egregious video / photographic evidence. And patios will be forced to close. Just like parks, playgrounds and other outside public areas that people congregated to.
Have you noticed diners eating out at restaurant patios?