Holtville sets up an emergency operations center

HOLTVILLE, Calif. (KYMA, KECY), The city of Holtville says they’re staying on top of all the new changes and regulations that need to be implemented in response to the coronavirus.

The Civic Center located in the heart of Holtville is now serving as the city’s emergency operations center.

The central hub allows city workers, law enforcement, and the fire department to meet up and work together to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re discussing things with the county continuously, they have a briefing every day that we attend so it's nice to have one spot that we can gather when we need to," said Nick Wells, Holtville city manager.

An operations center like this one is typically only set up for disaster operations, but the city of Holtville says the global pandemic lead them to beef up public safety and health operations in the city.

“We want to reassure our citizens that we are here for them and if something really does come up we are prepared and ready to deploy and help them out," said Wells.

For safety purposes, the city of Holtville has shut down public services like city hall, but one thing they haven't decided to close down is city parks.

“We are taking governors Newsom's advice to go out and get fresh air, so we decided to disinfect the playground here at the parks," said Alex Silva, Holtville fire chief.

The fire department says it will start washing the city playground every other day with bleach.

Although getting fresh air is encouraged they are asking for residents to continue their social distancing outside as well as their personal hygiene by using hand sanitizer or hand wipes.