Dear Placentia Library District Patrons:

We hope you are enjoying our e-service while sheltering at home on this beautiful Sunday.

The Orange County Operations Center (EOC) has announced COVID-19 testing is now available in several public health, commercial and hospital laboratories. The EOC has not yet released information regarding exact testing locations. We will provide this information once it is available.

Per the EOC press release, testing will be based on “clinical severity and community health relevance,” in accordance with the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) guidance. The guidelines are outlined below:

1. Hospitalized patients who have signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 in order to inform decisions related to infection control or medical management.
2. Residents and staff of long-term care facilities with signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19.
3. Other persons who are at higher risk for severe infection with signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19. These persons include older adults (age >65 years) and individuals with chronic medical conditions.
4. Residents and staff of correctional facilities and other congregate settings with signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19.
5. Healthcare personnel with signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19.
6. Persons in these categories should contact their health care provider by phone to discuss the need for testing. Ill persons should stay home and away from others until: (1) there has been no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, (2) there has been improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath) for at least 3 days; AND (3) it is at least 7 days since symptoms first appeared.

Persons with mild respiratory symptoms, who do not otherwise need medical care, and who are not in one of the above groups, should not be routinely tested for COVID-19. These persons should care for themselves at home as they normally would for a mild illness.

Asymptomatic persons should not be tested for COVID-19. Current testing for COVID-19 cannot detect prior infection. Testing a person without symptoms does not rule out the possibility that person may become ill in the future. As always, consult your healthcare provider for personal medical advice.

Below is an updated status report on our Placentia Library District team. On March 19th a staff member informed management s/he attended a March 7th event in San Diego where two attendees tested positive for the coronavirus. Rest assured, our employee is not one of those that tested positive. As of this morning, the employee is healthy and

continues to exhibit no symptoms of COVID-19 or other illnesses. That being said, we took the precautionary measures to close the library and quarantine it through April 12th.

Fortunately, no one on our team has contracted COVID-19 and all our healthy. Thank you for your concerns for our staff, this is exactly what makes Placentia such a great community. We care for one another.

During the closure please note the following:

• No in-person service is available including passports.
• Programs and events are cancelled through the end of April.
• Fines incurred during the closure will be waived.
• Existing requests (currently in our system) have been extended through the closure period.
• You may keep your library materials through the closure period. Do not return them as book drops are closed during the closure.
• Amazon lockers are not accessible.
• Friends Foundation bookstore is closed.
• Bodhi (library location) is closed.

Our online content is available to you 24/7 at https://pldca.specialdistrict.org/

Feel free to email me at jcontreras@placentialibrary.org. if you have any questions.

Be safe and healthy. We look forward to serving you again!

Sincerely,
Jeanette Contreras
Library Director