March 16, 2020
A Message from Mayor Weaver
As you know, the response to COVID-19 is evolving rapidly, resulting in a wide range of new recommendations and actions at the national and local levels. The response of the Town and island entities has been to follow the direction of our emergency management authorities and local medical community.
All of the Town’s entities are evaluating their operations in light of the most recent recommendations. Many organizations are announcing changes to their operations or will likely do so soon.
All Town sponsored events, including Arts and Cultural events, have been canceled.
Over the past several days, I have spoken with first-responders and medical organizations to ensure that we understand their readiness to support Kiawah’s residents and that we are communicating accurately what actions should be taken.
I am confident that the Town and all of the entities on Kiawah will be working toward these important objectives over the coming weeks:
- That we disseminate accurate information about the actual known incidence of COVID-19 on or near to Kiawah;
- That we provide you with the most up to date information about recommended methods to protect against exposure;
- That we take actions throughout the Town to limit, based on CDC and DHEC recommendations, congregations of people that might increase the potential for exposure especially among more vulnerable individuals;
- That we ensure the availability of essential services, including medical and food, and explore safe alternatives for making those services available;
- That the commercial entities providing necessary services are adopting actions and safeguards as recommended by the CDC.
Tomorrow morning the Kiawah Emergency Management Committee is meeting to discuss actions that have been taken, announcements pending, and further steps to explore or implement.
All entities are treating this as a critically serious event that requires a combination of individual and coordinated actions by each organization.
Our medical community has emphasized that no actions are more critical than the personal actions that you take. Avoid exposure to others in the community (“social distancing”) and practice vigilant personal hygiene. Since our community has a higher percentage of residents that have an elevated risk, please take every precaution.