News Flash

On Sunday, March 15, the City of Durham announced the following closures and cancellations in the ongoing effort to help reduce the spread of CORVID-19 (Coronavirus):

• The Monday, March 16 City Council Meeting and Thursday, March 19 Work Session have both been canceled. Monday’s Durham Budget Academy, which was scheduled to take place just prior to the City Council meeting, has also been canceled. Following the week of March 16-20, there is a three-week break in City Council meetings, allowing additional time to evaluate the plan for future meetings.
• In addition to modifying their regular business meeting and work session, the City Council is also directing all of their non-regulatory boards, committees, and commissions to suspend their meetings until further notice in order to reduce the opportunities for possible virus transmittal between residents, volunteers, and City staff.
• All Durham Parks and Recreation (DPR) facilities will be closed until further notice. Residents are encouraged to exercise outside or at home. Check the DPR website for additional details.
• The Durham Farmers’ Market, which operates each Saturday at a City-owned facility, will be canceled until further notice to avoid the gathering of large crowds.

The City’s General Services Department has also ramped up sanitizing efforts in City-owned facilities, particularly in public spaces with special focus on common surface areas such as doorknobs, elevator buttons, tables, chairs, countertops, microphones, publicly accessible computers and keyboards. Durham Parks and Recreation has also increased sanitizing efforts in all of its recreation centers and GoDurham is sanitizing its buses at the end of each day.

As the COVID-19 situation progresses, the City will update its meeting and events calendar to reflect cancellations and postponements as well as post potential service and program modifications on its social media pages and CORVID-19 webpage.

To stay abreast of the COVID-19 situation in Durham and to learn more about how to help reduce the potential spread of this virus, residents are encouraged to visit the Durham County Department of Public Health website or follow their social media pages.