As society continues to manage the impacts of COVID-19, methods of prevention and control are part of the discussion. In the multi-faceted world of planning, planners have the role to provide policies through the General Plan to structure the circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, safety, environmental justice, and air quality of the community. This is a broad range of responsibilities, but public health is woven into each. Moreover, it is a jurisdiction’s constitutional obligation to enact policies maintaining the public health, safety, and welfare of the public. As such, the topic of infectious diseases has a place in a jurisdiction’s General Plan.
COVID-19
The spread of an infectious disease is a local, regional, and worldwide issue. As COVID-19 has demonstrated, factors leading to an infectious disease on one end of the world can impact a local community on the other end, resulting in a worldwide pandemic. At a local and regional level, emergency preparedness, access to hospitals, health services, and living and working conditions and habits, impact the spread and severity of an infectious disease. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi,” and “the disease can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another.”1 The spread of a new infectious disease, such as COVID-19, in which there is no vaccine or standard treatment method, results in much uncertainty and worldwide health, economic, and social detriments.
California and County public health departments have established jurisdictional shelter-in-place orders, requiring that people only leave their houses to partake in “essential” services or errands. Businesses and organizations that provide critical infrastructure for the state or counties remain open to the public; these include hospitals, grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and banks. Essential construction services, and outdoor recreation while maintaining a social distance of six feet from people who are not part of one’s household, are allowed as well.2
Purpose of a Safety Element
The State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017) states that the goal of the safety element is to:
“reduce the potential short and long-term risk of death, injuries, property damage, and economic and social dislocation resulting from fires, floods, droughts, earthquakes, landslides, climate change, and other hazards.”Infectious disease and pandemics fall under this category of “other hazards,”3 as these impact the risk of death and economic and social dislocation. Pandemics require emergency response, as do the other topics outlined in a safety element, including earthquakes, floods, and fires.
Not only do infectious disease-related policies belong in the safety element, but they also belong in overlapping elements. “The safety element directly relates to topics also mandated in the (1) land use, (2) conservation, (3) environmental justice and (4) open space elements, as development plans must adequately account for public safety considerations and open space for public health and ecological benefits often incorporate areas of increased hazard risk.”4 Circulation is also a related element. Policies regarding infectious diseases and pandemics can range from: communicating with the public to providing up-to-date information, to accessibility to hospitals and impacts on mobility. Coordination with County health departments is an effective way to determine appropriate policies to incorporate in the general plan, as well as understanding what preparedness programs are already in place.
Planning Policy Moving Forward
Planning policy needs to adapt to incorporate new case studies, such as COVID-19, and impacts of other anticipated shifts.5 Planning policy should adapt to better react to pandemics. Case studies and federal, state, regional, and local data from the most recent COVID-19 pandemic, can guide policy and preparedness. For example: How was the City affected by COVID 19? What was done well? What better ways can the City be prepared? Asking such questions through a policy-driven analysis, allows for an innovative and reflective view of the population’s health, social, economic, and environmental conditions.6
Like most hazards described in a City’s Safety Element, infectious diseases may disproportionally affect vulnerable populations, including seniors, those with chronic illnesses, and the homeless.7 Policies can include methods of minimizing risk of disease spread, minimizing economic disruption, increase access to essential resources, communicating with the public, and expediting recovery following such a disaster. 8
To do this, General Plan writers should incorporate Public Health tools and work with the jurisdiction’s public health department. The three core functions of public health are 1) Assessment, 2) Policy Development, and 3) Assurance.9
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2014
World, federal, state, and regional agencies are valuable tools for a local jurisdiction conducting such an analysis.10 It is essential to learn from COVID-19 and past pandemics to better prepare for the future by incorporating infectious disease prevention and preparedness into our planning policy documents, as it not only affects land use, mobility, economics, and social interactions, but also the public health, safety, and general welfare of the public.
1 “Infectious Diseases.” World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/topics/infectious_diseases/en/.
2 “Stay Home Except for Essential Needs.” California Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response. https://covid19.ca.gov/stay-home-except-for-essential-needs/.
3 Chapter 4: Required Elements. State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
4 Chapter 4: Required Elements. State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
5 Chapter 4: Required Elements. State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
6 Chapter 6: Healthy Communities. State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
7 “Planners and Pandemics: Identifying Problems and Providing Solutions.” Planetizen. 27 March 2020. https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/108868-planners-and-pandemics-identifying-problems-and-providing-solutions.
8 Chapter 4: Required Elements. State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.
9 “The 10 Essential Public Health Services: An Overview.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. March 2014. https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/publichealthservices/pdf/essential-phs.pdf.
10 Chapter 4: Required Elements. State of California General Plan Guidelines (2017). Governor’s Office of Planning and Research.