May 21, 2020
Stay on top of the Mayor’s latest updates at: https://corona-virus.la/updates
Have you got your face mask handy? They are required when you head out of the house. Masks or cloth face coverings can prevent COVID-19 transmission to others, and this is their most important use for us. If we lower the likelihood of one person infecting another, the impact is exponential. Even a small reduction results in a huge decrease in deaths. Make sure you wear a face covering when you leave the house.
Center for Disease Control: PDF Instructions for Making a Mask
Avoid Scams
DMV Expands Virtual Field Office
Customers can now take care of more essential transactions without an office visit
The California Department of Motor Vehicles is expanding the DMV Virtual Field Office at virtual.dmv.ca.gov to create more digital options for transactions that previously required an in-person office visit. Available transactions now include:
- Vehicle title transfers (transfer of ownership) and duplicate titles
- Complex vehicle registration renewals that require additional documentation, including partial year
registration for commercial vehicles - Submission of commercial driver medical certificates
- Temporary driver license extension (drivers encouraged to renew their license online if eligible)
- Online renewals and reinstatements for vehicle salespersons
- Customers with pending virtual transactions can check the status online
“Creating these virtual options provides Californians more opportunities to take care of DMV business without visiting an office,” DMV Director Steve Gordon said. “Dozens of DMV services are available online and through the Virtual Field Office. The DMV continues to use technology to improve the customer experience.”
The Virtual Field Office – which allows customers to upload documents, provide an e-signature (if required) and pay associated fees with an e-check – builds on the many other online services already available to DMV customers at dmv.ca.gov, including eligible driver license and vehicle registration renewals. The most recent online service added is duplicate driver license.
The DMV continues to provide essential services via mail, online, kiosks, call centers, available business partners and virtually to process critical transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers can use the Services Advisor on the DMV website to learn their options to complete DMV tasks.
Contact Tracing Scams
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about contact tracing. It’s the process of identifying people who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, instructing them to quarantine and monitoring their symptoms daily.
Contact tracers are usually hired by a state’s department of public health. They work with an infected person to get the names and phone numbers for everyone that infected person came in close contact with while the possibly infectious. Those names and phone numbers are often kept in an online system. People who had contact with someone infected with COVID-19 may first get a text message from the health department, telling them they’ll get a call from a specific number. The tracer who calls will not ask for personal information, like a Social Security number. At the end of the call, some states ask if the contact would like to enroll in a text message program, which sends daily health and safety reminders until the 14-day quarantine ends. But tracers won’t ask you for money or information like your Social Security, bank account, or credit card number. Anyone who does is a scammer.