Fri. 03/27/20: COVID-19 Daily Update

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Displaced hotel workers to staff Honolulu’s new COVID-19 test site for homeless patients

About a dozen workers from the Unite Here Local 5 Union are on-the-job — They usually work with tourists in Waikiki — their NEW clients are some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Among those partnering to provide services are the Institute for Human Services and Hawai’i Homeless Healthcare Hui (“H4”). Medical staff will be on-site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — capable of up to 200 COVID-19 screenings and tests per day.

Virus Loans to Come With Union Neutrality Pledge for Companies  (Bloomberg Law, March 27, 2020)

The article states, “Mid-size businesses seeking loans under the new coronavirus stimulus legislation passed by Congress would have to agree not to oppose unions looking to organize their workers. Companies with between 500 and 10,000 employees applying for a direct loan from the Treasury Department would be required to ‘make a good-faith certification that the recipient will remain neutral in any union organizing effort for the term of the loan.’”

 

President Trump Signs CARES Act into Law (Steptoe, March 27, 2020)

Steptoe is an international law firm. They have created a very good and somewhat technical summary of aspects of the CARES Act. They mention lodging companies with more than one physical location where each location employs fewer than 500 employees can qualify as a small business for the SBA emergency loan under the CARES Act. Click here for link to full text of CARES Act legislation.

 

2 more drive-thru COVID-19 testing sites planned on Oahu this weekend (HawaiiNewsNow, March 27, 2020)

On Saturday, the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex will open at 8 a.m. and stay open until 2 p.m., or until officials announced a cutoff point in the line.  The same routine will be put into place on Sunday at the Kakaako Waterfront Park.  Not everyone will get tested. For more information, you may call 808-304-8816 or 808-367-6020.

On Maui, drive thru testing will be available by appointment on Monday at the War Memorial Gym parking lot. County officials say 100 test kits are available.

Over on Hawaii Island, drive-thru testing is available weekdays at Hilo Medical Center, does require a physician’s order.

Kauai residents also need a doctor’s referral to participate in drive-up sample collection at Wilcox Health Center during the week.

Corona Cases Today

World: Cases: 597k (+66k).  Deaths: 27.3K (+3.3k). Recovered: 131.7K (+9k).

USA: Cases: 104.6k (+19k). Deaths: 1.7k (+400). Recovered 890 (+180).

Hawaii: Cases: 122 (+16).  Deaths: 0 (0).  Hospitalizations: 8 (+1).