Sun. 03/29/20: COVID-19 Daily Update

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Trump extends federal stay-at-home guidelines to April 30 (Hawaii News Now, March 29, 2020)

Rather than relaxing the stay at home federal guidelines on April 12, the administration finally decided April 30 is more appropriate.

More Than 2,000 Americans Have Died of the Coronavirus. Trump Is Tweeting About His TV Ratings (Mother Jones, March 29, 2020)

In case you needed more evidence the President is ill-suited to deal with this crisis, Trump is on Twitter comparing his COVID White House press briefing’s TV ratings to Monday Night Football and the Bachelor.

Two Big Island Hotels Donate to Fight Against COVID-19 (Big Island Now, March 29, 2020)

Kona Beach Hotel gives 2,000 pounds of food, Fairmont Orchid donates 1,600 masks to island medical facilities.

In this article from Friday, our Financial Secretary-Treasurer Eric Gill called on the hotels to donate cleaning supplies that are being unused in their hotel storerooms to the medical triage and quarantine center opening on April 1 for homeless residents. So far, the companies that have donated are: Turtle Bay Resort, Kaiser Permanente, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Kyo-ya, and Waikiki Resort.

ASSISTANCE FOR CERTAIN HOMEOWNERS & RENTERS (Senator Schatz)

Updated info for renters and mortgage payers with federally backed housing loan programs. Schatz says over 60% of mortgages in Hawaii, and across the country, are backed by the federal government.

EMERGENCY PAID LEAVE (Senator Schatz)

Summary of paid sick leave and paid FMLA for corona-related care.

WARN Act Considerations in COVID-19 Related Layoffs and Furloughs (Lexology, March 22, 2020)

The WARN act requires 60 day notices for planned mass layoffs. The COVID crisis would probably fall under the unforeseen circumstances exemption for layoff notices (and therefore workers’ legal recourse for failure to WARN), but the question arises how the WARN act would apply as the COVID crisis drags out and the layoffs become permanent or “foreseeable,” or furloughs last more than 6 months. The article linked here doesn’t provide answers to this esoteric issue, but generally asks some questions and offers some insights.

COVID Cases Today

World: Cases: 722K (+60k). Deaths: 34k (+3.3k). Recovered: 152k (+12.6k)

USA: Cases: 142k (+19.4k).  Deaths 2.5k (+400)  Recovered: 4.8k (+3.8k).

Hawaii: Cases: 175 (+24).  Deaths: 0 (0).  Hospitalized: 12 (0). Recovered: 49 (+10).