Assistance for American Workers and Families

American Workforce Policy Advisory Board – Call to Action: The American Workforce Policy Advisory Board has released a call-to-action to help the millions of workers who need assistance now, and build the resilient and agile workforce of the future powered by skilled American workers. Specific actions:

• Expedite American workers’ return to employment and upward mobility by investing in career pathways and implementing skills-based hiring practices.
• Remove obstacles to the modernization of American education and training to accelerate reskilling and facilitate innovation in workforce development.
• Build the technological infrastructure necessary for the future of work.

Find Something New: FindSomethingNew.orgcan help workers of all ages and backgrounds identify the right path for their career goals by recommending multiple educational pathways, providing aptitude testing, offering a directory of critical resources for child care, food assistance, internet access and more. Educational pathways featured include online learning, professional certification programs, associate’s degrees, and vocational, technical and trades education.

Economic Impact Payments: The CARES Act provides for Economic Impact Payments to American households of up to $1,200 per adult for individuals whose income was less than $99,000 ( or $198,000 for joint filers) and $500 per child under 17 years old – or up to $3,400 for a family of four. More information can be found here.

Preserving Jobs for American Industry: The CARES Act offers meaningful financial support to American businesses and job creators so they can better support employees and be prepared to get back to business as soon as possible. More information can be found here.

Supporting Child Care: The CARES Act provided an additional $3.5 billion to the Child Care and Development Block Grant to support families with child care options during this public health crisis. Additional information and State-level information can be found here.

Dislocated Worker Grants: The U.S. Department of Labor is providing Dislocated Worker Grants to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19. State-by-State data and additional details can be found here.

Assistance for Communities

CARES Act Recovery Assistance Grants: The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA)is awarding CARES Act Recovery Assistance Grants to assist communities in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. These grants are being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, which provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. For complete information, please visit the recently updated EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance page.

Opportunity Zones: Opportunity Zones were created under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump on December 22, 2017, to stimulate economic development and job creation, by incentivizing long- term investments in low-income neighborhoods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump directed the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council to focus on underserved communities impacted by the virus. For more information, visit opportunityzones.gov.

• Opportunity Zones Best Practices
• Opportunity Zones Toolkit Volume 1
• Opportunity Zones Toolkit Volume 2

How to Help

Donate COVID-19 Plasma

• If you have fully recovered from COVID-19, you may be able to help patients currently fighting the infection by donating your plasma. Because you fought the infection, your plasma now contains COVID-19 antibodies. These antibodies provided one way for your immune system to fight the virus when you were sick, so your plasma may be able to be used to help others fight off the disease. Learn more here.
• To find where you can donate source plasma, visit donatingplasma.org.

Donate Blood

• The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges to the U.S. blood supply. Donor centers have experienced a dramatic reduction in donations due to the implementation of social distancing and the cancellation of blood drives. Blood is needed every day to provide lifesaving treatments to a variety of patients. You can help ensure that blood continues to be available for patients by finding a blood donor center near you to schedule your donation. Learn more here.
• To find where you can donate blood, visit aabb.org. 

Donate Supplies and Equipment

• If you represent a business that would like to donate medical supplies, equipment or pharmaceuticals, please provide details on what you would like to give. This form is for donations only.

Sell Supplies and Equipment

• If you are interested in doing business with FEMA with your company’s non-medical goods and/or services, submit your inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Procurement Action Innovative Response Team (PAIR) team at DHSIndustryLiaison@hq.dhs.gov.
• The federal government is purchasing medical supplies or equipment under the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Request for information (RFI). Visit the DLA website for more information.

Developing Medical Countermeasures

• If you would like to meet with a federal agency regarding a vaccine, diagnostic, therapeutic or other medical device that you are developing for SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19, please go to medicalcountermeasures.gov.

Other Forms of Help

• If you or someone you know represent a hospital or healthcare provider in need of medical supplies, please contact your state, local, tribal or territory department of public health and/or emergency management agency.
• If you represent a private sector business and wish to learn more about getting involved in a way that is not listed here, please e-mail nbeoc@max.gov or visit our National Business Emergency Operations Center page.

For additional information, please visit FEMA’s website: www.fema.gov/coronavirus/how-to-help.

Guidelines for Opening Up America Again

President Trump has unveiled Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, a three-phased approach based on the advice of public health experts. These steps will help state and local officials when reopening their economies, getting people back to work, and continuing to protect American lives.

• Testing Overview (HERE)
• Testing Blueprint (HERE)
• Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses, Schools and Homes (HERE)
• CDC guidance for Camps, Child Care Programs, Schools, Mass Transit, Restaurants And Bars, and Workplaces
• CDC resources and tools for school administrators, teachers, parents, guardians, and caregivers when schools open this fall:

o   The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall

o   School Decision-Making Tool for Parents, Caregivers, and Guardians

o   Guidance for K-12 School Administrators on the Use of Cloth Face Coverings in Schools

o   Screening K-12 Students for Symptoms of COVID-19: Limitations and Considerations

o   Back to School Planning: Checklists to Guide Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers

o   FAQ for School Administrators on Reopening Schools

• CDC Activities and Initiatives Supporting the COVID-19 Response and the President’s Plan for Opening America Up Again (HERE)
• CDC Videos:

o   Washing Hands

o   Wearing Gloves

o   Practicing Social Distancing

o   Cleaning and Sanitizing Toys and Child Care Programs

o   Cleaning and Disinfecting Your Homes

o   Staying Safe at Summer Camp

o   Staying Safe at Aquatic Venues

o   Dining with Friends and Family with Higher Risk for Severe Illness

o   Visiting Friends and Family with Higher Risk for Severe Illness

o   Stopping the Spread of Germs

o   Considerations for Bars and Restaurants

o   Wear a Mask to Protect You and Your Friends

o   Key Times to Wear a Mask

o   Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019

o   COVID-19 Stop the Spread of Germs

o   Know Your Risk of Getting COVID-19

o   How to Wear a Mask

o   Protect Friends and Family who May be at Higher Risk for Severe Illness

o   I Think or I Know I Had COVID-19- When Can I be with Others?

o   The Difference Between Quarantine and Isolation

o   Maintaining Heart Health in COVID-19

o   Emergency Care for Heart Disease in COVID-19

Operation Warp Speed

• The President is using all available means to ensure safe vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics are developed, manufactured, and distributed in unprecedented time and scale in response to COVID-19.
• Earlier this year, President Trump launched Operation Warp Speed, a groundbreaking partnership between the Federal Government, scientific community, and private sector to develop and deliver vaccines in record time.
  • Operation Warp Speed’s goal is to produce and deliver 300 million doses of safe and effective vaccines with the initial doses available by January 2021.
• The Administration has made large investments in multiple vaccine candidates to provide financial infrastructure for mass manufacturing, in parallel with late-stage clinical trials.
• Operation Warp Speed has invested in more than five vaccines and teamed up with multiple pharmaceutical companies to safely produce as many effective vaccines as possible.
• A number of vaccine candidates have shown promising early clinical results and are either in or starting Phase 3 clinical trials, including AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer.

White House Updates

• 08/12/20: President Trump Holds a News Conference (VIDEO)
• President Trump Participates in Kids First: Getting America’s Children Safely Back to School (VIDEO)
• President Donald J. Trump is Supporting America’s Students and Families By Encouraging the Safe Reopening of America’s Schools (HERE)
• 1600 Daily: Canceling School Hurts Low-income and Minority Families the Most (HERE)
• West Wing Reads: Fall School Closure = Long-Term Health, Learning Costs for Kids (HERE)

HHS Announces Investments for Health Information Exchanges to Strengthen their Ability to Support State and Local Public Health Agencies (HERE)

• With $2.5 million in funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020, the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) will award up to five (5) cooperative agreements under the Strengthening the Technical Advancement and Readiness of Public Health Agencies via Health Information Exchange (STAR HIE) Program.

Trump Administration Announces Initiative to Transform Rural Health (HERE)

• The Trump Administration today announced it is further transforming the nation’s rural health care system by unleashing innovation through new funding opportunities that will increase access and improve quality. The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model delivers on President Trump’s Executive Order from last week on Improving Rural Health and Telehealth Access as well as the President’s Medicare Executive Order and CMS’s Rethinking Rural Health initiative.  Collectively, the Administration aims to ensure individuals in rural America have access to high quality, affordable health care. Fact sheet here.

CMS Proposes Updates to Coverage Policy for Artificial Hearts and Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs) (HERE)

• CMS Administrator Seema Verma said, “Our updated criteria better reflects the individualized needs of patients with heart failure and expands physicians’ ability to offer the most appropriate treatment options to their patients, both of which will lead to better health outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries.”

FDA Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update Daily Roundup – August 11, 2020 (HERE)

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to announce actions taken in its ongoing response effort to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Weekly Update: DHS Response to COVID-19 (HERE)

• The Department of Homeland Security remains dedicated to leading the national response against COVID-19. Each of the Department’s components are working relentlessly to lessen the impact on the nation, its economy, and its people. As states progress through unique phases of reopening, DHS will continue to honorably safeguard the homeland for the American people both from COVID-19 and other threats.

Malicious Cyber Actor Spoofing COVID-19 Loan Relief Webpage via Phishing Emails (HERE)

• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is currently tracking an unknown malicious cyber actor who is spoofing the Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 loan relief webpage via phishing emails. These emails include a malicious link to the spoofed SBA website that the cyber actor is using for malicious re-directs and credential stealing. For a downloadable copy of IOCs, see STIX file. Small business owners and organizations at all levels should review the alert and apply the recommended mitigations to strengthen the security posture of their systems. We encourage you to share this alert with anyone who might be able to use it.

Statement by Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin (HERE)

• “Earlier today, Speaker Pelosi and I spoke by phone. Her statement is not an accurate reflection of our conversation. She made clear that she was unwilling to meet to continue negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at least $2 trillion. The Administration is willing to move forward with legislation that allows for substantial funds for schools, child care, food, vaccines, hospitals, PPP for small businesses, rental assistance, broadband, airports, state and local government assistance, and liability protection for universities, schools, and businesses. The Democrats have no interest in negotiating.”

HUD Secretary Ben Carson Visits Opportunity Zone Neighborhoods in Fort Myers (HERE)

• U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson today visited Opportunity Zone neighborhoods in Fort Myers, Florida to view the progress made as a result of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which created Opportunity Zones to stimulate long-term investments in low-income communities.

U.S. Department of Labor Offers Webinar in Thai for Employers, Employees About Paid Sick Leave, Families First Coronavirus Response Act (HERE)

• The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will offer a webinar on Aug. 13, 2020, on the benefits and protections provided by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) for employers and employees in Southern California’s Thai communities.

EXIM Board Votes to Notify Congress of Two Potential Transactions Totaling $450 Million Supporting Approximately $1 Billion of Existing and Future U.S. Exports and an Estimated 1,600 American Jobs (HERE)

• The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Board of Directors on Tuesday, August 11 unanimously voted to notify the U.S. Congress, pursuant to the law, of its consideration of two potential transactions that would utilize EXIM COVID-19 economic recovery measures. The potential transactions totaling $450 million could support approximately $1 billion in existing and future export sales from the United States Steel Corporation (U. S. Steel), headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and an estimated 1,600 American jobs as calculated by EXIM at U. S. Steel and its suppliers in 17 states throughout the country and the District of Columbia..

U.S. Department of Commerce Continues to Invest Cares Act Funding to Boost Economic Development Programs Critical to Helping Communities Respond to Coronavirus (HERE)

·         EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, provides a wide-range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. For complete information, please visit EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance page.

Trump Administration Collaborates With Moderna to Produce 100 Million Doses of COVID-19 Investigational Vaccine (HERE)

• Under the leadership of President Trump, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) today announced an agreement with Moderna, Inc. to manufacture and deliver 100 million doses of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The federal government will own these vaccine doses.

COVID-19 Travel Restrictions Installation Status Update (HERE)

• DOD’s updated travel restriction document for US Military Bases.

For the most up-to-date information, please see the CDC’s website: www.coronavirus.gov.

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