President Donald Trump signs the COVID Relief bill and Omnibus spending bill, but the delay has created chaos
After almost a week of delays, and allowing the December 26, 2020 unemployment deadline to pass, President Donald Trump signed the COVID Relief and Omnibus Spending bill on Sunday evening. The delay in signing pushed over 12 million Americans over an unemployment cliff and has caused chaos for employment security.
In Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee and Employment Security is providing a one-time payment of $550 for PUA recipients as a bridge to coming federal assistance.
[OLYMPIA] (Malcontent News) – The $892B COVID Relief package and the $1.4T Omnibus spending bill went unsigned by President Donald Trump on Saturday, cutting off unemployment benefits for up to 14 million Americans. In Washington state, over 100,000 people collecting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, had their benefits end today. If the bills go unsigned through Monday, a partial government shutdown will sideline up to 2.1 million federal employees despite the raging COVID pandemic and the potential terrorist attack in Nashville on Christmas.
On Sunday, Governor Jay Inslee announced emergency aid for many collecting PUA. According to the state, residents on PUA should continue to file to receive a flat payment of $550 next week. If the federal government continues to not respond to the ongoing crisis, a $50 million fund is expected to last about four weeks.
While federal law requires unemployment to be paid on a sliding scale based on income, the emergency aid is a fixed payment. State officials indicated the average PUA check before federal funding expired was $300.
United States air travel reached levels not seen since Thanksgiving, with over three-million air passengers passing through TSA checkpoints in the last three days. Analysts are estimating ten-million air passengers will travel over the next week. The holiday air travel is happening despite pleas from local, state, and federal officials to stay home, as hospitals across the nation become overwhelmed with COVID patients.
Earlier today, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington announced travel restrictions for people from the U.K. and South Africa. In the U.K., officials have identified a new strain of COVID that is more contagious but not more lethal. The variant in South Africa is also a new strain and targets younger victims with worse symptoms. Over 40 nations had issued travel bans to and from the U.K. and South Africa by Monday evening. The CDC has the two countries at a level 4 alert: “do not travel,” while the U.S. State Department has issued a level 3 alert, “travel not recommended.”
The Washington travel restriction is not a ban. Still, people traveling from the U.K. or South Africa must self-quarantine for 14 days after their arrival. According to the website, FlightsFrom, there are 13 scheduled direct flights between Seattle and London this coming week.
On Friday, a United Airlines flight from Orlando to Los Angeles diverted to New Orleans due to an onboard health emergency. The male passenger died, and the CDC may start advising others on the flight to seek a COVID test. According to eye witness accounts, the man was in poor health with breathing difficulty when he boarded the plane. His wife told officials he had COVID-like symptoms but elected to board the aircraft anyway.
The United States is leading the world in daily COVID infections, total infected, daily deaths, and total deaths.
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Editor comment: The video of the Olympia, Washington protest has the wrong date on it of December 10, 2020. The correct date is December 12, 2020. We apologize for the error.
Governor Inslee held a press conference today where he announced additional grants for small businesses, a potential unemployment extension for up to 100,000 citizens, and a continuation of statewide COVID restrictions. The governor cited 80% ICU utilization, 1,094 people hospitalized for COVID statewide, and over 10,500 new cases reported in the last 48-hours as the reasons for the extension. The state projects that 2,000 Washingtonians will be hospitalized with COVID under a “moderate” scenario by the end of December.
Part of today’s press conference announced an additional $50 million in grants to assist small businesses most impact by COVID-related closures. The Department of Commerce is prioritizing businesses such as yoga studios, fitness centers, entertainment venues, and bars to receive the new grants. The maximum amount a company can receive is $20,000. The number of approved applicants will determine that final sum.
Officials in Washington D.C. remain deadlocked on a second stimulus package for Main Street and citizens. Benefits from the CARES Act in the form of unemployment extensions and unemployment for 1099 employees, also called gig workers, is set to expire on December 31. For most people, the actual expiration date is December 26. Governor Inslee announced that for a subset of people collecting unemployment, extensions would continue into January.
People collecting Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) will continue to received benefits if the federal government does not come up with a stimulus package. This extension benefits approximately 60% on unemployment and would represent a flat payment versus the current sliding scale. The governor did not state how much each qualified individual would get, only saying that for “a few,” it would be less. The governor indicated that funds were available for him to extend the program through executive order and that Employment Security was already working on implementing the plan. Officials stated there were insufficient funds to expand PEUC, impacting as many as 172,000 people if benefits expire.
Governor Inslee did not take further business restrictions off the table and announced businesses not complying could receive fines up to $10,000 a day. Multiple state officials stated that we would better understand the number of new COVID cases created by Thanksgiving travel and celebrations in the next one to two weeks. The change in those numbers will dictate if the state needs to issue another extension after January 4 or take more robust measures.
State officials indicated that 62,000 doses of the Coronavirus vaccine would arrive in the state of Washington on December 15. Frontline healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes would get top priority. An additional 182,000 doses would come by the end of December, with more “likely” in January. Immunization requires two doses, 28 days apart, and takes a total of 60 days to become effective. The amount of vaccine arriving in December will not be enough to immunize everyone at the head of the line. Washington will receive vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Governor Inslee’s office has reached out to business and union leaders across the state by e-mail, requesting input on broader COVID-related restrictions starting after December 15. Washington state continues to add 2,000 or more COVID cases daily with no sign of slowing down, with a record number of people in hospitals and on ventilators. The state reported 31 deaths from COVID yesterday, the highest number since a summer spike.
Despite significant evidence that social distancing, limiting indoor interactions to essential needs, and wearing a mask is highly effective in slowing the spread, growing COVID fatigue works against these efforts. Hospital officials at a local, state, and federal level are concerned about wave upon wave of COVID patients as hospitalizations reach record levels. The looming issue isn’t beds or ventilators, but doctors, nurses, and specialists to staff the incoming waves of patients. In Washington state, Snohomish County reported that their 911 system is almost overwhelmed with calls for ambulances, and patients are arriving at hospitals in worse shape than the spring.
With the CARES Act set to expire on December 31, 2020, the spike in cases, hospitalizations, a looming shutdown couldn’t come at a worse time. Hundreds of thousands of Washingtonians will see their unemployment benefits end, and 172,000 families will face eviction or foreclosure without federal government intervention.
This is a breaking story and will be updated when more information is available.
Update: 12:05 PM – the announced restrictions will be in place for four weeks.
Governor Inslee of Washington state will be holding a press conference at 11 AM to announce new restrictions on activities and businesses due to a dramatic increase in COVID cases. The sweeping restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, reduce capacity at all retail locations including grocery stores to 25%, and requires entertainment venues such as movie theaters and zoos to close.
Washington state has seen a record number of new cases, exceeding 2,000 a day, while hospitalizations have started to increase. Late last week, UW Medicine announced it was implementing its surge plan which includes adding hospital beds and staff while dialing back on elective surgeries and in-office visits.
Government officials in Idaho have made things more complicated for Washington state. While Idaho does not havee a mask requirement, the hospitals in the panhandle region have become overwhelmed, and the state has started sending its COVID patients to Seattle and Portland, Oregon. In eastern Washington and Clark County in southwestern Washington, positive test rates range from 10.4% in Clark County to 37.7% in Whitman County. Less than 5% positive is ideal, and anything over 10% indicates under-testing and widespread transmission. Anything over 20% is considered a critical situation.
The state of Washington has released the following statement.
In order to slow the spread of rapidly increasing COVID cases in our state, and ensure that hospitals and medical systems are not overwhelmed, we are taking the very difficult but necessary steps to protect public health.
We recognize this will cause financial hardship for many businesses and the governor and staff are exploring ways to mitigate the impacts.
These rules are effective Monday, Nov. 16th at midnight (12:01 AM Tuesday), except for where noted as in the case of restaurants (detailed below).
If the activity is not listed, it should follow its current guidance. All K-12/higher education and childcare are exempt from the new restrictions and will follow current guidance. These restrictions do not apply to courts and court-related proceedings.
Indoor social gatherings with people from outside your household are prohibited.
Outdoor social gatherings should be limited to 5 people from outside your household.
Restaurants and bars are closed for indoor service. Outdoor dining and to-go service are permitted. Outdoor dining must follow the outdoor dining restriction. Table size limited to 5 for outdoor dining. These restaurant restrictions go into effect at 12:01 AM Wednesday, November 18.
Fitness facilities and gyms are closed for indoor operations. Outdoor fitness classes may still occur but they are limited by the outdoor gathering restriction listed above. Drop off childcare closed.
Bowling Centers are closed for indoor service.
Miscellaneous Venues: All retail activities and business meetings are prohibited. Only professional training and testing that cannot be performed remotely is allowed. Occupancy in each meeting room is limited to 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer.
Movie Theaters are closed for indoor service. Drive-in movie theaters are still permitted and must follow the current drive-in movie theater guidance.
Museums/Zoos/Aquariums are closed for indoor service.
Real Estate open houses are prohibited.
Wedding and Funeral receptions are prohibited. Ceremonies are limited to no more than 30 people.
In-store retail limited to 25% indoor occupancy and must close any common/congregate non-food-related seating areas. Food court indoor seating is closed.
Religious services limited to 25% indoor occupancy no more than 200 people, whichever is fewer. No choir, band, or ensemble shall perform during the service. Soloists are permitted to perform. Facial coverings must be worn at all times by congregation members and no congregational singing.
Professional Services are required to mandate that employees work from home when possible, and to close offices to the public. If they remain open, occupancy is restricted to 25%.
Personal services are limited to 25% of maximum occupancy.
Long-term Care Facilities outdoor visits only. Exceptions can be made for essential support person and end-of-life care.
Youth (school and non-school) and adult sporting activities are limited to outdoor-only for intrateam practices, masks required for athletes.
A household is defined as the individuals residing in the same domicile.
Governor Jay Inslee will address Washingtonians at 5:30 PM as the numbers for COVID-19 infections in the state of Washington accelerate. According to the Washington Department of Health, COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased 22% from November 3 to November 9, the most recent data available. Additionally, the rate of newly diagnosed cases, a gauge on how quickly COVID-19 is spreading, is near the highest levels recorded for the state, 145.2 per 100K.
Hospital capacity statewide remains positive, but the number of COVID patients is increasing, as well as those critically ill. ICU availability also remains. Idaho has been sending their sickest patients to Western Washington, with the state outstripping their hospital capacity. Idaho does not have a mandatory mask requirement and officials in the panhandle, where the infections are the worst, recently lifted pubic health restrictions.
Rural counties and counties where mask compliance is lower, or outright resisted is seeing some of the worst numbers. Positive test rates in Whitman County are 37.3%, Adams County 22.1%, Spokane County12.4%.and Clark County along the Oregon border is 10.4%.
This is a breaking news story and we will provide more information as it becomes available.
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