Members,
Today’s update will have COVID-19 status links in our region, Additionally, it will focus on two very important issues that come up yesterday that needs your attention.
COVID-19 Update
See links below for current statistics:
- World Statistics – www.worldmeters.info/coronavirus/
- State – www.texas.gov Dept. of State Health Services – Texas Counts. Also, review the following regarding travelers:
https://dshs.texas.gov/coronavirus/travelers.aspx - City of San Antonio, Bexar County – www.sanantonio.gov and Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Case and Testing information www.sanantonio.gov/Health/News/Alerts/CoronaVirus – review the following:
- Fifth Declaration of Public Health Emergency Addendum
Regional Updates
- Bexar County – Stay Home, Work Safe order in effect till April 30th. Update on cases can be found at – https://cosagis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/d2c7584fe9fd4da1b30cb9d6cc311163
- Guadalupe County – Stay Home, Work Safe order in effect till April 30th. Update on cases can be found at – https://www.co.guadalupe.tx.us/commcourt/covid19/pr_2020-04-08-1809.pdf
- Comal County – Stay Home, Work Safe order in effect till April 30th. Update on cases can be found at – https://www.co.comal.tx.us/Public%20Health/Emergency_Preparedness/EP.htm
Important Issues Needing Your Attention!
- Mayor’s Amended Order regarding face coverings, occupancy, and golf courses – 4/17/20. Your employees need to have masks/face coverings to employees starting Monday morning. Additionally, SAMA has reached out to Metro Health asking for clarification regarding wearing of them by manufacturing employees in a building or activity that requires security surveillance or screening. Also, asking for clarification on mandatory use on Monday since ordering masks/face coverings will take some time. While we await clarification, recommend employees wear a face-covering where social distancing cannot be observed. The two links below provide information on the addendum:
- Paycheck Protection Program – There is an urgent need for Congress to approve additional funds for the program — a loan program authorized as part of the CARES Act to support manufacturers’ ability to weather the financial crisis posed by COVID-19. It was confirmed Thursday, April 16th, the program’s $349 billion caps was already reached and is now out of money, putting many of our small and mid-sized manufacturing members’ finances at immediate risk. The NAM is calling on Congress to fix this urgent problem by funding and expanding this critical program. (Details here)
The CARES Act legislation recently passed by Congress provided critical assistance to small businesses and manufacturers in our state to help weather the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program was made available to provide funding to help manufacturers meet critical needs such as payroll obligations so that we can keep our doors open and continue operations. Unfortunately, this program ran out of cash, and manufacturers and small businesses will not be able to access its benefits unless Congress takes action to extend the program – clicking on this link to send our members of Congress a message to ask them to immediately pass additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.
Please stay safe and healthy this weekend and tune in today at noon (live-streamed on NBCDFW.com) for a live video of Governor Abbott discussing plans to reopen the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
