Complete Story
04/21/2020
COVID-19 Updates for Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky
Ohio State Press Conference Summary: 4/17 - 4/20
Monday, 4/20: Governor DeWine made the announcement that K-12 school buildings in Ohio will remain closed through the end of the end of the current academic year. Schools will continue with the current online learning system. He also announced the creation of a Minority Health Strike Force, composed of individuals in the government, health, and business communities. This is to try to address the higher rates of virus infection in minority populations. The governor addressed the issues of small businesses that are being affected by the shut down orders. He stated that he’s been told by business owners that they don’t want the state to open back up only to have to shut down again and that plans are being put in place for the gradual reopen starting 5/1.
Friday, 4/17: Governor DeWine started with a recap on the expectation for May 1st plan. He indicated that their goal is to strike the balance between getting Ohioans back to work while also keeping people safe. The goals for businesses as they reopen: protect employees and protect customers. An example of operating procedures in businesses that are/will be open: keeping social/physical distance, workers wearing masks, barriers where appropriate to maintain distance, frequent surface sanitation, ample opportunity for employees to wash/sanitize hands, staggered start times and lunch times, continued work from home options, employee temperature checks. After May 1st, some things will change but the virus will still be an issue, so we need to continue to reduce risk as much as possible. The path toward restart will be comprised of monitoring public health measures and compliance, protecting the most vulnerable, and businesses operating safely with safeguards.
Michigan State Press Conference Summary: 4/17 - 4/20
Lt. Governor Gilchrist & Former Lt. Governor Calley Asking for Federal Action on Additional SBA Forgivable Loans
“While tens of thousands of Michigan businesses were able to receive more than $10 billion of relief through the Paycheck Protection Program, there continues to be a significant need for additional resources to support our small businesses,” Lt. Governor Gilchrist said. “Additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program will be critical in helping our businesses keep their doors open and in protecting the livelihoods of their workers.”
The PPP loans were designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll and may be forgiven if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.
“For those businesses that applied but did not receive funding in the first round, please verify with your lending institution that your application is still active and in line for funding when Congress comes through,” Calley said. “If a business didn’t apply before, now is the time to get your application ready. These loans can save a business and keep thousands employed.”
Find key PPP eligibility information, videos and instructions to help with the application process
Comerica Bank says that if PPP loan program gets more funds, they are be ready
Michigan's second-largest bank, under fire from numerous customers, says it's got a new system to better handle the flurry of demand for the next round of PPP loans. Comerica Inc., Michigan's second-largest financial institution by deposits, said it began informing customers over the weekend that an automated system was now complete and could begin processing loan applications.
Small-business customers of Comerica have been vocal in recent days about the bank's difficulties in getting the online system up and running ahead of the federal PPP running out of funds last week. Through April 16th, there were 43,438 Michigan businesses able to secure loans totaling just under $10.4 billion in total loan volume.
Kentucky State Press Conference Summary: 4/17 - 4/20
Monday, 4/20: The governor advised education leaders to keep schools closed for the remainder of the school year. This move is in line with the guidelines released by the White House.
The state is seeing, on average, 13,000 new unemployment claims per day. They have processed twice as many claims since March 8 as they did in all of 2019. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman urged those seeking benefits not to reapply and not to open a new claim if they have already applied. The only people who need to reopen a claim are those requesting an additional 13 weeks because their original benefits have expired.
Friday, 4/17: The White House announced phases to re-open the country. They are in-line with Kentucky’s goals. Gov. Beshear has identified seven benchmarks that must be met before they can begin to re-open the economy.
- Decreasing number and rate of new cases
- Increased testing capacity and contact tracing
- PPE availability
- Ability to protect at-risk population
- Ability to social distance and follow CDC guidelines in large gatherings
- Preparedness to deal with potential future spike
- Status of a vaccination and treatment
