Merchant News COVID-19 as of 01/18/21

Inslee announces “Healthy Washington–Roadmap to Recovery”: Jay Inslee announced “Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery,” a COVID-19 phased recovery plan with only 2 Phases (for now). Beginning on January 11th, the state will follow a regional recovery approach with every region starting in Phase 1. There will be eight regions of four or more counties, divided according to available health care services based on metrics such as hospitalizations, case data and disease mobility. King County is in the King/Pierce/Snohomish region.

See all of the guidelines here on the COVID-19 reopening page. 

Metrics

A region’s phase will be determined by the Department of Health (DOH) in response to four metric requirements. The final metrics for regions will be calculated on Friday, January 8th and will be effective January 11th.

 

To go forward from Phase 1 to Phase 2, regions must meet all four metrics:

  • Decreasing trend in two-week rate of COVID-19 cases per 100K population (decrease >10%)
  • Decreasing trend in two-week rate new COVID-19 hospital admission rates per 100K population (decrease >10%)
  • ICU occupancy (total — COVID-19 and non-COVID-19) of less than 90%
  • COVID-19 test positivity rate of <10%

 To remain in Phase 2, regions must meet at least 3 metrics:

  • Decreasing or flat trend in two-week rate of COVID-19 cases per 100K population
  • Decreasing or flat trend in two-week rate new COVID-19 hospital admission rates per 100K population
  • ICU occupancy (total — COVID-19 and non-COVID-19) of less than 90%
  • COVID-19 test positivity rate of <10%.

 

Open Air and Outdoor Seating Requirements

COVID19 Outdoor Open Air Seating Guidance

The following four alternatives to indoor seating increase outdoor airflow to reduce risk, but do not
replace other COVID‐19 prevention requirements. Businesses using the alternatives are required to
follow the industry‐specific guidance documents, maintain table seating at least six feet apart from
neighboring table seating, and ensure customers and staff always wear cloth face coverings except
when consuming food or beverages while seated. Any establishment adhering to the following
requirements is deemed to be operating outdoors. Consequently, general outdoor requirements for the
industry will apply.

Regions that fail to meet two or more of the above metrics will be moved back to Phase 1. The metrics for each region will be updated on the Risk Assessment Dashboard every Friday. Dependent on a region’s metrics, DOH will move into a new phase — forward or backward — the following Monday. There’s no directive currently as to what happens after Phase 2.

As a business owner, it can be tough to keep up with changing guidelines during COVID-19. To help keep your business running and your staff healthy, the City has compiled State guidelines and resources into accessible toolkits in multiple languages. In these toolkits, you’ll find checklists, financial resources, printable flyers, and more. We will continue to update these toolkits and relay information from the State as soon as we have it. Please note that Businesses can only open once they can meet all requirements in the guidance outlined on the State Department of Health’s website. All guidance is subject to change at any time. Click here for all the toolkits, including the occupancy load chart.

 

COVID-19 Merchant Supply Page can be found here.

Click the graphic to link through to the page

Farmers Market Site Map: WSFM COVID-19 Layout 5.3

Self-Employed Unemployment Information

042020IntroductionToUnemployment

YouTube video how to set up an account

Click through to ESD Site

Civil-Emergency-Order-Moratorium-on-Small-Business-Tenant-Evictions-3.17.20

• Places an immediate moratorium on small business and non-profit tenant evictions in the City of Seattle for non-payment of rent or due to holdover by the small business/non-profit tenant beyond the expiration of the lease’s term. A “small business” is generally one with 50 or fewer employees per establishment or premises. Landlords are forbidden from enforcing contractual or statutory remedies to remove a small business or nonprofit tenant from its premises or to terminate its lease.
• Requires the Landlord to endeavor to enter into payment plans or workout agreements with the small business/non-profit.
• Prohibits Landlords from charging late fees or interest due to late payment of rent by the small business/non-profit.
• Lasts until the earlier of May 16, 2020 or termination of the civil emergency, and may be extended by the Mayor.

PPP and EIDL Programs

SBALoanUpdate_RecoveryReadiness041720 – 2

How to get full loan forgiveness

PPP Payroll Calculations FAQ

PPP-Loan-Forgiveness-Application-Form-EZ-Instructions

SBA Loans

Small businesses in many Washington counties are now eligible to apply for low-interest U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loans to offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. More counties are likely to become eligible in Washington state. Check the SBA website for the most updated information. This is one of the first SBA disaster declarations in the country related to COVID-19.

SBA Bridge Loan

SBA FAQs

Paycheck-Protection-Program-Frequently-Asked-Questions

Facebook Corona BUSINESS Owners Fight Back

Resource page for above Facebook group

04/16 SBALoanUpdate_RecoveryReadiness 4-16-20

04/08 Working Washington Small Business Grant

WS Chamber Governance Advocacy Committee Links

 

 

 

Link to WSC Resource page

Ways to contribute

Financial resources for impacted businesses and individuals

NOTE: Most of the above links came from Sol’s Civic Minute, a newsletter by Sol Villareal.

04/02/20 Small business owners guide to the cares act

03/26/20 OED 3-26-20 neighborhoods presentation

03/26/20 March 20 2020 COVID Downtown Early Impact Summary

03/24/20 SupportLocal-DEI

03/23/20 FINAL-WA-Essential-Critical-Infrastructure-Workers-03.23.2020

City of Seattle Council Resource page 

03/18/20 Square Community Resources

03/18/20 Governor Inslee Relief Package details 

03/16/20 Small Business COVID resources

03/16/20 Governor Inslee press release

03/11/20 Governor Inslee Announcement 250 person gathering

03/10/20 Mayor Durkan press release Relief Small Business

Financial Resources for Consumers 

Disaster Loan Fact Sheets

Hand Washing Fact Sheet

Workplace Preventative Measures

COVID-19 Poster 8.5 x 11

Employer RESOURCES

List of preventative measures Junction merchants are taking

Resources for Your Business and Employees

The Governor has responded swiftly with expanded benefits programs and a resource list. These include programs such as SharedWork, which provides partial wage replacement to avoid layoffs, and standby, which suspends the job-search requirement for workers to collect unemployment benefits if an employer must make temporary layoffs. You can see a chart of available benefits for various COVID-19 scenarios here.

The County has been doing outreach through its Small Business Task Force for the COVID-19 Community Mitigation Branch of the Pandemic Advisory Task Force.

The Mayor has set up a business task force to help with the City’s response to the economic impact of the outbreak. I will be representing the Chamber and our members on that task force. She also announced an initial recovery package, which includes expanding the Small Business Stabilization Fund, tax deferral, utility relief, and assistance to access SBA loans. You can view the elements of that package here.

Our Congressional delegation has been receptive to ideas that would help businesses during the crisis. We are creating a list of ideas that we will propose to our delegation. If you have ideas for help from the federal government, please send them to Mackenzie Chase ().