Coronavirus Response Efforts Update (5/6/2020)

U.S. Department of Labor Provides Additional Guidance and Assistance to States’ Unemployment Insurance Programs (HERE)

• The U.S. Department of Labor today responded to specific state requests seeking assistance to administer changes to unemployment insurance (UI) programs made by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

Census Bureau to Resume Some 2020 Census Field Operations in Select Locations (HERE)

• The U.S. Census Bureau, in coordination with federal, state and local health officials, will begin a phased restart of some 2020 Census field operations in select geographic areas this week.

Meals to You to Serve 5 Million Meals a Week to Rural Children (HERE)

• Today, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a major expansion of Meals to You, USDA’s innovative partnership with the Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, and PepsiCo, to feed low-income kids in rural areas. The initiative will now serve nearly 5 million meals per week to rural children impacted by COVID-19-related school closures – five times its original goal.

USDA Approves Program to Feed Kids in Maine, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Vermont (HERE)

• S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced Maine, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Vermont have been approved to operate Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), a new program authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), signed by President Trump, which provides assistance to families of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals dealing with school closures.

FEMA Awards Federal Funding for Mental Health Services to States during Coronavirus Pandemic (Tennessee; South Carolina; Mississippi; North Carolina; Kentucky; Georgia; Alabama)

• Federal funding is now available for the states to provide crisis counseling services to its residents coping with stress and anxiety as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Military Hospital Lends Research Expertise to Global Pandemic Effort (HERE)

• Within weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic’s spread, Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, drew on its deep bench of research expertise to join the global race to find a treatment for the coronavirus disease.