4/9/2020 Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates
/On April 9th, Governor Baker gave a press conference to provide COVID-19 updates on Medical supplies, Three new Emergency Orders, Boston Field Medical Station at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, Unemployment updates, Federal CARES Act unemployment, Resources for domestic violence and sexual assault victims and survivors, Expansion of ‘Safe Link’, and the Command center.
Here is the summary.
Medical Supplies
Last night, the state received word that they are receiving an additional 100 ventilators from the federal stockpile.
These will be tested and deployed as soon as they arrive.
The state received a donation from Boston Children's Hospital of 5 ventilators.
Three New Emergency Orders
Today, the Governor signed three emergency orders to help expand healthcare capacity and ensure access to in-patient services for COVID-19 patients.
First-order: Allows graduates of international medical schools who have completed at least a two-year post-graduate training to be eligible for licensure in MA. Please read the order here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/april-9-2020-foreign-medical-doctors
Second-order: Allows nursing student graduates and students in their last semester of the nursing program to practice nursing in MA in advance of receiving a license, as long as they’re supervised by other licensed medical professionals. Please read the order here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/april-9-2020-nursing-school-students
Third-order: Ensures that insurers cover all medically required costs of COVID-19 treatment in out-of-network hospitals or other medical facilities with no cost for the patient. Please read the order here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/april-9-2020-inpatient-services-and-billing
Details for the Boston Field Medical Station at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center
Partners healthcare will be leading clinical care efforts, called ‘Boston Hope’ through the Field Medical Station at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
This is in partnership with Boston Health Care for the Homeless to care for what we expect to be a large and diverse population of COVID-19 patients.
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center will provide an additional 1,000 beds for COVID-19 patients.
500 for medical use and 500 to help shelter providers and serve homeless populations in greater Boston.
Unemployment Update
New data from the Federal Department of Labor showed that nearly 140,000 new individuals had filed for unemployment in MA last week.
In the last 3 weeks, nearly 470,000 individuals filed for unemployment claims.
This is much higher than what MA would typically get - which is around 7,000-10,000 new claims a month over the last 6-7 months.
As of today, The Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is paying unemployment compensation to over 250,000 MA claimants.
The Department of Unemployment Assistance has increased its customer service staff from around 50 people working in a single call center 3 weeks ago to 600 people working remotely today.
The team has made over 60,000 calls, about 6,000 calls a day.
For the past 19 days, DUA has hosted daily virtual town halls in both English and Spanish which have now been ‘attended’ by over 100,000 constituents.
Virtual town halls are meant to help claimants resolve common issues on applications.
In the coming days, DUA will launch a new mobile-friendly, Spanish only application to help those who are facing language and technology barriers in the Legacy UI Online interface.
Federal CARES Act Unemployment Update
This week, the state has received partial guidance from the federal government on the three new unemployment benefit programs in the CARES Act and is now beginning to distribute benefits to residents. Here are the details:
First program: Retroactive and continuing an additional $600/week for regular unemployment compensation for eligible claimants until the end of July. As of today, all eligible claimants who are currently receiving unemployment and to those who are applying currently will receive an additional $600. People applying for new claims, who are already receiving claims, do not need to take any action to receive this benefit.
This program is being implemented now.
Second program: Expanded support for people who have not been traditionally in the unemployment system, such as self-employed, independent contractors, gig workers, or people who receive 1099s. This will provide up to 39 weeks of benefits.
DUA is building a platform to disperse those benefits, which will begin processing claims by the end of this month. Please continue to keep checking for when DUA will be accepting applications for this program.
Third program: A 13-week extension of benefits for people who have exhausted their previous unemployment benefits.
This program is not available yet as the DUA is waiting for federal guidance on how to implement this initiative.
Resources for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims and Survivors
The Department of Public Health will be posting guidance and resources online at the COVID-19 website as well as on their Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Prevention and Services website.
For victims and survivors reading, please know that you are not alone and there are resources available to help you. This includes:
Filing abuse and prevention and harassment prevention orders either through your local police department, connecting with a safe plan advocate, or through our courts. Courts can be reached during the normal business hours by calling the court directly or by calling the trial court hotline 1-833-91COURT
Judges are available 24/7 to process 209A restraining orders.
Announcing Expansion of ‘Safe Link’
This is a statewide, 24/7, toll-free, confidential domestic violence hotline. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Safe Link functioned as a hotline to protect and connect survivors specifically to domestic violence services.
Expansions include:
Connecting victims of both sexual assault and domestic violence to the rape crisis centers as well as local domestic violence programs in their communities.
Triage calls to local rape crisis center hotlines creating a centralized number for any survivor of domestic violence or sexual assault to call and receive services: 2-1-1
Safe Link toll-free number is 877-785-2020. If you are hearing impaired, the Safe Link number is 877-521-2601
Advocates are available in English and Spanish and can provide translations in more than 130 languages.
If you are in immediate danger, please call 911. If you cannot safely call, you can instant message with a trained advocate at the National Domestic Violence Hotline at www.thehotline.org or www.loveisrespect.org or www.rainn.org.
Please remember that Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) are still available in 36 hospitals to provide forensic testing and support.
To find more information on the hospitals where SANE is present, please visit mass.gov.
Command Center Updates
As of today, the mobile-testing team has conducted on 2,301 residents at 121 nursing homes, rest homes, and a few assisted living residencies.
A few important changes to the program that will take place today and tomorrow:
1.) Expanding the team to 250 members of the National Guard.
2.) Nursing facilities that have available healthcare personnel on-site can now request testing kits to perform sample collection themselves without the help of the National Guard.
Yesterday, a public health order was issued which requires healthcare providers to collect the complete demographic information of COVID-19 patients, including name, date of birth, sex, race, ethnicity, address, and telephone number of patients.
Please visit mass.gov/joincovidteam to find a central place for people seeking jobs to connect with temporary care sites that need employees.
On the website, you can find job opportunities with each of the state’s healthcare partners that are working to care for COVID-19 patients. This includes nurse aids, housekeepers, respiratory therapists, and more.