Criteria for beginning to reopen economic activity in a region, according to Cuomo’s briefing on Monday:

• 14 days of declining hospitalizations and deaths on a three-day rolling average;
• In places with fewer cases, no more than 15 new hospitalizations or five new deaths on a three-day rolling average;
• No more than two new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents daily;
• 30 percent vacant capacity in hospital beds and ICUs;
• A 90-day supply of PPE for every hospital;
• At least 30 tests for every 1,000 residents on hand;
• At least 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 residents, with additional tracers in more heavily infected areas.

Businesses seeking to reopen will also have to adopt safety precautions. To qualify for reopening, businesses must:

• Adjust workplace hours and shift design as necessary to reduce density in the workplace;
• Enact social distancing protocols;
• Restrict nonessential travel for employees;
• Require all employees and customers to wear masks if in frequent contact with others; Implement strict cleaning and sanitation standards;
• Enact a continuous health screening process for individuals to enter the workplace; Continue tracing, tracking, and reporting of cases; and
• Develop liability processes.

The special enrollment period for health insurance will remain open through June 15, 2020.

On April 24, Cuomo announced an executive order mandating that every New Yorker automatically receive a postage-paid application for a primary ballot. All New Yorkers are eligible to vote by mail.

The state has set up an online tool to help you assess whether you should get a COVID-19 test. According to the state Department of Health, "Testing for COVID-19 shall be authorized by a health care provider when:

• An individual has come within proximate contact (same classroom, office, or gatherings) of another person known to be positive; or
• An individual has traveled to a country that the CDC has issued a Level 2 or Level 3 Travel Health Notice, and shows symptoms of illness; or
• An individual is quarantined (mandatory or precautionary) and has shown symptoms of COVID-19 illness; or
• An individual is symptomatic and has not tested positive for any other infection; or
• Other cases where the facts and circumstances warrant as determined by the treating clinician in consultation with state and local department of health officials.

Program is open until June 30, 2020
Borrower Application Form

What can I use these loans for?
You should use the proceeds from these loans on your:

• Payroll costs, including benefits;
• Interest on mortgage obligations, incurred before February 15, 2020;
• Rent, under lease agreements in force before February 15, 2020; and
• Utilities, for which service began before February 15, 2020.

How large can my loan be?
Loans can be for up to two months of your average monthly payroll costs from the last year plus an additional 25% of that amount. That amount is subject to a $10 million cap. If you are a seasonal or new business, you will use different applicable time periods for your calculation. Payroll costs will be capped at $100,000 annualized for each employee.

How large can my loan be?
Loans can be for up to two months of your average monthly payroll costs from the last year plus an additional 25% of that amount. That amount is subject to a $10 million cap. If you are a seasonal or new business, you will use different applicable time periods for your calculation. Payroll costs will be capped at $100,000 annualized for each employee.

What is my interest rate?
1.00% fixed rate.

We are a group of small business owners concerned about our businesses and the timeline for receiving loans from the government via the SBA. In order to help other small business owners like us, we created a survey to better understand how many loans have been paid.
This will help business owners understand when and how many loans are actually being paid and will hold authorities accountable to provide the aid they have promised. Our aim is to share this site with as many small business owners as possible and then share results with the media on a daily basis as a way to track what percentage of applicants have received their loans.
Where is my loan?

Millions of Americans struggling during the COVID-19 economic slowdown have been waiting on stimulus checks of up to $1,200 promised by the federal government. If you’re one of them, here’s an update: The IRS just launched a consumer portal to track and manage your imminent payout.

We do not anticipate service disruptions to our customers. Central Hudson is temporarily suspending service disconnections to lessen any hardship the COVID-19 pandemic may have on our customers.
Customers enrolled in our Special Protections Program (age 62 or older, blind or disabled) have already had their winter protections extended until May 1, 2020, without any additional actions required on their part.
If you are impacted by this situation and have concerns about bill payment or other Central Hudson services, you are encouraged to contact us using our Online Web Chat feature, via email through our Online Contact Us Form, or by phone at 845-452-2700. For payment assistance options, visit our Assistance Programs page.

We’re committed to offering special discounts to households affected by this virus. Beginning Monday, March 16, we’ll offer two free months of internet and WiFi services to new customers in households with Pre-K to 12 or college students who need remote education. This discount will be applied as a credit for your first two months of internet services. We’ll waive any installation or pre-payment fees to help get you started. You can qualify for this offer if you:

• Have a student of qualifying age at your service address with remote education needs
• Have not subscribed to our internet services within the past 30 days

Call 1-855-243-8892 to sign up for this offer.

County Executive Pat Ryan today announced information about Ulster County’s second drive-through mobile COVID-19 testing site located at Ellenville Regional Hospital. The new location will be open five days a week and will continue to increase testing capacity in Ulster County. Last week, County Executive Ryan announced the opening of a drive-through test site located at TechCity which tested over 600 people in its first week of operation.

• New Paltz Central School District Food Distribution Plan
• Onteora Food Distribution Plana>
• Saugerties Central School District

Ulster County Schools Meal Delivery Plans
Ulster Emergency Food Resources

All Hudson Valley Current members are given a $300, 0% line of credit upon becoming a member. These Currents can be used towards the purchase of food items through their Digital Resilence Market Order Page. The delivery days are Wednesday, and Friday. Orders placed by 4:00 pm the day before, will be delivered on those days. (Sunday by 4:00 pm will be delivered on Monday. Exceptions would be back ordered items, but our inventory is very good right now and we are choosing items that we can keep in stock. If anyone would like to get support on membership onboarding or any aspect of the Current, please contact David Cagan by phone or email

Ulster County has announced Project Resilience, a community fund and local food distribution effort to support residents impacted by COVID-19. The County has secured over $2 million in funding in 24 hours, and will utilize UCAT and partner with non-profits and municipalities to deliver meals to local distribution centers. This new initiative will help residents in need and simultaneously provide support to small businesses. Ulster County is partnering with United Way and many other area organizations and businesses to mobilize food and services. Press release for this initiative is available here.

The Table at Woodstock
114 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, NY 12498
The Good Neighbor Food Pantry
16 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 12498
Daily Bread Soup Kitchen
26 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, NY 12498

Is the business open or closed?
WereStillOpenHV.com

Twelve states, including some hit hard by the coronavirus — like California, New York and Washington — have opened enrollment under the Affordable Care Act to allow laid-off workers to get subsidized health insurance. And here is a more general guide to getting or keeping insurance, with updates on very recent rule changes.

Medicare covers related needs:

• Medicare covers the lab tests for COVID-19. You pay no out-of-pocket costs.
• Medicare covers all medically necessary hospitalizations. This includes if you're diagnosed with COVID-19 and might otherwise have been discharged from the hospital after an inpatient stay, but instead you need to stay in the hospital under quarantine.
• At this time, there's no vaccine for COVID-19. However, if one becomes available, it will be covered by all Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (Part D).
• If you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, you have access to these same benefits. Medicare allows these plans to waive cost-sharing for COVID-19 lab tests. Many plans offer additional telehealth benefits beyond the ones described below. Check with your plan about your coverage and costs.
• Scammers may use the coronavirus national emergency to take advantage of people while they’re distracted. As always, guard your Medicare card like a credit card, check Medicare claims summary forms for errors, and if someone calls asking for your Medicare Number, hang up!
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Governor Cuomo enacted a law that provides benefits—including sick leave, paid family leave, and disability benefits—to New York employees impacted by mandatory or precautionary orders of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. If your employer does not comply with this law, you have the right to file a complaint. If you have any questions about this law, please visit ny.gov/COVIDpaidsickleave.

Important Information for Unemployment Insurance Claimants:
The federal government enacted the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which includes extended unemployment benefits. New York has not qualified for these extended benefits at this time, but we will continue to monitor the situation and leverage all federal resources to help New Yorkers survive the economic hardships associated with the novel coronavirus. If New York State DOES qualify for the extended benefits, New Yorkers do NOT need to do anything new. We will post additional information here as it becomes available. Please do NOT call our unemployment hotline with questions about extended benefits—this helps us keep our phone lines available for your fellow New Yorkers who need to file new claims. Thank you for your understanding and patience.
NYS is waiving the 7-Day waiting period for Unemployment Insurance benefits for people who are out of work due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) closures or quarantines.
If you are filing a new unemployment insurance claim, the day you should file is based on the first letter of your last name. If your last name starts with A - F, file your claim on Monday. For last names starting with G - N, file your claim Tuesday. For last names starting with O - Z, file your claim on Wednesday. If you missed your filing day, file your claim on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Filing later in the week will not delay your payments or affect the date of your claim, since all claims are effective on the Monday of the week in which they are filed.
Here is a step by step process to file a claim online.

How much will you receive?
Under the plan, eligible workers will get an extra $600 per week on top of their state benefit. But some states are more generous than others. According to the Century Foundation, the maximum weekly benefit in Alabama is $275, but it’s $450 in California and $713 in New Jersey.
So let’s say a worker was making $1,100 per week in New York; she’d be eligible for the maximum state unemployment benefit of $504 per week. Under the new expansion, she gets an additional $600 of federal pandemic unemployment compensation, for a total of $1,104, essentially replacing her original paycheck.

Are gig workers, freelancers and independent contractors covered?
Yes, self-employed people are newly eligible for unemployment benefits.
Benefit amounts will be calculated based on previous income, using a formula from the Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program, according to a congressional aide.
Self-employed workers will also be eligible for the additional $600 weekly benefit provided by the federal government.

How long will the payments last?
Many states already provide 26 weeks of benefits, though some states have trimmed that back while others provide a sliding scale tied to unemployment levels.
The bill provides all eligible workers with an additional 13 weeks. So participants in states with 26 weeks would be eligible for a total of 39 weeks. The total amount cannot exceed 39 weeks, but it may be shorter in certain states.
The extra $600 payment will last for up to four months, covering weeks of unemployment ending July 31.

How long would the broader program last?
Expanded coverage would be available to workers who were newly eligible for unemployment benefits for weeks starting on Jan. 27, 2020, and through Dec. 31, 2020.

Yes. The bill puts a temporary, nationwide eviction moratorium in place for any renters whose landlords have mortgages backed or owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other federal entities. This will last for 120 days after the bill passes, and landlords also can’t charge any fees or penalties for nonpayment of rent.
What about a rent strike if I can’t pay?
Some tenants and advocates have called for rent strikes, in which residents of a building withhold rent from their landlord en masse. Housing Justice for All and the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition will release a toolkit with more information about organizing tenants later this week. However, such an action should not be undertaken without consulting with a housing attorney—the Legal Aid Society, the Met Council on Housing, and Legal Services NYC all provide counseling.

To help consumers and small businesses, the state is ensuring that life insurance payments can be deferred for up to 90 days, and property and casualty insurance payments can be deferred for up to 60 days, without incurring penalties.

It depends on your income. Single adults with Social Security numbers who have an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less will get the full amount. Married couples with no children earning $150,000 or less will receive a total of $2,400. And taxpayers filing as head of household will get the full payment if they earned $112,500 or less.
Above those income figures, the payment decreases until it stops altogether for single people earning $99,000 or married people who have no children and earn $198,000. According to the Senate Finance Committee, a family with two children will no longer be eligible for any payments if its income surpassed $218,000.

Will I have to apply to receive a payment?
No. If the Internal Revenue Service already has your bank account information, it will transfer the money to you via direct deposit based on the recent income-tax figures it already has.
When will the payment arrive?
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he expected most people to get their payments within three weeks.

Congress enacted legislation that would require certain employers to provide paid sick leave during this public health crisis; however, this new policy will not reach all uninsured workers. Under the emergency paid sick leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, workers in all public agencies as well as at some private firms with between 50 and 500 employees must be compensated at least a portion of their regular pay for 14 days if they take time off to address health needs for themselves or family members or to care for children due to school closures. If workers need more than 14 days off work to care for children due to school closures, they may be able to obtain up to 2/3 of their typical compensation for up to three months, but this policy does not extend to all workers and excludes employees at businesses with more than 500 employees. These new leave policies take effect two weeks after enactment of the legislation and the benefits are not retroactive, which means that uninsured workers who already took leave due to coronavirus would not be compensated for that time.

The federal government has already waived two months of payments and interest for many federal student loan borrowers. Is there a bigger break now with the new bill?
Yes. Until Sept. 30, there will be automatic payment suspensions for any student loan held by the federal government. It is hard to contact many of the loan servicers right now, so check your account online in the coming weeks. Once you are logged in, look for the current amount due. There, you should be able to see if the servicer has reset its billing systems so that you are showing no payment due.

Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program: Small business owners in all U.S. states and territories are currently eligible to apply for a low-interest loan due to Coronavirus (COVID-19). Click here to apply. Find more information on the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans here. The SBA will work directly with state Governors to provide targeted, low-interest loans to small businesses and non-profits that have been severely impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing.

We know that your business may be experiencing disruptions resulting from the global outbreak of COVID-19. We’ve heard that a little financial support can go a long way, so we are offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits to help during this challenging time. Visit site

For the calendar year 2020, no one will have to take a required minimum distribution from any individual retirement accounts or workplace retirement savings plans, like a 401(k). That way, you aren’t forced to sell investments that may have fallen in value, which would lock in losses. If you don’t need the money now, you can let the investments sit and hope that they recover.

You can withdraw up to $100,000 this year without the usual 10 percent penalty, as long as it’s because of the outbreak.
You will also be able to spread out any income taxes that you owe over three years from the date you took the distribution. And if you want, you could put the money back into the account before those three years are up, even though the rules may normally keep you from making a contribution that large.
This exception applies only to coronavirus-related withdrawals.

For 180 days after the bill passes, with certification that you’ve been affected by the pandemic, you’ll be able to take out a loan of up to $100,000. Usually you can’t take out more than half your balance, but that rule is suspended.

No. There is not supposed to be, at least.
The bill states that during the period beginning on Jan. 31 and continuing 120 days after the cessation of the national emergency declaration, lenders and others should mark your credit file as current, even if you avail yourself of payment modifications.