COVID 19 Update 13
NAM Giving Voice the Manufacturers’ Concerns in D.C.
Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement
Manufacturers are facing an unprecedented challenge with respect to their ability to meet reporting, testing and other regulatory compliance requirements in this time of crisis. There is an urgent need for general enforcement discretion regarding routine and non-routine regulatory compliance due to travel and shelter-in-place restrictions for employees and others. To help companies navigate the regulatory climate during these turbulent times, the NAM will be hosting a compliance and enforcement conference call on Wednesday, March 25, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT.
To register for the call, click here. Send in details of reporting and monitoring challenges to ERP@nam.org.
Labor Department Announces 30-Day Compliance Window for COVID-19 Relief Bill
The Department of Labor announced that it will issue a non-enforcement policy for 30 days after the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, signed into law on March 18, goes into effect. The 30-day period will give manufacturers time to come into compliance with the law, and the DOL will focus on compliance assistance rather than enforcement for manufacturers that have acted in good faith to comply.
To learn more about the FFCRA and the new paid leave requirements for businesses with fewer than 500 employees, see the DOL’s announcement here.
Creators Respond
The NAM continues to work closely with the White House to coordinate manufacturers’ response to COVID-19. We have heard from many of you and have shared that information with the White House. The administration has once again called on manufacturers to produce and distribute supplies critical to our country’s response to this crisis. Thank you to those that have already volunteered to aid in this effort, and at the urging of the White House, the NAM renewed our call to manufacturers on Saturday.
If your company can help produce vital supplies and component parts, fill out the Creators Respond form here.
We are also actively informing the American public, policymakers and the press about manufacturers’ efforts. Please send us your stories, social media posts and other ways we can share your efforts to responseteam@nam.org.
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“Aegrescit Medendo” – The cure is worse than the disease
In his press conference Sunday President Trump said ‘We can’t let the cure be worse than the problem itself’.” The Hill Reports that the economic calamity emanating from social distancing policies that have closed much of the U.S. economy are also having devastating effects, with some projections of 20 percent or 30 percent unemployment in the second quarter.
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Half of US COVID-19 cases are in New York State
The number of positive diagnoses for the Hudson Valley from the state health department:
- Columbia County – 19
- Dutchess County – 100
- Greene County – 6
- Orange County- 411
- Putnam County – 45
- Rockland County – 592
- Sullivan County – 23
- Ulster County – 35
- Westchester County – 2,894
A drive-through testing center has been set up by the state at the Anthony Wayne recreation area in Stony Point on the Rockland-Orange County border.
In Ulster County, county government and Nuvance Health have set one up at Tech City outside Kingston and are planning another one in Ellenville.
Dutchess County and Nuvance Health have collaborated on a testing facility in the vicinity of Dutchess Stadium.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo: We Have To Start Thinking About How We Restart The Economy
During his Monday Press Conference Governor Cuomo said this “We implemented New York Pause, which stopped the essential workers, etc. We have to start thinking about New York Forward. And Steve Cohen and Bill Mulrow, who I’ve worked with for 30 years and now in the private sector, they’re going to start to think about this, how do you restart or transition to a restart of the economy? And how do you dovetail that with the public health strategy? As you are identifying people who have had the virus and have resolved, can they start to go back to work? Can younger people start to go back to work because they’re much more tolerant to the effect of the virus? So how do you — you turned off the engine quickly.”
