Mon. 4/27 COVID-19 Daily Update
WATCH: FIRST FRIDAY EPISODE ON LABOR ORGANIZING—PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
May 1st is International Labor Day!
Let’s start our labor victories celebration with this amazing discussion on labor organizing: past, present, and future. Watch this First Friday episode featuring Ilima Seto-Long from Academic Labor United, Kawehi Apo of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), and our very own Lisa Grandinetti, organizer for HMSHost Unite Here! Local 5, hosted by Noe Goodyear-Ka’opua.
NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
LIST: Here are your questions for the state unemployment office, answered (Hawaii News Now, April 27, 2020)
FAQs from the DLIR answers:
- 222,000 unique applications have been filed with about 90,000 duplicates for about 310,000 total received so far.
- It takes three business days for the direct deposit to show up in bank accounts.
- 181,000 “claims” have been processed so far.
- 28,000 claims have been denied so far.
- The application and the claim status portal are available around the clock, but for filing an initial claim online or a certification the only time available to do that is from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends.
DLIR pays out more than 65,000 unemployment claims, backlogged by thousands more (Pacific Business News, April 27, 2020)
The DLIR is still behind on 116,000 claims. 38,000 claims needed manual correction. 78,000 claims needed interactive corrections.
COVID-19 has uneven impact on Hawaii businesses (Star Advertiser, April 27, 2020)
UHERO did a survey of 623 businesses. The survey was not random and did not collect data on public sector employees or any of the large medical systems.
The results showed the hotel industry to be the hardest hit in terms of job losses, with the number of employees falling by 83% from January to April. That’s a loss of 23,252 jobs from a January total of 27,924.
Arts, entertainment and recreation was the next hardest hit category with 78% of jobs lost, followed by retail at 76% and food services at 58%.
The industries with the fewest job losses were finance and insurance with 0.7% of jobs lost and utilities with 0.8%.
The study can be viewed here.
Survey: One-third of Hawaii businesses say their revenues have plummeted to zero (Hawaii News Now, April 27, 2020)
The same UHERO survey says nearly one third of surveyed businesses had revenues drop to zero, 70% of workers laid off made less than $50,000 a year. The hotel industry expects it year over year revenues to be cut in half, roughly half of hotels and restaurants bringing in no revenue right now.
Safety checks for registration renewals waived temporarily (Star Advertiser, April 27, 2020)
Oahu motorists who renew their annual vehicle registration can now do so electronically without a valid safety check at least through May 31.
Marriott’s New Plan for Safe Hotel Stays in the Age of Coronavirus (AFAR.com, April 21, 2020)
Marriott is developing its safety protocols for COVID. Marriott International has brought on public health and infectious disease experts to develop protocols such as intense disinfecting measures and touchless check-in that could define hotel stays during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the next few months, Marriott plans on introducing enhanced cleaning technology at its properties—for instance, staff will be using electrostatic sprayers with hospital-grade disinfectant to sanitize surfaces throughout the hotels. The sprayers will be able to quickly clean and disinfect guest rooms, lobbies, gyms, and other public areas. In addition, the company is testing ultraviolet light technology for sanitizing keys for guests and devices shared by associates.
At more than 3,200 Marriott properties, guests will be able to use their phones to check in, access their rooms, make special requests, and order contact-less room service.
Marriott will be removing or rearranging furniture in common areas and is considering adding plexiglass partitions at its front desks. The company said it is working to make masks and gloves available to employees.
Marriott said it is also implementing enhanced sanitation guidelines and training for food safety, including recommended hygiene and disinfecting practices. It will be modifying its in-room dining services and designing new approaches to buffets, although the company said more specifics on its food and beverage offerings would be made available in the coming weeks.
World: Cases: 3.04M (+70k). Deaths: 211k (+5k)
USA: Cases: 988k (+23k). Deaths: 56.2k (+1.4k). Total Tested: 5.6M (+200k)
Hawaii: Cases: 607 (+1). Deaths: 14 (+2). Hospitalized: 68 (+0). Recovered: 493 (+5)
