Hendry County, FL

COVID 19 - UPDATE PAGE

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE  |  LOCAL STORE HOURS  |  SHOULD I GET TESTED
 OFFICE CLOSURES  |  CONSUMER PROTECTION | STAY PREPARED  |  STATE SBA BRIDGE LOAN  |  SERVICE CHANGES
HENDRY COUNTY SCHOOL LUNCHES  |  SIGNIFICANT CHANGES SINCE LAST UPDATE
LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY | RESTAURANT, BARS AND NIGHTCLUBS

RUMOR CONTROL/MYTHS

                          Hendry County EOC - Activation Level ii                     

As the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to spread, Hendry County Emergency Management is committed to actively monitoring the disease and coordinating preparedness efforts with local health officials, healthcare providers, first responders, and other critical emergency response functions. 
 

During the COVID-19public health emergency, the Florida Department of Health is the lead agency and County Emergency Management serves in support of the local health experts.

Significant Changes Since Last Update

HENDRY COUNTY DECLARES LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY 
click to view declaration.

A local state of emergency is a situation in which a local government is empowered to perform actions or impose policies that it would normally not be permitted to undertake when disaster is imminent and severe enough to require state or federal aid to supplement local resources. A government can declare such a state during a natural disaster, medical pandemics/epidemics, civil unrest, or armed conflict. Such declarations alert citizens of the emergency and orders government agencies to implement emergency plans to help prevent or alleviate damages, loss, hardship or suffering. Through those activities taken to protect its citizens It also enables the local government to immediately obtain resources available to rescue, evacuate, shelter or provide essential commodities (ie., fuel, food etc.) and make  reimbursement easier to claim from the federal government supporting all of the local initiatives.

President of the United States and Coronavirus Task Force Address Nation
At a press conference held today, March 16, the President and members of the Coronavirus Task Force addressed the nation and strong recommended that every American avoid restaurants, bars, public food courts and gatherings of more than 10 people, for the next 15 days. In addition, the guidelines for America recommend the following actions to slow the spread of COVID-19.  More information can be found at www.coronavirus.gov 

Governor Ron DeSantis Activates Emergency Bridge Loan Program for Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19. 
For more information on the program, visit www.floridadisasterloan.org. For questions regarding the Emergency Bridge Loan Program, contact the Florida Small Business Development Center Network at 866-737-7232 or email Disaster@FloridaSBDC.org. The phone line will be answered during regular business hours; all voice mails and emails will be responded to within 24 hours

On March 16, Governor Ron DeSantis activated the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to support small businesses impacted by COVID-19. The bridge loan program, managed by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), will provide short-term, interest-free loans to small businesses that experienced economic injury from COVID-19. The application period opens March 17, 2020 and runs through May 8, 2020.

The DEO will administer the Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program in partnership with the Florida SBDC Network and Florida First Capital Finance Corporation to provide cash flow to businesses economically impacted by COVID-19. The short-term, interest-free loans help bridge the gap between the time the economic impact occurred and when a business secures other financial resources, including payment of insurance claims or longer-term Small Business Administration (SBA) loans. Up to $50 million has been allocated for the program.

Small business owners with two to 100 employees located in Florida affected by COVID-19 can apply for short-term loans up to $50,000. These loans are interest-free for up to one year and are designed to bridge the gap to either federal SBA loans or commercially available loans. The DEO will work with every borrower to ensure that repayment of the loan isn’t an overwhelming burden. To be eligible, a business must have been established prior to March 9, 2020 and demonstrate economic impacts as a result of COVID-19.

Should I Get Tested For COVID-19 and how should I get tested? Florida Department of Health has guidance. Learn more.

• If your travel history has not put you at risk, take note: If you have been in close contact with someone who may have or had COVID-19, and you have symptoms of fever, cough or shortness of breath, or you have an underlying medical condition like diabetes or heart disease, or a history of cancer.

• Call, do not visit, your County Health Department (CHD) or health care provider. It’s IMPORTANT to call ahead before visiting your CHD or health care provider. Offices must take proper steps to avoid further spread of COVID-19 when a concerned patient arrives for a medical appointment.

• How testing is done. A person who is tested will have three specimens taken: oral, nasal and saliva. Samples will be given to the CHD and from there, shipped or delivered to the closest laboratory. Test results are available within 24–48 hours.
   

Service Changes:

March 17th, Governor Ron DeSantis declared the following:

• Restaurants shall conduct business at 50 percent capacity where customers are more than 6 feet apart.

• Restaurant employees must be screened for health before reporting to work, including questions such as international travel, close proximity to a COVID-19 case, etc.

• Strongly encouraged residents to use takeout and delivery services.

• Ordered all Florida bars and nightclubs to suspend services beginning at 5 p.m. today for the next 30 days.

• Beaches shall host no group larger than 10 people.

• Governor declared that schools shall remain closed until April 15 

• Governor Expands Order for Senior Living Facilites Governor Ron DeSantis expanded an emergency order prohibiting all visitation to nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long term care facilities until mid April. 

• Florida Department of Corrections suspends visitation. Following the State of Emergency issued in response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Florida, the Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) has suspended visitation at all correctional institutions statewide. FDC has no known or suspected cases of COVID-19 at this time

• Governor restricts senior living facility visitation. Gov. Ron DeSantis placed limits Wednesday on who can visit Florida’s nursing homes and other assisted living facilities, bidding to protect the state’s sizeable and vulnerable elderly population from the new coronavirus. The governor’s order prohibits anyone who recently arrived from a foreign country from visiting nursing and assisted care facilities.
  
   

Consumer and User Protection:

• COVID-19 price gouging hotline started. Following Executive Order 20-52, Attorney General Ashley Moody today activated Florida’s Price Gouging Hotline for all consumers in the state. The opening of the hotline comes as Governor Ron DeSantis declares a state of emergency in response to positive test results of 20 coronavirus-infected patients in Florida. The Attorney General’s Price Gouging Hotline can only be activated following a state of emergency declaration issued by the Governor and covers essential commodities outlined in Florida Statute, Section 501.160.
   

  	For a list of the commodities covered under the state’s price gouging laws during the COVID-19 state of emergency,  click here.
  	Violators of the price gouging statute are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation and up to a total of $25,000 for multiple violations committed in a single 24-hour period. For more information on price gouging, please click here.
  	Price gouging can be reported by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or by visiting MyFloridaLegal.com. For tips on reporting price gouging, click here.

• Malicious website pretending to be global COVID-19 map. A malicious website pretending to be the live map for Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by Johns Hopkins University is circulating on the internet waiting for unwitting internet users to visit the website. Visiting the website infects the user with the AZORult trojan, an information stealing program which can exfiltrate a variety of sensitive data. It is likely being spread via infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, and social engineering. Furthermore, anyone searching the internet for a Coronavirus map could unwittingly navigate to this malicious website. Learn more.
   

Restaurants, Bars and Nightclubs:

• March 18th State of Florida Requirements on Restaurants, Bars and Nightclubs

  • RESTAURANTS

    • Limit customer entry to 50% of capacity.

    • Stagger and limit seating to ensure seated parties are separated by a distance of at least 6 feet.

    • Encourage restaurants to continue and expand take-out and delivery services.

    • Screen all employees and prohibit entry for employees that answer "yes" to any of the following questions:

      • Have you returned from international travel or been on a cruise within the last 14 days?

      • Have you been in contact with anyone who has returned from international travel or been on a cruise within the last 14 days?

      • Have you been in any gathering of 50 people or more in the last 14 days?

      • Have you traveled to any area known to have high numbers of positive cases of COVID-19, including but not limited to California, Washington, New York, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.?

      • Have you experienced signs or symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath?

  • BARS AND NIGHTCLUBS

    • All bars and nightclubs throughout the state will close for the next 30 days. Guidance for Entertainment Industry.

Stay Informed on COVID-19:
In coordination with the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) in Hendry County, the County recommends the following sources to assist with community mitigation and preparedness. While health experts are working around the clock to learn more about COVID-19, you can also stay informed as new information becomes available.

Also, FDOH has activated a 24/7 COVID-19 call center at (866) 779-6121. Hendry County residents can also call the County Health Department at 863.674-4041, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Also, the best resource for Florida-specific COVID-19 information remains the following FDOH website: www.FLHealth.gov/COVID-19 .

Take Action to Stay Prepared Now is the time to be ready and reflect on your personal preparedness and plans. At this time, experts do not recommend social distancing or isolating yourself unless you are sick or suspect transmission. To remain well, practice good hygiene measures like washing your hands and using hand sanitizer with an alcohol content of 60 percent or greater. Also, it is not too late in the season to receive a flu vaccine, as recommended by the CDC. Getting sick back-to-back (from flu and another respiratory illness such as COVID-19) can be severely challenging. Mitigate your risk now.

According to the CDC, the most effective ways to prevent transmission of not only COVID-19 but any respiratory illness is to avoid being exposed by washing your hands and cleaning regularly used surfaces (more info can be found here).

• For information about handwashing, see CDC’s Handwashing website.

• For information specific to healthcare, see CDC’s Hand Hygiene in Healthcare Settings.

• These are everyday habits that can help prevent the spread of several viruses. CDC does have specific guidance for travelers.

For local businesses, the CDC also recommends the following guidance to prevent workplace exposures to acute respiratory illnesses in non-healthcare settings. These guidelines discuss sick leave, doctor’s notes, telecommuting and other considerations.

Also, if you are a business owner, please consider posting proper handwashing posters and signs in your bathroom locations to encourage good hygiene.

HENDRY COUNTY -The Emergency Alert Program will alert you when emergencies and other important community news happens.  By signing up for the Hendry County Emergency Alert Program it will enable us to provide you with critical information quickly in a variety of situations, such as severe weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons and evacuations of buildings or neighborhoods.  You will receive time-sensitive messages wherever you specify, such as your home, mobile or business phones, email address, text messages and more. 

		SIGN UP FOR EMERGENCY ALERTS HERE		DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH - Information
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Hendry County Emergency Management
4425 West State Road 80
LaBelle, Florida 33935 
863-674-5400

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