SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to all California small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza announced today.

SBA disaster assistance is now available to all counties within the state of California and the neighboring counties below.

Neighboring Arizona counties: La Paz, Mohave and Yuma; Neighboring Nevada counties:  Clark, Douglas, Esmeralda, Lyon, Mineral, Nye and Washoe; Neighboring Oregon counties:  Curry, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath and Lake.

“SBA is strongly committed to providing the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist California small businesses with federal disaster loans. We will be swift in our efforts to help these small businesses recover from the financial impacts of the Coronavirus (COVID-19),” said Administrator Carranza.

SBA Customer Service Representatives will be available to answer questions about SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and explain the application process.

“Small businesses, private non-profit organizations of any size, small agricultural cooperatives and small aquaculture enterprises that have been financially impacted as a direct result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) since Jan. 31, 2020, may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met had the disaster not occurred,” said Carranza.

“These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. Disaster loans can provide vital economic assistance to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing,” Carranza added.

Eligibility for Economic Injury Disaster Loans is based on the financial impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The interest rate is 3.75 percent for small businesses. The interest rate for private non-profit organizations is 2.75 percent. SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years and are available to entities without the financial ability to offset the adverse impact without hardship.

Applicants may apply online, receive additional disaster assistance information and download applications at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. Individuals who are deaf or hard‑of‑hearing may call (800) 877-8339. Completed applications should be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX  76155.

The deadline to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan is Dec. 16, 2020.

For more information about Coronavirus, please visit: Coronavirus.gov.

For more information about available SBA resources and services, please visit: SBA.gov/coronavirus.

3/19/20 UPDATE ON EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS

Thank you for your patience while we worked to assemble resources to meet the needs of all students, both those with or without internet access. These resources are intended to provide a maintenance of learning, which is optional and voluntary, while we work on a long-term plan should it be needed.

Starting Friday, March 20th, when you visit the AUSD webpage you will be able to access a link that will direct you to a page containing educational resources. The resources will include online learning options and packets of materials for students K-12, including Special Education students and students who speak a language other than English in the home.

For families that are unable to get online or print the packets, printed packets will be available for pickup at the Grab and Go locations Monday-Friday from 10:00 am-12:00 pm at Deer Valley High School or Marsh Elementary School and in the afternoon on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:00 pm-6:00 pm at Deer Valley High School.

Should schools need to remain closed for a longer period of time, we will expand our resources and share our longer-range plan.

Our goal is to be as supportive as possible during this unprecedented time. We understand that there are many questions out there so we will include a link on our website for families to share them with us. We will generate a Frequently Asked Questions list and include it on the AUSD webpage. We will update the webpage as information and resources change and grow.

Thank you as always for your continued support, patience, and understanding.

No-toll policy takes effect Friday morning

By John Goodwin, Metropolitan Transportation Commission

In light of dramatically reduced traffic levels on Bay Area freeways following this week’s declarations of shelter-in-place orders around the region, and because the promotion of carpooling is inconsistent with the urgent need for social distancing, the Bay Area’s three Express Lane operators — the Alameda County Transportation Commission, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission — will jointly cease Express Lane tolling through at least April 7 unless congestion along the Express Lane corridors warrants a return to tolling.

Beginning, Friday, March 20, at 5 a.m., Express Lanes on Interstate 580 in Alameda County; Interstate 680 in Contra Costa County; State Route 237 in Santa Clara County; and southbound I-680 over the Sunol Grade in Alameda and Santa Clara counties will be open to all motorists. Changeable electronic signs over the Express Lanes will read “Open to All.”

The decision to temporarily suspend tolling on Bay Area Express Lanes will free California Highway Patrol officers from Express Lane enforcement duties to perform more urgently needed duties during the current public health emergency.

“More confirmed cases does not mean we are losing ground.”; “Go out with your friends, your family, go on a hike…” – County Health Officer;  “It’s up to each city to make a determination with regard to enforcement.” – Chair of the Board of Supervisors

By Allen Payton

Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS) has confirmed the county’s first confirmed death linked to COVID-19.

The patient died Thursday in a hospital in the county. The Contra Costa resident was in their 70’s and had a pre-existing condition that put them at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, and a history of recent overseas travel.

A media briefing by county officials to update the public was held this morning.

“Today we regret to announce the first death in Contra Costa County caused by the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19,” said Dr. Chris Farnitano, County Health Officer. “This person passed away at a hospital in our county on Thursday. They were in their 70’s and they had a condition that placed them at risk of serious illness, and they had recently traveled outside of the country.”

The individual traveled from Europe, but those were all the details he would provide. “Unfortunately, we do anticipate more deaths in Contra Costa County,” Farnitano said.

“This death underscores the urgent need for all Contra Costa residents to follow the stay at home order, maintain social distancing and the state order just issued by Governor Newsom, last night,” he stated. “Novel coronavirus is dangerous for older adults and people with certain medical conditions, including heart or lung disease, diabetes and those with weak immune systems.”

“We believe that by following these orders we can reduce the spread of the virus, right now in our community and that will save lives,” Dr. Farnitano continued. “The situation is very serious in Contra Costa. We expect more confirmed cases as our testing expands. So far, Contra Costa Public Health has confirmed 42 cases in our community. We believe that aggressive testing can help, and we are ramping up our testing efforts on a daily basis.”

Most testing is being done by private labs.

“Our public health lab is performing between 40 to 100 tests per day, but that’s a small percentage of the total testing being done across the county, right now,” he stated.

“As we’re expanding our testing, we really want to get to the point we’re able to test everyone who has symptoms,” Dr. Farnitano said. “We’re trying to prioritize our public health lab which can do rapid testing and get results in 24 hours or less to those folks we’re most concerned about.”

“The private labs can test anyone who has symptoms,” he continued. “The more folks we test with symptoms then the more we’re going to be able to understand the spread within our community, and more able to isolate more effectively those who test positive.”

“More confirmed cases does not mean we are losing ground,” he stated. “It means we are sharpening our focus and gathering data that will help us through this emergency.”

“As always, the best way to protect yourself is to practice good hygiene and social distancing,” Farnitano shared. “Because COVID-19 is new humans have no immunity to it and there is no vaccine.”

He then repeated the ways to protect yourself, such as washing your hands regularly and avoiding touching your face.

“If you are ill, it is imperative you stay home, even if you’re an essential worker,” Dr. Farnitano concluded.

Candace Andersen, Chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors spoke next.

“We recognize this order is disruptive. We would not ask any of you to do this if we didn’t think it was important,” she said. “During this difficult time, we are continuing to provide county services, virtually. We have county employees working from home, remotely, in offices and away from the public who can still assist you. Please go to the county’s website at contracosta.gov for the most updated information resources.”

“I want to assure you that Contra Costa is doing all it can to slow the spread of the coronavirus and reduce its impact,” Andersen continued. “The county’s emergency operations center has been activated and is slowing the virus and is now the primary focus of our local government actions in Contra Costa.”

“You can visit cchealth.org/coronavirus or call our help line at 1-844-729-8410 if you have any questions about this order and the virus,” she added.

Dr. Farnitano encouraged county residents to go out and exercise and take a hike in the East Bay parks.

“We do want to encourage people to get outside and exercise and enjoy our beautiful, natural setting in the East Bay,” he said. “Go out with your friends, your family, go on a hike, but stay six feet apart. So, do it safely.”

Asked about local enforcement and people going outside, “It’s certainly not recommended unless you can really do it from a safe distance,” Andersen responded, “It’s up to each city to make a determination with regard to enforcement.”

Specifically, about golfing she said, it’s up to each city “whether or not to say you can’t golf or not.”

“Clearly if you’re golfing with members of your household and you’re staying six feet apart from everyone else, I think that works,” Andersen shared. “But if you’re meeting up with your buddies and you all live in different households and you’ve all been out doing your essential shopping and other things, you have a good chance of spreading the virus, if you get together in that close circumstance. We expect people to use their good judgment and take this seriously.”

Stay home except for essential needs

Last updated March 19, 2020 at 8:32 pm

SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a stay at home order to protect the health and well-being of all Californians and to establish consistency across the state in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. The California State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health is ordering all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence, except as needed to maintain continuity of operation of the federal critical infrastructure sectors.

Read the full Executive Order here (pdf)  or, here:  Gov Newsom Executive Order N-33-20

How long will we stay home?

This goes into effect on Thursday, March 19, 2020. The order is in place until further notice.

What can I do? What’s open?

Essential services will remain open such as:

• Gas stations
• Pharmacies
• Food: Grocery stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, take-out and delivery restaurants
• Banks
• Laundromats/laundry services

Essential state and local government functions will also remain open, including law enforcement and offices that provide government programs and services.

What’s closed?

• Dine-in restaurants
• Bars and nightclubs
• Entertainment venues
• Gyms and fitness studios
• Public events and gatherings
• Convention Centers

Where does this apply?

This is in effect throughout the State of California.

Click here to see the Governor’s address to Californians Thursday evening.

Thursday, 03.19.20 Update

BART is taking swift action to reduce operating costs as ridership levels have declined by 90% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter in place orders.  BART has done an exhaustive review of ridership and train car loads this week and will make the following changes to service until further notice:

Starting Monday, March 23, 2020, BART will provide service Monday-Friday from 5am-9pm (currently service is 5am-midnight). Current weekday train frequency will remain.

Starting Saturday March 28, 2020, Saturday and Sunday service will be from 8am-9pm (currently Saturday service is 6am-midnight and Sunday is 8am-midnight). Current weekend train frequency will remain.

All riders must be in the system by 8:45pm to have a guaranteed ride to their destination.

BART will monitor ridership data each day to determine how long these service hours will be in effect.

BART is currently compiling partner agency bus alternatives and will post that information here once confirmed.

Data based decision

Ridership after 9pm has dropped substantially and now represents only 3% of total daily ridership.  Closing early is a better option than running less frequently or running shorter trains after 9pm because BART will realize immediate costs savings to its operating budget by being able to reassign a significant number of operating staff to capital projects.  These are projects that will accelerate our system reinvestment work.

“This decision is being made now because all 9 counties in the Bay Area have shelter in place orders and our ridership has plummeted 90%,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers.  “We are taking a data-driven approach to these decisions to ensure as few people as possible are impacted.  These are extraordinary times and we did not take this decision lightly.  Our system operates using public dollars and we have an obligation to make financially sound decisions about service levels.”

Other steps taken to reduce operating costs

General Manager Bob Powers is closely monitoring revenues and expenses daily, adjusting while also balancing our obligation to provide public transit to essential workers in the region.  The immediate loss of fare revenue has a devastating impact on BART’s operating budget as 60% of our budget to provide service is from fare dollars.

BART’s General Manager has implemented the following cost reduction measures:

• An immediate District-wide hiring freeze except for BART Police.  All other vacancies funded through the operating budget will remain vacant until further notice.
• All overtime funded by the operating budget has been cancelled unless required for critical operating and maintenance functions, staffing requirements outlined in our Collective Bargaining Agreements, or legal requirements such as employee rest laws.  Overtime funded by the Capital budget is being approved on a case by case basis.
• Some positions funded by the operating budget have been shifted to capital funded work. For example, as BART runs few trains on the yellow line in response to lower ridership, train mechanics have been shifted to Fleet of the Future related work.
• All employee travel for conferences and other work-related travel has been suspended until further notice.

BART is seeking emergency funds from all levels of government during this crisis.  A sustained ridership loss of 90% and a 50% reduction of economic activity impacting other revenue sources could reduce BART’s monthly revenues by approximately $60M.

By Joe Brengle, CEO Contra Costa County Event Park

ANTIOCH – As a major event facility, The Contra Costa Event Park has been monitoring the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. There is no higher priority than the safety of our Fairgrounds family, patrons, vendors, promoters and sponsors at the Contra Costa Event Park. Due to this ongoing situation the Contra Costa Event Park Board of Directors met last night and unanimously voted to cancel the 2020 Contra Costa County Fair scheduled for May 14 – 17.

The Fair Board realizes that the individual’s most affected by this cancellation is the youth livestock exhibitors of our county. The Fair Board did approve to let a committee of Contra Costa County 4H and FFA parents work on a Youth Fair where these youth livestock exhibitors could show and auction their animals. The Fair Board agreed to provide support to this committee as needed. If the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Contra Costa County Health Department, or the Governor of California lengthen the current restrictions and orders, it is possible that a Youth Fair will not take place. At this time dates for Youth Fair are yet to be determined.

We thank the community for your continued support during these challenging times.

Mark your calendars for the 2021 Contra Costa County Fair May 13 – 16.

March 19, 2020

Dear Antioch community:

I would like to share with you that your City Government is actively working through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health pandemic to continue to maintain Antioch safety, to limit the spread of the virus, and to sustain vital City services, including the Police Department.  I have been on calls with State, County and Local officials.

Yesterday, the Mayor’s and City Managers of East Contra Costa County met on a conference call regarding measures to help the elderly get the essential resources while staying safe and supporting our local hospitals with supplies.

Our City staff has been working vigorously to enforce policies and arrangements recommended by the State of California and the Contra Costa County Public Health Department. Such actions include but are not limited to the cancellation or rescheduling of non-governmental City events and meetings, and limitation or deferral of non-essential services, to minimize the exposure to COVID-19, and to focus our City’s resources on meeting fundamental needs.

In response to this pandemic and the Contra Costa County Health Officer’s order, On March 17th, City Manager Ron Bernal, enacted a Local State of Emergency. By taking this action, we have positioned our city to potentially be able to access state and federal funds in the event financial losses occur a result of COVID-19.

Under the current health order, and our State of Emergency, all non-essential commission and board meetings will be postponed until after April 7th, unless otherwise noted, while all City Council meetings will be held via technology to allow remote Council, staff and public participation.

COVID-19 has evolved into a threatening worldwide pandemic, reaching numerous communities and effecting everyday life. The City of Antioch will continue to provide essential services, doing whatever we can to help, while also following the shelter in-place order in an effort to continue protecting our community.

Although, this is a daunting time, together we will prevail. Now more than ever, we must come together as a community. We must do all we can to help with social distancing to protect our loved ones that may be in danger.  As many are confused and worried about the health of the community and the impacts to our families.  I have attached a Resource page with links with information to keep us all up to date regarding the County, State and programs set up to help us through to a healthy future.

Sincerely,

Mayor Sean Wright

COVID-19 Resources

The City of Antioch understands that the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order instituted by Contra Costa County in collaboration with five other Bay Area counties and the City of Berkeley may present financial challenges for local businesses and out of work families. To help mitigate these challenges and help you stay as informed as possible, the City has highlighted a variety of resources that you can pursue during this difficult time.

Contra Costa County latest updates-

For the latest updates and answers to Frequently Asked Questions

http://cchealth.org/coronavirus

State Updates

For the latest updates from the State of CA

https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cid/dcdc/pages/immunization/ncov2019.aspx

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC-

For the latest updates from the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov

Resources and Guidance for Employers and Workers

California Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA)

The Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) wants to keep workers, employers, co-workers, and families safe. What employees are entitled to may be confusing. This site is trying to make it easier and spread awareness through a centralized source of info. Use the guidance on this site to determine what is best for you, your family, and your workplace.

https://www.labor.ca.gov/coronavirus2019/

https://edd.ca.gov/about_edd/coronavirus-2019.htm

Federal Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

The SBA is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of COVID-19. The program offers an interest rate of 3.75 percent for small businesses and 2.75 percent for non-profit organizations, with long-term repayments up to a maximum of 30 years. The deadline for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan is December 16, 2020.

Businesses can apply on the SBA Disaster Loan Assistance website (http://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela)  For application assistance, call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may dial (800) 877-8339.