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Dear Neighbors,
I hope you and your loved ones are faring well during these challenging times. Major changes to how we live our lives have been happening in quick succession, and I know the uncertainty can be one of the hardest things to deal with right now. At the State Capitol, we’re continuing to work on ways to make sure Minnesota remains strong during and after this pandemic, and I take solace in the ways I’ve seen our community and state band together as we weather this storm.
Here’s a quick update on what we’ve been working on, as well as information on some helpful resources.
Emergency Support for Health Care
In the early hours of Tuesday, the Minnesota House and Senate passed our latest bill in response to the coronavirus. The bill, now law, allocates $200 million toward an emergency and long-term grant program, designed to respond to the needs of health care and long-term care facilities.
The funds could be used to help plan, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19 in a range of ways, including:
- the establishment and operation of temporary sites to provide testing services, treatment beds, or to isolate or quarantine affected people
- staff overtime, the hiring of additional staff, and training or orientation
- expenses related to the isolation or quarantine of staff
You can read more about these new investments here.
Restricting Restaurants, Closing Venues
Businesses open to the public have been ordered to shut their doors in Minnesota, including restaurants, bars, movie theaters, gyms, museums, and many others. Thousands of Minnesotans are now living with either reduced hours, or a lack of dependable income. This is a tough, but necessary pill to swallow, and highlights what’s at stake for us to take this epidemic seriously. To those whose employment has been impacted by these measures, I highly encourage you to look into Minnesota’s unemployment benefits, which you can find and apply for here.
It should be noted that many restaurants are able to continue business through take-out or drive-thru methods. If you’re able, consider supporting a local business for dinner sometime this week.
Stay Informed
A reminder that the best source of accurate, up-to-date information on COVID-19 in the state is the Minnesota Department of Health, who just released several informational documents on the coronavirus in various languages:
COVID-19 in Amharic (PDF)
COVID-19 in Arabic (PDF)
COVID-19 in Chinese (PDF)
COVID-19 in Hmong (PDF)
COVID-19 in Karen (PDF)
COVID-19 in Russian (PDF)
COVID-19 in Somali (PDF)
COVID-19 in Spanish (PDF)
COVID-19 in Vietnamese (PDF)
MDH has also set up non-English versions of its coronavirus website. A full list of available languages and links to each page is available below.
Spanish: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/materials/spanish.html
Somali: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/materials/somali.html
Hmong: https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/materials/hmong.html
As we continue to work to plan for and response to the COVID-19 epidemic, please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have on our efforts. You can reach me at (651) 296-4277 or rep.tim.mahoney@house.mn. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Tim Mahoney
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