Appalachian Students Displaced by Outbreak Get a Lifeline

To prevent people from losing their homes due to lack of paying rent or during the coronavirus pandemic, the L.A. County Supervisor issued an executive order that prevents landlords from evicting their tenants. To apply, the renter must demonstrate their "inability to pay due to COVID-19 financial impacts."

When Henrico County Fire Department began to respond to calls for people exhibiting signs of coronavirus, they began utilizing recommendations of how best to stay safe. Although restrictive, this new playbook helps emergency responders stay safe by "limiting the number of responders that go into a facility" and encourages nursing homes to bring patients "as close to the ambulance entrance as possible."

In an effort to pay employees as COVID19 containment efforts take a toll on businesses, CEOs and corporate management are taking pay cuts, or giving up their pay altogether. Companies like Delta, United, Marriott, Hyatt, Lyft, and Life Time health clubs are all seeing their leadership elect for salary cuts or decreases in order to continue to pay their employees.

In just a few days, Montana’s Jefferson County school district had to adapt to remote teaching in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus, with the governor leaving it up to schools and teachers to figure out how. From using Zoom to teleconference with students, to calling parents regularly, to figuring out if and how to use computers at all, teachers and administrators are learning how to provide structure and learning to kids from afar.

To address those that have been specifically impacted by economic crash due to coronavirus and to slow the spread, cities across the United States are enacting comprehensive measures to help. From a halt on all utility shutoffs to releasing inmates who have nearly completed their sentences or are being held pretrial on cash bail, local governments across the nation are looking for ways to address how the pandemic is impacting the most vulnerable.

As restaurants across the nation have been forced to close their doors during the coronavirus pandemic, some are turning to creative means to help account for the loss of revenue. In Philadelphia, restaurants have created a virtual tip jar to encourage patrons to "donate a tip" to a person or business while in San Francisco a restaurant owner has created a Facebook group that helps connect out of work servers with childcare jobs.

Grocery stores across the United States frantically respond to the "panic buying" brought on by fear of the coronavirus quarantine. As Americans rapidly stock up on supplies, grocery stores expand their network of suppliers, working with farmers, restaurant distributors, and others to find creative solutions to the bottleneck problem of keeping food and goods on their shelves.

With schools and libraries closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a librarian in Bay County, Michigan is turning to hosting a virtual storytime. Although this approach lacks some elements of the in-person storytime, it does offer a sense of routine for children during a time that could otherwise be destabilizing.

Europe's generous social policies, such as allowing employees to retain their salaries while taking sick time to care for themselves or family members, may help to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak while also safeguarding the economy. Although the long-term impacts are yet unknown, in the short term, government-provided incentives are helping people and businesses stay afloat.

Milwaukee's nonprofits serving youth are finding new ways to check in and connect with their students as the coronavirus rules out the possibility for in-person afterschool programming. “Social distancing doesn’t mean social disconnection," the director of a community organization said. "We want to encourage youth to stay in touch with each other and with trusted adults."