7 Things: Alabama now has guidelines for opening up, almost 300K unemployment claims in Alabama, more money needed for small businesses and more …

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April 17, 2020

7. Prisons will start bringing in more inmates soon

Next week, the Alabama Department of Corrections wants to get back to normal and will start taking inmates in from county jails again. There was initially a pause put on accepting inmates on March 20 until April 20.
In total, there will be 120 inmates moved to prisons, and all inmates will be quarantined for two weeks. Whether more inmates are received will be decided after the two weeks.

6. Alabama barbershop is opening no matter what

The owner of a barbershop in Shelby County called The Male Room has said he is opening for business Friday, even though there’s a statewide order to keep all non-essential businesses closed, but the shop will still be taking precautions due to the pandemic.
Scott Farr said that this decision is “simple math” based on “how many days I’ve got left before I shutter the doors for good.” He plans to have customers wait for their appointments in their car and limit the capacity of the shop.

5. Sessions wants a moratorium on immigration

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said that it’s “morally wrong and economically disastrous to import more foreign workers when millions of Americans are out of work through no fault of their own,” and he’s calling for there to be a halt on all employment-based immigration.
Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday, Sessions said, “We have about 1.4 million people that come to this country every year to take jobs. We just announced today 5 million more people on the unemployment roll … 22 million now [since mid-March]. There is no doubt it is in the interest of the United States of America to make sure that we get every one of those unemployed American jobs first.”

4. Two more drive-thru testing sites to be opened

The state of Alabama has partnered with Walmart and Quest Diagnostics to open a new coronavirus drive-thru testing facility in Montgomery and another in Adamsville.
The testing sites will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. by appointment only, and while Governor Kay Ivey is considering ways to reopen Alabama, it’s expected that broader testing is needed for that to happen.

3. CARES Act loan program runs dry

The Small Business Administration is now “unable to accept new applications for the Paycheck Protection Program based on available appropriations funding” after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blocked efforts to add to the program.
In Alabama, businesses wait as $4 billion has already been loaned to local businesses. Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) has said he believes “we will soon see more funds being added to this account” that allows small businesses that use at least 75% of the loan for pay and other expense to be forgiven the money used for that purpose.

2. Over 270K unemployment claims in a month

From March 15 – April 11, there were 277,607 new unemployment claims filed in Alabama, according to the state Department of Labor. Claims reached 77,515, 106,739 and 80,984 over the last three weeks.
This doesn’t factor in unemployment claims made from April 12-18, as those numbers won’t be available until sometime next week. A majority of the claims have been directly related to the coronavirus pandemic.

1. We have new guidelines for reopening

President Donald Trump has announced new guidelines to be able to reopen the United States economy. The plan will occur in three phases and includes where each state needs to be with how many coronavirus cases and hospitalizations they have before they can open up. Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth will submit his suggestions for reopening to Alabama to Governor Kay Ivey Friday.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Robert Redfield all signed off on the plan to reopen the country. Trump said, “Some states will be able to open up sooner than others.” Social distancing is required for the first two phases, but moving to phase two will be dependent upon if counties see “a rebound” of infections. Phase three would allow bars, restaurants, gyms and other non-essential businesses to resume more normal activity.