LABEOC Update – 4/1/2020

LABEOC Update – 1 April 2020

As of noon (12:00 PM) today, Louisiana has 5,237 (+1,187) diagnosed cases, 239 deaths  (+34) and 1,355 (+143) patients hospitalized (438 (+52) requiring ventilators) associated with the outbreak.

JUST RELEASED. New state-led program to offer low-interest loans to small businesses. The Louisiana Loan Portfolio Guaranty Program will offer loans of up to $100,000 to Louisiana small businesses impacted by COVID-19 and who have 100 or fewer employees. The loans will require no payments for 180 days and carry below-market interest rates of no more than 3.5%. The program is a partnership of Louisiana Economic Development, which will provide a loan guarantee fund; the Louisiana Bankers Association, whose membership will provide the loans; and the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, which will administer the program.

• Interested businesses may find loan details here, and a list of participating bankers will be posted on the site by Friday as banks complete their participation agreements.
• Lenders interested in participating should contact LED by calling business development manager Kelly Raney at 225.342-0411 or by emailing [email protected].

“Stay at Home” Order to be Extended. The statewide “Stay at Home&quot order will be extended to 30 April. A new executive order will be published by the end of this week. LABEOC will send out the new order via email, social media, and LABEOC.org once it is released.

FBI Warns of Increased Potential for Medical Equipment Fraud. The FBI has issued an advisory for the healthcare sector about fraudulent medical equipment scams designed to take advantage of current medical supply shortages by promising the delivery of COVID-19 related medical equipment. However, it is likely that these scammers do not actually have access to the equipment they advertise and healthcare professionals are cautioned to remain vigilant for the following indicators when purchasing supplies: unusual payment terms such as demanding payment before the product is delivered, last-minute price changes, last-minute excuses for shipping delays, and an unexplained source of bulk supply. The FBI encourages anyone who suspects that they may be dealing with a medical supply scammer to submit a tip online through their website, report cyber scams to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud at 1-866-720-5721.

ASTM International Provides No-Cost Public Access to PPE Standards.The standards used in the production and testing of Personal Protective Equipment – including face masks, medical gowns, gloves, and hand sanitizers – are available to support manufacturers, test labs, health care professionals, and the general public. You must register with ASTM but there is no cost to download the PDF of the standards.

US Ignite Community 3D Printing & COVID-19 Webinar. Join us for an online discussion with experts using 3D printing to support their local community during the COVID-19 crisis. We will hear what they’re doing, their process, share resources, discuss how others can get started, and more. https://zoom.us/webinar/register/8015856836061/WN_Pvgf603WSPKPQaWh-DWUoA

Free TV Advertising for Restaurants. Cox Media in Louisiana announced today it will offer free TV advertising for restaurant owners. Interested restaurant owners can call 1-855-755-2691 or email [email protected]

Businesses Seeking to Do Business with the State. Vendors and companies seeking to do business with the state during the COVID-19 response should use the LaPAC website. Bids on requirements are released daily to support on-going response and recovery efforts.

And because we all could use something to spread a little cheer right now:

Live music: The Baton Rouge Blues Foundation is launching a new online music series. In an effort to support the 2020 Blues Festival lineup of musicians, the foundation will broadcast regularly scheduled music from its Instagram account @brbluesfest and later on its Facebook account. The first session is tonight at 8 p.m. and features Baton Rouge blues performer, Kenny Neal.

Thank you again for your support of Louisiana – we’ll all get through this together.

Chris J. DeGuelle
LABEOC Director

The LA BEOC is designed and developed by the NIMSAT Institute under the Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP)