US President Donald Trump signed into law the COVID-19 bipartisan relief package on Wednesday. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides sick leave and expanded safety net spending. Another key feature of the bill is providing free testing for COVID-19. The Act provides paid sick leave for any employees asked to self-quarantine, diagnosed with COVID-19, [...]
US President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that his administration would be suspending all evictions and foreclosures through the end of April to ease people’s concerns during the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, he activated the Defense Production Act, which was established in the 1950s and used during wartime. It allows the president to force American businesses [...]
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced additional economic measures on Wednesday to help Canadians affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic. These measures build on actions that have been taken since the beginning of the outbreak. As part of the Canadian government’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, up to $27 billion will be used in direct support [...]
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals delayed the execution of John William Hummel on Monday due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The execution was scheduled for Wednesday, but the court determined that “the execution should be stayed at the present time in light of the current health crisis and the enormous resources needed to address that [...]
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Tuesday that all member states of the Schengen Area had endorsed guidelines that provide for temporary, coordinated action to close the zone’s external border for a period of 30 days. The European Commission also identified four priorities for each EU member country: limit [...]
The US and Canada agreed Wednesday to restrict all non-essential travel at their international border in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. US President Donald Trump announced the news via Twitter, emphasizing that trade between the two nations will not be impacted. The announcement comes after a series of travel restrictions by the US government, most [...]
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday that they will announce measures to suspend resettlement travel in the coming days that will remain in place for as long as necessary. These measures come as many nations are closing their borders and have already placed holds on resettlement [...]
Iran has temporarily released about 85,000 prisoners from jail as part of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said about half of those released were political prisoners. Today’s mass release follows the release of some 70,000 prisoners on March 9, none of whom were political prisoners. In response to the earlier [...]
The US House of Representatives passed a revised version of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act Monday with unanimous consent. The resolution will now be sent to the Senate to be considered for a vote as the government attempts to manage the COVID-19 outbreak. The revised emergency coronavirus relief package outlined technical corrections to the [...]
The Ohio Department of Health on Monday ordered that all polling locations close on Tuesday amid coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns. Amy Acton, Director of the Ohio Department of Health, enacted this order to “avoid the imminent threat” of COVID-19 as the virus poses a “significant risk of substantial harm to a large number of people in [...]
