Florida Chamber COVID-19 Membership Update: March 20, 2020

March 20, 2020

A Message from the Florida Chamber: COVID-19 Update

In times like these, when we’re all feeling the economic impacts from COVID-19, we must keep in mind that safety is our immediate priority.

As you’ve likely seen, there have been a lot of news reports indicating we need to do all we can to keep our healthcare workers protected. That’s why today, I’m calling on all of our construction companies (and others with surgical masks) to make them available for sale or donation to our healthcare workers.

It’s a small act of kindness that will help keep our healthcare workers safe, while they work to respond to this crisis and in turn keep us all safe.

To make boxes of surgical masks available, please contact Tanya Bechtold at [email protected] or call her at 850-521-1218.

Please share this message with other business leaders, and encourage them to sign-up to receive their personal copy of this newsletter, and remember you can always get the latest updates from the Florida Chamber's COVID-19 Resource Center.

Have questions or want to share information, contact our COVID-19 point of contact Greg Blose at [email protected].

My Best,

Mark Wilson

President and CEO

Economic Relief

Business Response

Carnival Offers Up Cruise Ships as Floating Hospitals

One of the nation's largest cruise operators is offering up its ships as part of the effort to quell the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump said Thursday.

Carnival Corp. said it will offer select ships for use in response to the crisis. The company explained in a Thursday news release the ships would not be used for treating those with coronavirus or who are under quarantine. Rather, they are being made available for patients being treated for normal hospital stays – those recovering from surgeries or alike.

The idea would be to free up beds in land-based hospitals so those beds could be used for the expected influx of coronavirus patients. More here.

Florida's Farmers Helping to Sustain America's Food Supply

In addition to citrus, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, Florida is the second largest producer of fresh vegetables in the United States, including fresh broccoli, lettuce, sweet corn, radishes, and green beans. More here.

Florida Distillery Switches from Spirits to Sanitizer

Copper Bottom Craft Distillery in Holly Hill usually draws customers for its tours and spirits sampling, but it’s now attracting people for a different type of alcohol — the antiseptic kind. More here .

Walmart, Dollar Tree and 7-Eleven Want to Hire Nearly 200,000 Workers

Walmart, the largest private employer in the United States, plans to hire 150,000 temporary workers by the end of May as the coronavirus pandemic continues to sweep through the country. The company said it is hiring the associates to work in stores, clubs, distribution centers and fulfillment centers.

Dollar Tree ( DLTR ), which also owns Family Dollar, said Friday it's hiring 25,000 full- and part-time workers for its 15,000 US stores and 24 distribution centers

Convenience store giant 7-Eleven also announced a huge hiring initiative Friday, aiming to bring on 20,000 new store employees to "meet increased demand for 7-Eleven products and services amid the COVID-19 pandemic."

Share Your Story : Businesses of all sizes and sectors are stepping up to address this crisis. Share your company’s story by emailing Christi McCray at [email protected] .

Top Stories

COVID-19: Number of Cases in Florida

Data Source: Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 Dashboard

Governor DeSantis Won't Close Beaches

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he will not be ordering the beaches to close despite growing concerns over the international COVID-19 outbreak. More here.

Sen. Marco Rubio Offers Plan to Help Small Businesses

Senator Marco Rubio is pushing legislation that will work to help small businesses and their employees. The Keeping Workers Paid and Employed Act would prevent workers from losing their jobs and small businesses from going under due to economic losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. More here.

Rural Schools Developing New Online Curriculum

With the closure of thousands of schools across the country, converting in-person lessons to digital lessons is a challenge for remote schools. But for some rural districts, they’re making it work.

More here .

A Full List of

Stores Closing

As Americans are continuing self-quarantine and social distancing; America’s companies are having to make changes to their open hours. Some are closing indefinitely.

The list can be found here .

Coronavirus live updates: Italy overtakes

China's death toll

More here.