County Extends COVID-related Relief

The Cheyenne County Commissioners in their Jan. 4 meeting approved extending benefits related to COVID-19.

County Attorney Paul Schaub said the county was contacted by the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association (NIRMA) regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The Act requires employers to provide 80 hours of sick leave in relation to the coronavirus. The Act was required through Dec. 31, 2020. However, it can be continued at the discretion of the employer.

“The bottom line is to keep our people safe,” Schaub said.

The commissioners unanimously decided to extend the Act to March 31. They acknowledged that at that point, the Act will be reviewed if necessary.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act “requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19,” according to http://www.dol.gov.

The Act states covered employees are eligible for two weeks of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because the employee is unable to work because of a bona fide need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), or to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor; and

Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work due to a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.

As of Friday afternoon, Panhandle Public Health District reported 350 cases in the previous two weeks with 20 hospitalizations and 136 deaths. throughout 2020.

The PPHD reports 30,875 tests have been conducted with 7,909 returning positive.

In other business, the commissioners met with Rebecca Napier and Ron Kissler regarding the county's safety manual and Emergency Response Plan. The commissioners also adopted new rental agreements for fairgrounds facilities and approved designation of official depositories for the county.