News Links - Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce

Keep updated with all medical & public health information coming from the Maine Center for Disease Control
News from Office of the Governor – https://www.maine.gov/covid19/

With COVID-19 Cases Rising, Mills Administration Announces More Public Health and Safety Measures – State Press Release – November 19, 2020
Ahead of Holiday Season, Mills Administration Announces Massachusetts No Longer Exempt from Quarantine or Negative Test Result – State Press Release – November 13, 2020
Governor Mills has announced an Executive Order requiring Maine people to wear face coverings in public settings, regardless of the ability to maintain physical distance. The new order strengthens an earlier one stating that face coverings must be worn only when physical distancing is difficult to maintain. – State Press Release, November 5, 2020

Mills Reimposes Indoor Gathering Limits, Travel Restrictions as COVID-19 Cases Surge in Maine – Maine Public, November 1, 2020
Gov. Mills issued a new order July 8th that requires retailers with more than 50,000 feet of retail space, lodging businesses, restaurants, outdoor bars and tasting rooms in Waldo County & elsewhere around Maine to enforce an earlier state mandate for customers and staff to wear masks. State & Local licensing sanctions may be incurred – State Press Release, July 8, 2020
- Governor’s Order is here
NY, NJ and CT visitors do NOT need 14-Day Quarantine, effective July 3rd!! (NH & VT still do not, either!) July 1, 2020
Mills Administration Loosens Restrictions For Lodging Establishments – May 15, 2020
Gov. Mills has prepared a plan to gradually and safely restart Maine’s economy. The plan establishes four gradual stages of reopening, the first of which begins on May 1st. – April 28, 2020
- See the Governor’s Order here
- Governor Mills and the Maine State Department of Economic and Community Development are filling in details for the plan for restarting the economy. The checklists for Stage 1 businesses are available now at https://www.maine.gov/decd/covid-19-prevention-checklists
- FMI: contact Maine Dept of Economic & Community Development at 1-800-872-3838 or business.answers@maine.gov for more information.

City of Belfast issues update memo advising reasonable stay-at-home guidelines and self-quarantine if you recently traveled – May 6, 2020

Maine Dept of Labor has begun to enroll Self-Employed, Sole Proprietors & previously ineligible Mainers into the state & federal Unemployment Benefits program. – May 1, 2020
- Program home page here
- Frequently Asked Questions here

IRS Direct Payments to Citizens – To help everyone check the status of their Economic Impact Payment, the IRS is launching a tool that will provide the status of a payment, including the date it’s scheduled to be deposited or mailed. www.irs.gov/eip #COVIDreliefIRS – April 14, 2020
- Also, for those who don’t normally file an IRS tax return, a new web tool will allow millions of people to quickly register for Economic Impact Payments www.irs.gov/eip
Bankruptcy Law changes – “How to navigate Congress’ changes to the bankruptcy code” – MaineBiz April 15, 2020
PPP Loan Forgiveness: Further Guidance on the Math – Verrill Dana LLP – April 14, 2020
Excellent SBDC summary of PPP & EIDL (from the Maine Small Business Development Center) – April 14, 2020
Over 11,000 small businesses in Maine have qualified for $1.87 billion in payroll protection loans – Sen Susan Collins – April 13, 2020
Governor suspends all lodging businesses & orders travelers to self-quarantine – Portland Press Herald – April 4, 2020
Gov. Mills issues Executive Order to Stay Healthy At Home plus other clarifications and restrictions – March 31, 2020
- Read the Press Release
Congress has passed the CARES Act, a roughly $2 trillion intended to speed relief across the American economy. This is the third aid package from Congress and is meant to keep businesses and individuals afloat during an unprecedented freeze on the majority of American life. (passed March 27, 2020)
- “Explainer” overview of the various provisions
- Detailed Overview of the provisions
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce has put together a detailed 12-page summary of what is included in the package that even includes links to the actual legislation – March 27, 2020
Gov. Mills orders all non-essential businesses to close to the public and limit employee proximity – March 24, 2020
- “Essential Business” list in this WGME article
- If the function of your business is not listed, but you believe that it is essential, you may request designation as an essential business at https://www.maine.gov/essentialservice .
- Questions may also be directed to business.answers@maine.gov

Tips on effective working from home! – MaineBiz March 25, 2020
Families First Coronavirus Response Act – signed into law 3/18/20
- Summary of passed Legislation
- Explanation of Provisions
Tax Filings – Following COVID-19 outbreak, Treasury and IRS have issued guidance on delaying tax payments until July 15 2020. You still need to file a return or request a filing extension by April 15. No additional filing is necessary for the payment extension. See www.irs.gov/coronavirus
Gov. Mills’ news site has all updates posted by the state

COVID-19 Updates

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2020 BELFAST & THE WONDERS OF WALDO COUNTY

Where to eat, play, stay and just hang out. A great resource for finding out what’s happening and what’s special about visiting and living in Waldo County. It’s all here in the 2020 Belfast & the Wonders of Waldo County magazine—the official publication of the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce!

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