INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana is making $30 million available to small businesses to help them recover from losses caused by the coronavirus outbreak, officials said Friday.
Forty more Indiana residents have died from COVID-19, while another 521 have been diagnosed with the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, state health officials said.
SMALL BUSINESS AID
The Small Business Restart Fund uses federal relief funds for businesses with fewer than 50 employees and $5 million in annual revenue that have experienced a 40% drop in revenues, Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger said.
Businesses can be reimbursed for up to 80% of qualified expenses, such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, property lease payments and safety investments including personal protective equipment, Schellinger said. They can receive up to $2,500 in grants for each month, and those that demonstrate a revenue loss of at least 80% will be awarded up to $5,000 for each month, up to a maximum of $10,000.
“To restart Indiana’s economic engine, it’s critical that we provide Hoosier businesses and entrepreneurs with the support they need to grow and get back on track,” Gov. Eric Holcomb said in a news release.
Indiana is home to more than 100,000 small businesses that employ more than 941,000 people.
More than 70,000 Indiana companies have received a total of nearly $9.5 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans from the Small Business Administration, Schellinger said.
VIRUS NUMBERS
The 40 additional deaths increased Indiana’s confirmed COVID-19 deaths to 1,946, the Indiana State Department of Health said. State Health Commissioner Dr. Kristina Box noted the numbers were trending in the right direction.
“Our deaths and our cases are actually on the decline, our hospitalized admissions are on the decline,” she said during a state news briefing on the virus with Holcomb and Schellinger.
Another 164 people have died from probable infections of COVID-19 and those deaths increase Indiana’s confirmed or presumed COVID-19 deaths to 2,110 since the state’s first deaths was recorded on March 15.
The additional 521 Hoosiers who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 bring Indiana’s total number of confirmed cases to 33,558, the state agency said.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
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