Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19 - Expert Advice Helpline, SPACE

Stakeholder Profile Publications Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19 - Expert Advice Helpline, SPACE

2020 . Publisher:  Social Protection Approaches to COVID-19 - Expert Advice Helpline, SPACE

This is a living document tracking relevant COVID-19 and Social Protection materials. 

blogs.worldbank.org (14.07.2020) While the world is still in the midst of dealing with the health and socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) shock, one key lesson is already emerging: Social protection is proving its potential as an emergency instrument to protect affected households. Countries with strong social protection systems, underpinned by inclusive personal identification systems, comprehensive social registries with household information and robust digital payment systems, have been able to ramp up support to their impacted populations faster and more effectively. 
The response to the COVID-19 shock shows how “adaptive” social protection can expand on a temporary basis in response to a shock by expanding to a larger pool of beneficiaries or by providing larger benefits (or both).  

NOW Grenada (21.07.2020) The Ministry of Finance through the Covid-19 Economic Support Secretariat (CESS) announces the deadline for receipt of applications to the Income and first time Payroll Stimulus Programme as of Wednesday, 22 July 2020 at 4 pm.

This cut off for receipt of applications relates to the following categories:Hotels, Restaurants/ Bars and Small Travel Agents, Tourist Vendors, Market Vendors, Bus Owners, Taxi Owners, Hair Dressers, Barbers, And other tourist related businesses.

Businesses making application for the payroll support prior to Wednesday, 22 July 2020, can continue to make their monthly applications for the period April to June 2020.

smart warter magazine (07.04.2020) For the next two months, The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is to supply water and electricity free of charge to its citizens, local authorities have said. According to the Anadolu Agency, the water supply business Regie de Distribution d’Eau (REGIDESO) and the country’s National Electricity Company (SNEL) have agreed to provide free water and electricity in the country for the following two months.

Ministry of Labor and Social Security (10.07.2020) This Thursday, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Mixed Institute of Social Aid, IMAS, began with the payment of the third month for the beneficiaries of the Protect Bond. The Protect Bond was launched on April 9 as a response to provide assistance to people affected by labor because of COVID-19. As of today, 962,572 Bonus requests have been received and a total of 533,829 Bonds have been awarded.

Minister of Labor and Social Security (15.06.2020) The Minister of Labor and Social Security signed a directive that allows employers to request an extension of the measure to suspend their employment contracts due to the pandemic by COVID-19. The MTSS-DMT-CIR-5-2020 directive allows employers to request the extension of the initial period of three months for up to an additional equal period, as long as the impact on the economic turn of companies is maintained. The procedure, like the initial application, must be done virtually through the form available on the website of the Ministry of Labor in which the application must be sent indicating that the economic conditions of the company are maintained as it does three months when the initial request was made. In the case of reductions in working hours, the law that governs them already provided for the extension of the term according to the needs of companies, always based on the economic impact that they may have.

Ministry of finance (17.07.2020) Starting this July, the National Treasury of the Ministry of Finance will apply to pensions higher than ¢ 2,296,000 corresponding to the National Pension Directorate, Pension Board of the National Teaching Staff and the Ex-Presidents Regime, the deduction for special solidarity and redistributive contribution, established by Law No. 9796 (“Law to Redesign and Redistribute the Resources of the Special Solidarity Contribution”).   

The New York TImes (22.07.2020) The  US government committed to purchase 100 million doses of a not-yet-finished vaccine. The private sector buys most vaccines in the United States, not the government.“We’re trying to make sure access for all Americans is equal,” said L.J. Tan, chief strategy officer at the Immunization Action Coalition. “The best way to do that is to make vaccines free for everybody.” The U.S. government has also recently declared that insured Americans wouldn’t face fees for coronavirus testing, and it dedicated a new fund to cover the testing and treatment costs of the uninsured.

UN/DESA Policy Brief #82 (14.07.2020) All social protection systems are designed to respond to shocks since, in addition to addressing chronic conditions, they are meant to address acute events that negatively impact individuals and households. However, some systems respond better than others. Typical life cycle events, related to the loss of jobs or illness, usually only affect some households at the same time. Standard social protection systems are set to respond to these individual or household-level shocks. A shock-responsive social protection system is also prepared to respond to covariate or systemic shocks that affect a large number of households simultaneously—be they natural disasters, food shortages, economic crises or disease outbreaks such as COVID-19. It is a system that can cope with sudden changes in both context and demand. Covariate shocks can be natural, political, or economic in nature.

Time (23.07.2020) Temporary basic income payments could stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic by allowing the world’s poorest people to stay at home, according to a new report from the United Nations Development Programme.

• The distancing measures deployed by South Africa impose large reductions in wage income particularly for low-skilled workers.
• Initial lockdown policies will jeopardize the food security of low-income households dependent on labor income.
• The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate the value of transfer policies that support vulnerable households.

The International Section on Prevention in Transportation, together with its member BG Verkehr, has produced five fact sheets on Covid-19 protective measures for various transportation sectors in six languages. The fact sheets on infection prevention in road haulage, waste disposal, postal logistics/CEP and taxi and driving school operations are now available for free download at the BG Verkehr  Coronavirus Website in English, German, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Turkish. In the fact sheets, BG Verkehr's prevention experts have compiled industry-specific recommendations for infection protection.

These industry-specific recommendations specify the time-limited occupational safety standard of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). This occupational health and safety standard is the guideline for the protection against infection across all sectors. During work and in practical cases, company physicians and occupational safety specialists offer a competent point of reference.

Information on the coronavirus and the associated health protection is developing dynamically. Therefore, the fact sheets are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are up to date. You are kindly invited to visit the media catalogue and the Corona virus information page (only available in German) regularly.

loopnewsbarbados.com (21.03.2020) For those employers who are prepared to retain three-quarters of their workforce even if some are on short-week, they can defer the employers’ contribution for three months in the first instance with a preparation to extend for another three months if the crisis goes beyond.

nib-bahamas.com (21.07.2020) The National Insurance Board, after consultation with the Ministry of Finance, is pleased to advise that the Government Unemployment Extension Programme will be extended to persons whose last day at work was Friday 13 March, 2020. Our previous pre-enrolled customers included only those persons who were laid off after the lockdown as at 23rd March, 2020. Some 28,800 persons were pre-enrolled in the programme, and with this expansion NIB estimates that another 5,000 persons will now become eligible – bringing the total eligible enrollment to just over 33,800 persons. If you have received an “ineligible” response and your last day of work was on, or after, Friday, 13th March, 2020, NIB will now enroll you in the programme, and requests that you check back on the Portal to see an updated status.

nib-bahamas.com (16.07.2020) The National Insurance Board (NIB) will launch a new online portal for eligible individuals to register for the Government-Funded Unemployment Benefit Extension Programme (GovUEBex). Individuals who were unemployed due to the COVID-19 shutdown between March 23 – June 30, and continue to be unemployed, are eligible for the extension programme if they fall under one of four categories: 1. They have exhausted their 13 weeks of NIB’s unemployment benefit (UEB) payments which became payable because of layoffs/termination due to COVID 19. 2. They were enrolled in the Hurricane Dorian UEB Extension Programme and had exhausted the 13 weeks of extended payments. 3. They were employed in full time employment for at least 3 months before the COVID-19 related shutdown and were under the age of 35 but did not meet the required number of contributions to claim NIB’s unemployment benefit. 4. They are self-employed individuals in the tourism sector who were previously enrolled in the Government-funded Unemployment Assistance (UEA) Programme. All eligible individuals must register on the portal to receive financial assistance. Eligible individuals will receive $150 per week for a maximum of 13 weeks during periods of unemployment. NIB has assessed the records of thousands of contributors and self-employed persons, and will pre-enroll individuals that meet the eligibility requirements for the extension programme. The new portal dynamically pulls information from the NIB database to simplify the process of registration for eligible individuals.

Marshall Islands Social Security Administration (09.06.2020) With the recent installation of the Bank of Marshall Islands (BOMI) debit card machine at MISSA’s front desk, a taxpayer will no longer need to write a check nor pay cash for social security contributions. Just like the way customers pay their groceries while shopping at K&K or Payless Supermarket, the MISSA cashier will insert the BOMI debit card to the machine and then enter the amount of MISSA taxes based on the completed MISSA Tax Form MISS-3 that will support the payment.

The Special Commission on Prevention  has set up a Corona information portal for small and medium-sized enterprises, which features a range of international views and examples: https://safety-work.org/en/topics/corona.html.

The website is available in 5 languages

In wake of the COVID-19 crisis and nationwide lockdown, India has been grappling with unprecedented challenges that range from maintaining law and order, access to medical facilities, food, social security to availability of medical facilities. The newest hurdle to have joined this bandwagon has been a systematic increase in incidents of attacks and harassment of its nurses, doctors and other medical personnel. Fueled by paranoia and fear in an increasingly trying time, these ill-informed attacks seem to target medical professional who are feared to be carrying and spreading the diseases. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare1 in its press release dated April 22, 2020 said that, "perceived as carriers of the diseases, there has been stigmatization and ostracization and sometimes worse, acts of unwarranted violence and harassment against our medical professionals. Such a situation tends to hamper the medical community from performing their duties to their optimum best and maintaining their morale, which is a critical need in this hour of national health crisis."

Necessitated by the growing incidents, and upon asserting that the government has a zero tolerance for violence or intimidation of its medical professionals, which includes its dedicated group of doctors, nurses and para-medics who are spearheading a global health crisis, the Union Cabinet on April 22, 2020  approved the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, an Ordinance to amend the Epidemics Diseases Act, 1897.

The key amendments of the colonial legislation seek to protect its healthcare personnel's, clinics and other facilities.

Key Features of the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance

• It makes any attack upon them a cognizable and a non-bailable offence.
• It solidifies the definition of what constitutes as violence i.e., harassment, physical injury and damage to property, as well as who is covered under the ambit of healthcare personnel.
• Further, commission or abetment of any acts of violence against said healthcare professionals shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of three months to five years, followed with a fine of Rs.50,000/- to Rs.2,00,000/-.  In aggravated cases concerning grievous hurt, the ordinance directs imprisonment for a term of six months, and up to seven years, and with a fine of Rs.1,00,000/- to Rs.5,00,000/.
• The law also envisions time bound investigations, in addition to compensation for injury or damage to property, to almost twice the fair market value.

„Corona-Spezial“ nennt sich ein neues Lern- und Unterweisungsmodul der BGHW. Die Beschäftigten lernen, wie sie sich richtig verhalten, um eine mögliche Ansteckung mit dem Coronavirus zu vermeiden. Das Modul ist Teil des Online-Lernprogramms (WBT) „Sicher arbeiten – Gesundheit schützen“ der BGHW.

„Corona-Spezial“ kann zur betrieblichen Unterweisung eingesetzt werden. In Videosequenzen sowie durch spielerische und interaktive Elemente werden wichtige organisatorische Maßnahmen und Verhaltensregeln erklärt, um Infektionen zu vermeiden.

Anschaulich werden die wichtigsten Verhaltensregeln in Corona-Zeiten erklärt: Dazu gehören ausreichend Abstand zu Mitmenschen zu halten sowie - neben der üblichen Händehygiene - die sogenannte Husten- und Niesetikette (in die Armbeuge husten und niesen). Wenn der Abstand nicht konsequent eingehalten werden kann, ist das Tragen eines Mund-Nase-Schutzes geboten. Ferner sind regelmäßiges Lüften und die allgemeine Hygieneregeln wichtig. Das Lernmodul gibt praxisnahe Tipps, wie die Verhaltensregeln im Betrieb und auf dem Weg dorthin umgesetzt werden können. Ergänzt um ein betriebliches Maßnahmenkonzept kann der Ansteckungsgefahr auf diese Weise wirksam begegnet werden.

Mit Fragen zu den verschiedenen Kapiteln wird das erlernte Wissen vertieft. Am Schluss des Lernmoduls  werden die Antworten ausgewertet. Das Ergebnis kann zur Dokumentation der Unterweisung an die Führungskraft versendet werden.

vietnaminsider.vn (13.03.2020) People (both Vietnamese and foreigners) are not charged all related fees when they undergo mandatory quarantine at healthcare centers, border gates and other isolation facilities. They will also be transported to isolation wards for free and receive free drinking water, towels, face masks, hand sanitizers, mouthwash and other daily necessities, according to the Finance Ministry’s Circular 32/2012.

vss.gov.vn (07.04.2020) Earlier, on February 6, 2020, Ministry of Health issued Document No 505/BYT-BH on the payment of medical expenses for treatmentof pneumonia caused by the new strain of coronavirus. According to Circular No 32/2012/TT-BTC of December 29, 2012 issued by Ministry of Finance, people infected, suspected of being infected with the virus and high-risk people will have medical expenses fully covered.

vss.gov.vn (09.04.2020) Starting from April 8, 2020, individuals and organizations with accounts registered at the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) may contribute to health insurance and social insurance on the e-Banking application platform. The result of the coordination between Vietnam Social Security and BIDV aims to facilitate people, employees and employers in transactions with social security authorities, especially when the COVID-19 epidemic is maintaining complicated and social distancing is being implemented. Currently, on BIDV's e-Banking applications, namely BIDV Online, BIDV Smart Banking, BIDV Business Online, individuals and organizations can perform two procedures: 1. For participants: Pay for the extension of health insurance card and continue online payment of voluntary social insurance premiums. 2. For employers: Online payment of social, health and unemployment insurance.

The Viet Nam Social Security has implemented policies to support enterprises that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,

Social Security Board (21.07.2020) Effective March 28, 2020 the qualifying condition that a person must be employed upon becoming ill has been suspended. This means persons who, as of March 1, 2020, became unemployed, suspended, placed on leave without pay or ceased self-employed may still qualify for sickness benefit.

The following qualifying conditions apply:

1. The person is sick due to Covid-19;

2. Have 50 weekly paid contributions since 1981;

3. Have no less than 5 paid contributions in the 13 weeks immediately before the last week of employment or self-employment.

4. Self-employed persons must have contributions paid for the month immediately before the last month of ceased operations.