March 18, 2020
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MARCH 18 COVID-19 UPDATE
Newcastle Safeway to Offer Special Hours for Seniors, At-Risk Community
The COVID-19 situation is evolving by the minute. As the City receives important, newsworthy information to share with the community, we'll send you email updates at least once weekly and more, if necessary. Here are the latest updates for March 18.

City staff just confirmed with our Newcastle Safeway that they'll be offering special shopping hours for at-risk community members! QFC has not established anything similar at this time, however, we'll let you know if anything changes. Here's the message from Safeway:

To help ensure that the most at-risk members of our community who must leave home to obtain groceries are taken care of, we are reserving  7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays  for them. During these times, we ask that you avoid shopping so that the stores can be available for senior citizens and other at-risk members of our community such as pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.
Gov. Inslee Announces Relief for Businesses, Workers, Renters
Today, Gov. Jay Inslee announced assistance for businesses, workers, renters, and residents struggling to pay utility bills while dealing with loss of income due to the COVID19 outbreak. Among the initiatives:

  • A 30-day statewide moratorium on evictions
  • During the emergency, the Governor calls on all public utilities to suspend shut-offs, waive late fees for out-of-work customers and expand bill assistance
  • Waiving the one-week waiting period to receive unemployment insurance
Waste Management Updates
From our partners at Waste Management:

Collection is continuing as usual!

Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our community. Your Waste Management drivers are trained, experienced and on the job to ensure safe and professional collection for garbage and recycling. At this time, collections continue on regular service days. Should conditions change, the Waste Management Northwest website is your No. 1 source for information.

With safety as a Waste Management core value, we are temporarily suspending telephone service for residential customers. This change allows us to transition call center representatives to remote locations in keeping with CDC guidance for social distancing. We are working swiftly to establish remote capacity and resume residential call services. Until then, we are grateful for your patience!

Customer service is currently available using their online chat function on their website. For the latest updates, visit  wmnorthwest.com/newcastle .
Helpful Newcastle Links
City of Newcastle |  newcastlewa.gov  

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