Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced last week that more than 43,000 of his state’s home healthcare workers are eligible to receive one-time, $1,500 hazard payments for working during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act authorized $73 million in funding for the payments, according to Northam’s office.
“This hazard payment is a way we can acknowledge that these workers put themselves in harm’s way to help others,” he said in the announcement.
Virginia also provides home health aides with personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, and the state’s most recent budget also raises their wages 7% over two years.
