San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Relief fund extended for small businesses
President Trump signed into law Saturday a temporary extension of a subsidy program for small businesses battered by the coronavirus,
The legislation extends the June 30 deadline for applying for the program to Aug. 8. Lawmakers created the program in March and have modified it twice since, adding money on one occasion and more recently permitting more flexible use of the funding.
About $130 billion of $660 billion approved for the program remains eligible for businesses to seek direct federal subsidies for payroll and other costs such as rent, though demand for the Paycheck Protection Program has pretty much dried up in recent weeks.
FLORIDA
Record number of new cases
The Fourth of July holiday weekend began Saturday with some sobering numbers in the Sunshine State: Florida logged a record number of people testing positive for the coronavirus.
State health officials reported 11,445 new cases, a singleday record since the pandemic began. The latest count brings the total number of cases in the state to more than 190,000.
Local officials and health experts are worried that people will gather over the holiday weekend and spread the virus through close contact. They’ve tried to mitigate spread by shutting bars statewide. Mayor Carlos Gimenez closed MiamiDade County beaches through the weekend. Municipalities elsewhere in South Florida, from Vero Beach to Broward County, did the same. Beaches in the Florida Keys are also closed.
TRIBAL LAND
Navajo order shutdown
Tribal police for the Navajo Nation and the New Mexico National Guard are enforcing a curfew to shut down the Navajo reservation during the holiday weekend.
The sprawling reservation has been trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak. Tribal President Jonathan Nez says the curfew took effect at 8 p.m. Friday and will last until 5 a.m. Monday. He says it is the first of three consecutive weekend shutdowns.
Nez warns that enforcement on the reservation that spans parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah will be strict.
PENNSYLVANIA
Some travelers face isolation
Gov. Tom Wolf ’s administration is recommending that people returning to Pennsylvania from a coronavirus hot spot stay at home for 14 days.
The advisory identifies 15 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.