50 ★ States
News from across the USA
ALABAMA Hoover: Riverchase Galleria, the state’s largest mall, reopened for the first time in weeks Tuesday, while demonstrators in the capital protested in favor of further accelerating the economy, even as cases of the coronavirus continue to rise.
ALASKA Bethel: The U.S. Census Bureau plans to restart trying to personally reach residents without a listed physical address after the effort was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic’s outbreak, KYUK-AM reports.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Nearly half of nonprofits in the state will be unable to serve the public within the next month because of the heavy toll brought by the pandemic. Arizona State University’s survey cites losses in revenue and volunteering.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Prison staff who test positive for the coronavirus have been allowed to work at a facility where at least 876 inmates have the virus, a correction official said in a court document filed Tuesday. Arkansas Division of Correction Director Dexter Payne said the agency has allowed staff who have tested positive to work at the Cummins Unit if they are asymptomatic.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: A plan to temporarily move homeless people into a Ritz-Carlton hotel has gotten pushback from residents of multimillion-dollar apartments on the upper floors of the Los Angeles highrise, according to a news report. City Councilman Mike Bonin said luxury hotels should not be exempt from Project Roomkey, a statewide effort to shelter vulnerable people in empty hotel rooms during the pandemic.
COLORADO Fort Collins: The Colorado Attorney General’s Office issued a cease-and-desist letter to Functional Medicine Center of Fort Collins for false or misleading marketing of coronavirus antibody tests, reflecting elevated scrutiny of a testing approach currently under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Gov. Ned Lamont has canceled in-person classes at all of the state’s K-12 public schools for the rest of this school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
DELAWARE Dover: Some small businesses will be allowed to resume limited operations starting Friday, Gov. John Carney said, describing the change as a “baby step” toward a broader reopening of the economy while carefully monitoring COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing
ton: The district has released neighborhood-specific coronavirus data, WUSA-TV reports. Data from DC Health shows that the 16th Street Heights and Columbia Heights neighborhoods in Wards 4 and 5 have the largest numbers of cases.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: State officials are now contemplating what they should do if the coronavirus outbreak lingers into hurricane season, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday. Florida emergency management Director Jared Moskowitz is working on potential changes to handling of evacuations and sheltering.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Brian Kemp warned Tuesday that a growing coronavirus outbreak is stressing resources in northeast Georgia. Gainesville, critical to the poultry industry, is quickly becoming one of Georgia’s most affected areas.
HAWAII Honolulu: A streak of more than two weeks of single-digit daily new cases of coronavirus is allowing the state to take the next step in reopening its economy, Gov. David Ige said. Starting Thursday, businesses including some malls, astronomical observatories, car washes and pet groomers may reopen, Ige said.
IDAHO Boise: The state will give coronavirus economic relief grants up to $10,000 to small businesses, and no other state in the country is putting up more money in direct cash support for small businesses.
ILLINOIS Springfield: Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday outlined a five-phase plan for reopening the state, but the speed remains dependent on vigilance against the coronavirus.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Hoosiers should be wary of false or misleading claims some companies are making about their ability to combat the spread of the coronavirus with disinfectants or cleaning services, state officials have warned.
IOWA Des Moines: Des Moines Public Schools has opened the door to in-person graduation ceremonies after previously saying they would be held online to reduce the potential spread of novel coronavirus.
KANSAS Mission: Taiwan is donating 100,000 surgical masks to Kansas to help medical and meatpacking workers amid the outbreak.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: A prison has been hit by hundreds of coronavirus cases, prompting action to separate inmates into housing units based on their health conditions. Testing of inmates and staff at the Green River Correctional Complex in Central City revealed more than 300 additional virus cases, Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: With fewer cars on the road because of the coronavirus outbreak, the state’s transportation department is taking the opportunity to clean up typically high-traffic areas.
MAINE Norway: A high school has come up with a novel way to hold graduation despite the pandemic. Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School will hold its ceremony next month at a drive-in movie theater.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The state has missed out on more than $60 million in revenue from its casinos being closed last month due to the coronavirus, compared to how much the state generated last April.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The Boston Pops Orchestra has released a musical tribute to health care workers, first responders, supermarket clerks and other critical personnel on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. The performance of “Summon the Heroes” was composed by John Williams for the 1996 Olympic Games and includes an introduction from conductor Keith Lockhart, as well Williams himself. The virtual performance includes 78 musicians playing from their living rooms, kitchens, basements and bedrooms.
MICHIGAN Lansing: The Republican-led Legislature sued Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday, asking a judge to declare invalid and unenforceable her stay-at-home order and other measures issued to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: A coalition of hospitality organizations is urging state legislators to provide an economic relief package to help save the industry’s businesses.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: State legislators will be back at work Thursday to consider proposals to help businesses that have been hurt by the coronavirus outbreak, House and Senate leaders said Tuesday. It will be the second time in less than a week for legislators to return to the Capitol after putting their session on hold in mid-March.
MISSOURI O’Fallon: St. Louis and St. Louis County will both begin easing stay-at-home orders starting later this month, but officials caution that the process will be slow for the area of Missouri most ravaged by the coronavirus.
MONTANA Helena: Gov. Steve Bullock on Tuesday announced
$123 million in grants for small businesses, nonprofits and state residents affected by the pandemic.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: The state has opened a new lab to analyze the results of about 3,000 coronavirus tests per day and will launch more testing sites beyond those operating in Omaha and hard-hit Grand Island, officials said Tuesday.
NEVADA Las Vegas: MGM Resorts International has announced that the furloughs of more than 60,000 employees because of the pandemic could turn into layoffs.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Drivethru ceremonies with no handshakes, hugs or high-fives may mark the end of high school for some of the state’s graduates. The Department of Education has released guidance to districts about how to plan graduation ceremonies in light of the state’s prohibition on gatherings of more than 10 people.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Gov. Phil Murphy has extended the public health emergency declaration stemming from the coronavirus outbreak for another month.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: A rural sheriff has deputized about 20 church members at an in-person church service, working around Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health order designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Sierra County Sheriff Glenn Hamilton said the effort is about recruiting help and preparing for the worst, but he also noted that law enforcement is exempt from the governor’s stay-at-home order, meaning people can now attend future services, KOB-TV reports.
NEW YORK New York: The great majority of people newly hospitalized with the coronavirus in New York either are retired or are unemployed and were avoiding public transit, according to a new state survey, the first such look at people still getting seriously ill despite six weeks of severe social distancing.
NORTH CAROLINA Charlotte: The North Carolina Air National Guard will conduct flyover salutes Thursday to food bank workers, medical staffs and other front-line workers in the fight against COVID-19.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Backers of paid family leave will again push legislation to establish a program in the state, saying the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness of the need for the change.
OHIO Columbus: Unhappy with state Director of Health Dr. Amy Acton, the Ohio House has moved to limit her power. Republican lawmakers introduced an amendment that would limit any stay-at-home order issued by the Ohio Department of Health to 14 days.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The state is reopening businesses that were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic at the right time, U.S. Sen. James Lankford said Tuesday. “I don’t think it’s soon. We’ve already got about 15 states in the same process,” he said.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The state has recorded another 554 deaths from the coronavirus to pass 3,000 total. The large number of new deaths reported Tuesday by the state Department of Health was spread out over the previous two weeks, the agency said, as it reconciles its data with deaths being reported by local agencies or hospitals.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: An investigation into possible unemployment benefits fraud related to the coronavirus pandemic is expanding with as many as 2,000 cases in the state, authorities said. The state Department of Labor and Training has received reports from people who say they have been the victims of “imposter fraud,” agency spokeswoman Angelika Pellegrino said in an email.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The University of South Carolina plans to return to on-campus classes in the fall, although with plenty of changes to protect students, professors and employees from the coronavirus.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: State health officials on Wednesday reported five more deaths from COVID-19, along with 58 new confirmed cases. All five deaths were in Minnehaha County, which has seen most of the infections in the state.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Officials have reported the first death of a state inmate who tested positive for the coronavirus: a man who was among the nearly 1,300 inmates who tested positive at privately operated Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.
TEXAS West Odessa: A bar owner and armed protesters were arrested after the bar reopened despite the governor’s orders. Ector County Sheriff Mike Griffis told the Odessa American that authorities on Monday apprehended Gabrielle Ellison, owner of Big Daddy Zane’s Bar. Six men with loaded “AR-15-type weapons” were also arrested for possessing firearms on a licensed property, Griffis said.
UTAH Provo: Dozens of workers tested positive for the coronavirus after two Utah County businesses instructed employees not to follow quarantine guidelines and required people who tested positive to continue reporting to work, leaders said. Nearly half the employees at one business were infected, authorities said.
VERMONT Montpelier: The Vermont Department of Public Service is proposing a plan to provide broadband internet service to everyone in the state – infrastructure that has proved even more essential during the COVID-19 crisis.
VIRGINIA Virginia Beach: Mental health experts say military families and veterans are reaching out more for assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. The Virginian-Pilot reports clinicians providing help online have seen requests skyrocket.
WASHINGTON Walla Walla: Some people are intentionally flouting health recommendations by exposing themselves and others to COVID-19 in Walla Walla County, officials said. Meghan DeBolt, director of the county’s Department of Community Health, told the Union-Bulletin this week that contact tracing has revealed some are attending parties with the idea that it is better to get sick with the virus and get it over with. New positive test results in the county have resulted from such gatherings, she said.
WEST VIRGINIA Huntington: Two cities – Huntington and Charleston – are giving some employees a onetime extra payment for continuing to work with the public during the coronavirus pandemic.
WISCONSIN Madison: Nearly all hospitals in the state must affirm they can treat all patients without crisis care in order for the first phase of Gov. Tony Evers’ coronavirus reopening plan to be met, state health officials said Tuesday.
WYOMING Jackson: Frustration and displeasure with changes in the rules governing Wyoming antler hunting was nearly unanimous in recent days among the many hundreds of people who flocked to the forest adjacent to the National Elk Refuge, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reports. Most came from out of state, disregarding requests to stay home while the novel coronavirus was keeping the community largely closed.