50 ★ States
ALABAMA Montgomery: Alabama’s monthly unemployment rate jumped to 6.6% in September as the coronavirus pandemic kept up its continuing damage to the state’s economy, the government reported Friday.
ALASKA Anchorage: A coronavirus outbreak at Fairbanks Pioneer Home for seniors increased to 53 cases after 20 residents and five staff members tested positive over a week. The Department of Health and Social Services said no deaths have occurred, and one resident is hospitalized,
ARIZONA Whiteriver: In early June, the White Mountain Apache Tribe surpassed the Navajo Nation in total COVID-19 cases per capita, meaning it had one of the highest infection rates in the country. However, the tribe’s number of new daily and active COVID-19 cases dropped and its number of COVID-19-related deaths through the pandemic also remained consistently low with a fatality rate as of Oct. 14 of 1.6%, which is less than the state’s rate of 2.5% and the country’s at 2.7%. Health officials lend credit, in large part, to its robust contract tracing efforts on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: A scaledback version of the Arkansas State Fair, without crowds, rides and concerts, was held last weekend as the event’s size was significantly reduced because of the pandemic.
CALIFORNIA La Quinta: City leaders touted new business development against the headwinds of the pandemic in a socially distant state of the city address that reflected the realities under which the city has been operating since March.
COLORADO Pueblo: Last week, members of the Pueblo Police Department ventured to the rugged, rocky and dusty banks of Fountain Creek on new utility task vehicles to reach homeless people living there to provide coronavirus tests and hepatitis A vaccinations.
CONNECTICUT New Haven: Yale University has closed two museums on campus, raised its alert status for the coronavirus and canceled athletic activities for the week after an outbreak infected at least 18 members of the men’s hockey team.
DELAWARE Dover: From storybooks to the silver screen, all kinds of colorful characters will make an appearance at Akridge Scout Reservation near Camden for the Children’s Halloween Drive-thru Fantasy from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The District has updated its list of “high-risk states” that will require travelers to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival to D.C. because of the coronavirus, WUSA-TV reported. The states added to the list are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, according to D.C. Health.
FLORIDA Jacksonville: City officials are seeking reimbursement for more than $150,000 in expenses for law enforcement, consulting fees and other funds spent preparing to host the Republican National Convention that never took place in their city because of coronavirus concerns.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Atlanta Public Schools won’t have in-school classes at least through the end of the year because COVID-19 data continues to trend the wrong way, said Superintendent Lisa Herring.
HAWAII Honolulu: Hawaii’s Board of Education has approved phasing out distance learning curriculum that parents and teachers complained contained racist and sexist content.
IDAHO Boise: Idaho’s coronavirus cases are rising fast and hospitals are seeing an influx of COVID-19 patients, Gov. Brad Little said.
ILLINOIS Chicago: Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Sunday that President Donald Trump and his allies in Illinois are partly to blame for the coronavirus spike in the state.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The debate set for Tuesday night among the three candidates for governor has been changed to a virtual format in what organizers said was a coronavirus safety move.
IOWA Des Moines: The state has reported nearly 3,000 new confirmed positive coronavirus cases in the last three days.
KANSAS Belle Plaine: Counties are making their own rules about whether to require poll workers to wear masks as the public votes, even though the state spent $1.28 million to buy personal protective equipment for every polling location.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Physicians at the University of Louisville’s Trager Transplant Center elected to continue services during the pandemic, and so far, the results have paid dividends, with patients’ lives saved and no adverse outcomes from the coronavirus.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: City officials said they will investigate crowds that gathered in the French Quarter after the city relaxed coronavirus pandemic restrictions. Saturday was the first day that bars could have outdoor seats under guidelines set by Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who is taking a more gradual approach than the state.
MAINE Portland: The Maine Medical Center Research Institute is joining an initiative to create a centralized national data platform that scientists can use to study COVID-19 and identify potential treatments.
MARYLAND Baltimore: A historic Baltimore hotel has been repurposed amid the coronavirus pandemic, serving as a free isolation center for people with COVID-19. Since May, more than 600 people have come through the Lord Baltimore Hotel’s doors, the Baltimore Sun reported.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Massachusetts has delayed the resumption of jury trials until early next month. The delay comes amid a rising number of conformed cases of COVID-19 across the state.
MICHIGAN Detroit: PJ’s Lager House said Sunday on Facebook it has temporarily closed after an employee recently tested positive for the coronavirus, and said anyone who visited the Corktown neighborhood restaurant from Oct. 9-12 should consider getting tested.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith skipped a campaign event with Sen. Elizabeth Warren over the weekend after learning that a person who attended one of her events eight days earlier had tested positive for the coronavirus.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Mississippi State Fair closed Sunday after a 12-day run, but Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said officials will take the unusual step of reopening the fair this weekend.
MISSOURI Springfield: Mayor Ken McClure was given the Governmental Excellence Award by Missouri State University for his work during the coronavirus pandemic.
MONTANA Missoula: The Montana State Prison has locked down because of an outbreak of the coronavirus in the facility, the state Department of Corrections said. The lockdown starting Friday occurred after the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the prison jumped from eight to 36.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The state will reopen a series of federally funded grant programs to help small businesses and nonprofits that are struggling because of the pandemic, Gov. Pete Ricketts said.
NEVADA Reno: Skiing and snowboarding won’t be much different than usual on the slopes when Lake Tahoe ski resorts begin reopening next month. But a variety of changes are planned indoors because of COVID-19. Capacity limits will be in place, and some resorts are adopting reservation systems.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The state has asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to strike down a regulation that requires roughly 80,000 of its residents who are employed by Massachusetts companies to pay income taxes in the neighboring state while they work from home during the pandemic.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: The state’s daily number of COVID-19 cases has doubled since last month, reaching about 1,000 each day, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: New Mexico Tech has temporarily closed out of caution against COVID-19 after officials learned of several off-campus weekend parties.
NEW YORK Albany: Ski resorts in New York will be allowed to open next month at half their indoor capacity with restrictions on sharing gondolas, and face coverings will be required off the slopes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Ski resorts can open under a series of restrictions consistent with rules for other entertainment venues. Masks will be required at all times except when eating, drinking or skiing. Gondolas and lifts will be restricted to members of the same party and shared or rented equipment must be disinfected between uses.
NORTH CAROLINA Asheville: A detainee at the Buncombe County Detention Facility has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a release from the sheriff ’s office. That individual has been under quarantine since entering the facility and is asymptomatic, according to sheriff ’s office PIO Aaron Sarver.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The state’s daily positivity rate for COVID-19 topped 10% for the sixth time in the last seven days as health officials on Sunday reported 716 new cases, including three counties with more than 100 positive tests.
OHIO Newark: Coronavirus pandemic relief to Licking County, which totaled $7.3 million at the end of August, has more than doubled with another $12.7 million allocation which must be spent by the end of the year.
OKLAHOMA Bartlesville: Oklahoma Wesleyan University will waive the ACT/SAT admission requirement in light of testing issues during the coronavirus pandemic. Mark Weeter, the university’s vice president of academic affairs, said students will still take other assessments such as the Residual ACT or the Classic Learning Test for placement purposes.
OREGON Eugene: Amtrak quietly reduced the number of times the only passenger train that connects Oregon and California – the Coast Starlight route – stops in Eugene. Decreasing the long-distance services from daily to three times a week this month on 10 of its long-distance routes nationwide is one of the ways Amtrak is trying to cope with the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, but it will potentially cost Oregon millions.
PENNSYLVANIA Erie: Erie County Department of Health Director Melissa Lyon offered some advice to anyone attending President Donald Trump’s rally Tuesday at Erie International Airport. “Wear your face mask and and stay socially distant if you can,” Lyon said. “They are the only tools we have.” Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend the rally, scheduled for 7 p.m. The event will be held inside a hangar but at least some seats will be outside.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The city is throwing a lifeline to small businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic with microgrants of up to $10,000, officials said Monday.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Authorities broke up a party where at least 2,000 people were gathered without taking precautions to prevent spreading the coronavirus, fire officials said. The gathering occurred Saturday at an apartment complex during the University of South Carolina’s football game, Columbia Fire Department spokesman Mike DeSumma told The State.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: South Dakota Speaker of the House Steve Haugaard, R-Sioux Falls, told the Argus Leader on Monday that he spent the last two weeks dealing with a severe case of COVID-19. Hauggard said his fever finally broke Friday, and he intends to return to work this week.
TENNESSEE Knoxville: Sixteen residents and one staff member have died after a COVID-19 outbreak at a nursing home in eastern Tennessee. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that more than two-fifths of The Heritage Center’s residents have tested positive for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, a fourth of the residents who have tested positive have died.
TEXAS El Paso: The El Paso area has reported its highest number of hospitalizations because of the coronavirus since the pandemic began, officials said Sunday. A record 449 hospitalizations were reported for Saturday, with 129 of those patients in intensive care, according to El Paso health officials.
VERMONT Bradford: Officials said Oxbow High School was closed for the weekend for deep cleaning after a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus.
VIRGINIA Roanoke: Virginia Tech is aiming for more in-person classes in the spring semester in 2021 while operating under COVID-19 restrictions, school officials said Monday.
WASHINGTON Everett: A ski resort has announced plans to reopen with restrictions, including limiting how many people are allowed on the mountain to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: For the second straight week, West Virginia has set a record for weekly statewide confirmed coronavirus cases as officials continue to urge widespread testing. The 1,644 positive cases reported from Oct. 12 through Sunday shattered the record of 1,350 cases set in the previous week, according to the Department of Health and Human Resources website.
WISCONSIN Madison: A judge on Monday reimposed an order from Gov. Tony Evers’ administration limiting the number of people who can gather in bars, restaurants and other indoor venues to 25% of capacity. The capacity limits order was issued Oct. 6 by Andrea Palm, secretary of the state Department of Health Services, in the face of surging coronavirus cases in Wisconsin.
WYOMING Casper: Wyoming is trending in the “wrong direction,” with its COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations, Gov. Mark Gordon said in a news conference Monday, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.