HIGHLIGHT: HAWAII
Honolulu: Anastasiya Kamaletdinova spent her first day of eighth grade at Kaimuki Middle School on Monday on a computer in her bedroom. “I was more shy than usual,” Kamaletdinova , 13, said. “Everything was great except for the last 20 minutes, I had problems with my computer and I couldn’t hear my teacher for some reason.” Like many public school students across Hawaii, she started the new academic year remotely as coronavirus cases are surging on Oahu, where Honolulu is located. The statewide teachers union led an effort to delay the first day for students by two weeks. At the union’s urging, the Hawaii Department of Education announced most schools would start the first four weeks online.
ALABAMA Tuscaloosa: Frustrated by scenes of crowded entertainment districts and bars on the first weekend many students returned to the University of Alabama, officials looked for ways to improve safety during the pandemic and hopefully save college football this year.
ALASKA Juneau: Travel on an Alaska ferry was temporarily suspended after the vessel transported passengers who tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.
ARIZONA Window Rock: The Navajo Nation has lifted its stay-at-home order but is encouraging residents to leave their homes only for emergencies or essential activities. The stayat-home order was rescinded Sunday, when 24 additional coronavirus cases and zero deaths were reported.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Dr. Deborah Birx, President Donald Trump’s top coronavirus adviser, said friends and families holding parties are driving the virus’s spread in the community, issuing the warning as outbreaks at some colleges across the country are being tied to large gatherings.
CALIFORNIA Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Unified School District will launch an aggressive coronavirus testing and contact tracing program for all students, staff and their families as part of a broad plan to safely reopen campuses.
COLORADO Fort Collins: The beginning of Colorado State University’s move-in week is far different this year. Students are being tested for COVID-19 and required to wear masks or other facial coverings inside – outside, too, if social distancing can’t be maintained.
CONNECTICUT Uncasville: The Mohegan Sun casino said it will lay off an unspecified number of employees because of impacts from the coronavirus pandemic.
DELAWARE Dover: State health officials said that coronavirus-related hospitalizations have fallen to below 30 for the first time.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Mayor Muriel Bowser said the District will expand its number of contact tracers by 175, bringing the total to 450, WUSA-TV reported. D.C. health officials said contact tracers will begin conducting home visits starting on Thursday for cases in which individuals were reached but did not complete an interview, or were unable to be reached.
FLORIDA Fort Lauderdale: The state reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases since mid-June on Monday as the number of people hospitalized continued to fall.
GEORGIA Savannah: A longtime county commissioner in Georgia died Monday after more than two weeks in the hospital fighting the coronavirus. Chatham County Commissioner James Holmes of Savannah was 82.
IDAHO Boise: A school district in southwestern Idaho has announced plans to reopen during the coronavirus pandemic despite recommendations against doing so from local health officials.
ILLINOIS Chicago: State public health officials on Monday launched a COVID-19 hot spot map for travelers to assess their risk before leaving the state. The online map shows which U.S. states have an average daily case rate of at least 15 cases per 100,000 people, which is considered higher risk.
INDIANA Rockville: The Parke County Board of Commissioners voted to cancel this year’s Covered Bridge Festival because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The commissioners voted 2-0 on Monday, with one member abstaining to cancel the event that had been scheduled for Oct. 9-18, the Tribune-Star reported.
IOWA Iowa City: A state agency said it is working to fix a data error on Iowa’s coronavirus website that lowers the number of new confirmed cases and therefore downplays the severity of the outbreak, just as schools are deciding whether to reopen.
KANSAS Topeka: Gov. Laura Kelly imposed a new ban on evictions and foreclosures on home mortgages in Kansas because one federal program to aid unemployed workers has expired and she isn’t sure that the state will participate in an alternative offered by President Donald Trump.
KENTUCKY Frankfort: Kentucky should accept a supplemental $300 in federal weekly assistance for its unemployed workers under a White House offer that won’t require any extra spending by the state, Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said in a letter to the state’s Democratic governor.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: A federal judge in New Orleans refused to block a state order closing bars to stop the spread of COVID-19, handing a defeat to 10 southeast Louisiana bar owners who had sued to stop the closure.
MAINE Millinocket: Two dozen Maine residents tested positive for the coronavirus after a wedding reception in Millinocket – the state’s first outbreak linked to a social gathering, officials said Monday.
MARYLAND Ocean City: SunFest, the city’s “biggest and best festival,” won’t go on as planned in 2020, becoming yet another event to be postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The state has taken another step toward an expedited renovation project at a veterans’ care center that was the site of one of the nation’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks at a long-term care facility. The Office of Administration and Finance said it had selected a company to conduct a 12-week assessment of what needs to be done at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Legislators gave final approval Monday to bills that would provide flexibility for K-12 schools as they prepare to open amid the coronavirus pandemic, waiving physical attendance and minimum instruction requirements to allow for remote classes.
MINNESOTA St. Cloud: The City Council voted 5-1 to censure member Paul Brandmire for suggesting a mask mandate could lead to yellow star badges that mark COVID-19positive people.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The state is expanding access to free coronavirus testing for teachers and schoolbased emergency telehealth coverage after more than 70 of the state’s 82 counties have reported outbreaks during their first few weeks back in the classroom.
MISSOURI Kansas City: The mayor of Missouri’s largest city has been getting plenty of messages about people not following social distancing guidelines at bars, so he decided to check for himself. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas told the Kansas City Star that he spent two hours on Saturday night dropping by or looking into eight businesses in the city.
MONTANA Great Falls: Gov. Steve Bullock said his office has been in contact with actress Sharon Stone, shortly after she posted on social media about her sister, in which she said it took five days in Montana to get test results for a COVID-19 test.
NEBRASKA Omaha: A western Nebraska school district has canceled most classes this week after three staff members tested positive for the coronavirus, requiring two dozen school workers to quarantine.
NEVADA Las Vegas: A Walmart in Mesquite and high-end retailer Nieman Marcus on the Las Vegas Strip were among 11 businesses statewide fined last week by inspectors for failure to comply with coronavirus pandemic mitigation measures, including mask-wearing and social distancing, officials said.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The University of New Hampshire expects to open a coronavirus testing lab with a 12-hour turnaround time for results within a few weeks, the head of the state university system said Monday.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Gov. Phil Murphy gave a strong endorsement of having high school sports while saying such activities need to be limited to outdoors-only and with precautions.
NEW MEXICO Las Cruces: With schools beginning classes through distance learning, districts have seen cases of staff with COVID-19 on their campuses – including Hatch Valley Public Schools, Gadsden Independent School District and Deming Public Schools.
NEW YORK Albany: Indoor gyms in New York can reopen as soon as next week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday, if they meet public health requirements, including inspections, mandatory mask wearing, a 33% occupancy limit and 6 feet between gym-goers.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Public schools returned to class Monday, with most students still learning from home through computers to start the year because of continued worries about COVID-19.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: Interim committee meetings for lawmakers have been canceled at least through next week after a member of the Legislature’s research arm tested positive for the coronavirus. John Bjornson, who heads the Legislative Council, said the staff member told him late Sunday night.
OHIO Columbus: A state senator and two of her family members are recovering at home from COVID-19. Sen. Tina Maharath, D-Canal Winchester, tweeted Monday night that she had tested positive and two family members were hospitalized.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Gov. Kevin Stitt said he has submitted an application for unemployed Oklahomans to receive an additional $300 in federal unemployment benefits.
OREGON Salem: The state’s jobs recovery slowed in July despite the unemployment rate dropping to 10.4% from 11.6% in June. The state gained back 20,500 jobs in the month after adding 57,000 jobs in June, and the state has gained back 38% of the jobs cut in March and April because of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Gov. Tom Wolf ’s administration is trying to make it clear that masks are to be worn practically at all times by students in school, drawing complaints that school leaders must again change their preparations.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: There were 75 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Rhode Island on Monday and one additional death, the state Department of Health reported Tuesday. The department also reported 78 people in the hospital with the disease as of Sunday, the latest day for which the information was available, a slight decline from the previous day.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: South Carolina has the nation’s third-highest rate of COVID-19 infections in children, trailing only Arizona and Tennessee, according to a medical report issued this week.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: This year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally drew more than 460,000 vehicles during the 10-day event, according to a count that South Dakota transportation officials released Tuesday. The count represents a decrease of nearly 8% from last year but showed that many were undeterred by the coronavirus pandemic.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Gov. Bill Lee has signed into law sweeping protections for businesses, schools and nursing homes against coronavirus lawsuits.
TEXAS Austin: Texas surpassed 10,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths Monday as the lingering toll of a massive summer outbreak continues, and health experts expressed concerns that recent encouraging trends could be fragile as schools begin reopening for 5 million students across the state.
UTAH Salt Lake City: A Utah lawmaker said some teachers in the state haven’t received any personal protective equipment as students start returning to schools.
VERMONT Montpelier: As schools prepare to restart in September, Vermont plans to expand child care capacity, including opening regional hubs to serve school-aged children on remote learning days at their schools, Republican Gov. Phil Scott said.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Lawmakers met Tuesday for a special session to address the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and widespread calls for criminal justice reform sparked by the death of George Floyd.
WASHINGTON Kitsap: Under state COVID-19 guidelines, bowling alleys are listed as reopening in Phase 4, two beyond Kitsap’s current Phase 2. There’s increasing worry that Kitsap might not get there until at least 2021, leaving the family that owns Kitsap’s last two bowling alleys – All Star Lanes & Casino in Silverdale and the Hi Joy Bowl in Port Orchard – in limbo.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: State officials have decided to cancel elk tours this year because of concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
WISCONSIN Madison: Interim University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson said he will ask Gov. Tony Evers to include a nearly $100 million boost for the system in the next state budget and give him permission to borrow up to $1 billion as the coronavirus pandemic bleeds revenue from campuses.
WYOMING Casper: The total number of coronavirus cases in Wyoming grew by 45 on Monday, with the number of confirmed cases rising by 40, the Casper Star-Tribune reported, according to the Wyoming Department of Health’s daily update.