50 ★ States
ALABAMA Montgomery: Hospitalizations from COVID-19 have risen more than 45% in the past month in the state, reaching a level by Monday not seen since the summer.
ALASKA Anchorage: The Anchorage School District has indefinitely delayed a plan to phase students back into classrooms Nov. 16, citing rising coronavirus cases in the community.
ARIZONA Phoenix: The state on Tuesday reported 3,434 new COVID-19 cases, the most in one day since late July, as the state’s rolling average for deaths quadrupled over the past two weeks to 26 per day.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday proposed a nearly $5.9 billion budget that calls for $50 million in tax cuts. The Republican discussed his proposals with lawmakers in the middle of a pandemic that has claimed more than 2,100 lives in the state and reached record-high hospitalizations.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: The state’s coronavirus cases are at their highest levels in months. Barbara Ferrer, health director for Los Angeles County, urged people who gathered over the weekend to celebrate Joe Biden’s victory to quarantine.
COLORADO Denver: With the state experiencing its highest rate of coronavirus hospitalizations, Gov. Jared Polis on Monday extended a statewide mask mandate another 30 days and said state employees will work remotely into December. He estimated 1 in 105 Coloradans is contagious.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Students at the state’s public colleges and universities have begun testing a new app designed to make coronavirus contact tracing easier. The governor’s office said the pilot program is designed to flush out any issues before it is released to the general public, possibly later this week.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The 98th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony will be virtual this year due to the pandemic, the National Park Service announced Monday afternoon. But the lighting and holiday performances will still take place Dec. 3, WUSA-TV reports.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: Coronavirus cases among students increased last week. At Florida State University, 39 students and four employees reported testing positive for the week ending Saturday. At Florida A&M University, 17 students reported positive tests for the week ending Friday.
GEORGIA Atlanta: The rise in coronavirus infections has slowed in the state, although transmission remains widespread. Georgia is averaging about 1,600 new coronavirus cases a day confirmed through genetic tests, plus about 500 a day confirmed through less accurate antigen tests.
HAWAII Honolulu: Voter advocates say the state should set up more voter service centers after a last-minute surge led to hourslong lines for inperson voting on Election Day even as Hawaii switched to a vote-by-mail system amid the pandemic.
IDAHO Boise: Residents should wear a face covering to slow the spread of COVID-19 and help protect veterans, Gov. Brad Little said Monday. The Republican made the comments in an opinion piece as a veterans home in Boise is in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak that has killed six residents.
ILLINOIS Springfield: Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday welcomed Joe Biden’s immediate response as presidentelect to the pandemic. Biden’s first public comments after meeting with a newly formed coronavirus task force were to ask the nation to wear face coverings, something his defeated opponent, President Donald Trump, had often mocked. “I’ve been calling for a national mask mandate for some time,” Pritzker said.
INDIANA Indianapolis: State officials are renewing their call for retired health care workers to help relieve staff in hospitals and long-term care facilities as the numbers of hospitalizations and new coronavirus infections continue to spike to record highs. The state’s hospitals are seeing more coronavirus patients than at any other time in the pandemic.
IOWA Johnston: Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday said she will require that people wear masks in indoor gatherings of 25 or more people amid a surge of coronavirus infections that is threatening to overwhelm hospitals.
KANSAS Topeka: The state reported another record seven-day spike in coronavirus cases Monday, pushing it past 100,000 for the pandemic, as officials wrestled with getting more residents to wear masks.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Health insurer Humana Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to hire an additional 600 military veterans and 150 military spouses in the state over the next four years. It’s the type of job creation Kentucky’s leaders are hoping will be repeated throughout the business sector to heal an economy damaged by the pandemic.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: The city will allow bars to operate at 25% of their indoor capacity this week as it further eases restrictions, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Monday.
MAINE Calais: A hospital will remain open if members of a nurses union follow through on a plan to strike, its operators said Tuesday. The Maine State Nurses Association said nearly 50 nurses and staff members at Calais Regional Hospital will strike Nov. 18-20.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Restaurants will receive $50 million in state aid as they continue to struggle with devastating financial losses caused by the pandemic.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Greater Boston’s transportation agency proposed a series of public transit cuts Monday that officials say are needed after ridership plummeted when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Michigan on Monday launched the statewide rollout of a voluntary, free coronavirus app that notifies users if they have been in close contact with infected people. More than 46,000 people downloaded MI COVID Alert in an Ingham County pilot. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: Bars and restaurants must stop serving at 10 p.m., and attendance at weddings, funerals and social gatherings will be limited starting Friday under new restrictions Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Mississippi State Department of Health reported 933 new cases of the coronavirus and 37 deaths Tuesday.
MISSOURI Columbia: The state has less than two months to spend remaining federal coronavirus aid, the state budget director said Monday. Gov. Mike Parson asked lawmakers to give his administration authority to spend another roughly $1.1 billion in federal aid. State health department Director Randall Williams has urged local governments to use the money for testing. Meanwhile, Rep. Peter Merideth said hard-hit St. Louis is close to running out of money to keep day cares open and prevent homelessness.
MONTANA Helena: The state’s most populous county may see additional restrictions to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, as cases reached a new high in October, Yellowstone County Health Officer John Felton said Monday. Those new restrictions could include earlier closing hours for businesses and additional limits on gathering sizes.
NEBRASKA Omaha: Gov. Pete Ricketts and first lady Susanne Shore have gone into quarantine after both were exposed to a person with the coronavirus, the governor’s spokesman announced Tuesday. NEVADA Carson City: After a week of a record-setting number of new coronavirus cases and spiking infection rates, health officials flagged 10 of the state’s 17 counties as “high risk.” In the state’s hospitals, 3 out of every 4 beds are occupied.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The New Hampshire Food Bank is hosting 10 drive-thru mobile food pantries over the next two weeks aimed at addressing growing need as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. NEW JERSEY Trenton: The state recorded nearly 4,000 new cases of COVID-19, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday, marking one of the largest totals since the peak of the pandemic in April.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: Athletes from five universities are asking Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for more flexibility that would let them do what most colleges in other states are allowed to do: hold full practices and play games. A coalition of student-athletes issued their formal plea in a letter sent Monday, as the state marked another daily high for confirmed COVID-19 cases.
NEW YORK Albany: The state is trying to contain the steadily increasing spread of COVID-19 in parts of western and central New York with new restrictions on dining and gatherings and mandatory testing in schools. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that he’s designating parts of Erie, Monroe and Onondaga counties – home to Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse – “yellow zones.”
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: More than a million parents are receiving a $335 check from the state government to help offset costs as the pandemic keeps many schools closed for in-person instruction.
NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: Gov. Doug Burgum said Monday that health care workers who have tested positive for the coronavirus but do not have symptoms should be allowed to stay on the job, part of an effort to ease the stress both on hospitals and on medical personnel trying to keep up with skyrocketing cases.
OHIO Columbus: Health officials across the state warned of a dark winter, with limited intensive care unit beds, if the new surge in coronavirus cases is not curbed in the next few weeks.
OKLAHOMA Tulsa: The city’s hospitals were at capacity for intensive care patients Tuesday, and officials reported a one-day record high in hospitalizations statewide. Mayor G.T. Bynum told KOTV that Tulsa, as a regional medical hub, needs other cities in the area to take steps to slow the spread of the virus.
OREGON Salem: The state’s centralized voter registration system is a weak point in its election system, county clerks told the secretary of state-elect, days after the incumbent fired the state elections director after he raised similar concerns.
PENNSYLVANIA Slatington: A prosecutor says police were justified in shooting a man authorities say opened fire on officers trying to arrest him in connection with shots fired a day earlier following a dispute over mask-wearing. Authorities allege Adam Zaborowski, 35, fired dozens of rounds from an AK-47 on Aug. 1.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: East Providence officials said Weaver Public Library has been closed until further notice after a staffer tested positive for the coronavirus. The Riverside branch was also closed as a precaution. In Coventry, officials said town hall and other buildings will be closed to visitors as coronavirus cases surge in the state.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Clemson University’s saliva testing lab opened over the summer and is now conducting 100% of on-campus coronavirus testing. It can test about 2,500 samples a day, with plans to double that capacity by mid-November, according to Dr. Delphine Dean, the lab’s lead faculty member. Soon, the lab will expand to help test the surrounding community, Dean said.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: Ellsworth Air Force Base is among nine U.S. Air Force bases in the world that have been categorized as “red” installations due to the rise of active COVID-19 cases in surrounding areas.
TENNESSEE Nashville: Volunteer State counties that have not required wearing masks in public are on average seeing COVID-19 death rates double or more compared with those that instituted mandates, according to a report released Tuesday by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
TEXAS Austin: More Texas jail and prison inmates and staff have been infected and killed by the coronavirus than in any other state’s criminal justice system, finds a report by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas.
UTAH St. George: New COVID-19 restrictions announced by Gov. Gary Herbert on Sunday could affect every aspect of Utahns’ lives, and the state’s new mask mandate will be in place in national and state parks. The state’s official coronavirus outdoor recreation website encourages visitors to visit during non-peak hours, not congregate on trails or other popular gathering areas, and “avoid unnecessary risk that could leave you injured and in need of medical care.”
VERMONT Burlington: The mayor said a wastewater surveillance program is detecting an increase of the coronavirus in the New North End. Mayor Miro Weinberger said it’s an early sign of elevated risk.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The City Council has renamed a stretch of four blocks that had been known as Confederate Avenue. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the name is now Laburnum Park Boulevard.
WASHINGTON Monroe: Teachers in northwestern Washington have urged school district administrators to stop plans next week to resume some in-person classes for first graders as coronavirus cases keep rising. Teachers in the Monroe School District protested the plans at a drive-in rally Monday while the school board met virtually, KING-TV reports.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: The state has smashed weekly records for confirmed coronavirus cases, while the death toll was pushed higher Monday after more than two dozen previously unreported fatalities were discovered, health officials said. The state reported 2,725 new cases over the week ending Sunday, a 19% increase from the prior week’s record.
WISCONSIN Madison: The Wisconsin Department of Health Services has not expanded the state’s popular SeniorCare program to include coverage for vaccines, despite being required under law and as flu season begins while the coronavirus ravages the state. Republican lawmakers are demanding an explanation from Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm.
WYOMING Casper: Regulators have voted to deny a renewable energy company a lease to build a wind farm on state land. The decision Thursday by the State Land Board came after citizens expressed concern that the development would ruin scenic views in the area.