HIGHLIGHT: FLORIDA
Miami: Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs provided some coronavirus relief in a Miami neighborhood on Tuesday, handing out $50 bills amid a crowd of hundreds. He was joined by his children at the event set up to help Overtown neighborhood residents facing economic hardship during the pandemic. In addition to the cash, $50 Publix supermarket gift cards and bags containing hygiene products also were handed out. Diddy’s charitable foundation is also working with music festival and nightlife organizer Michael Gardner and the local group Teens Exercising Extraordinary Success to provide rental assistance for 175 families.
ALABAMA Gadsden: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alabama topped 2,800 this week, as recent days have shown a steady climb and new record high inpatient counts – 2,804 on Tuesday – as the surge in cases continues.
ALASKA Anchorage: Health officials are still determining who will receive the COVID-19 vaccine and when because the number of available doses remains limited. The Alaska Division of Public Health has administered about 11,800 doses as of Friday in the first phase of vaccination that began this month, the Anchorage Daily News reported Monday.
ARIZONA Phoenix: Some Arizona hospitals have stopped accepting patients brought to them by ambulance runs and transfers as they scramble to address a backlog of sick people amid a COVID-19 surge, the state’s largest hospital chain said Tuesday. Banner Health said 10 hospitals were diverting ambulances and transfers to other medical facilities late Monday and six were still doing so early Tuesday. All hospitals continued to accept walk-in patients needing emergency care. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson extended his coronavirus emergency declaration by another two months as the state reported a record one-day spike in deaths and a new high in hospitalizations. CALIFORNIA Ross: The coronavirus pandemic is coming home to roost in America’s backyards. Forced to hunker down at home, more people are setting up coops and raising their own chickens, which provide an earthy hobby, animal companionship and a steady supply of fresh eggs. COLORADO Fort Collins: Four Colorado prison inmates have died since Dec. 22 after apparently contracting COVID-19, bringing the total number of prisoners in the state whose deaths have been linked to the disease to 24.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Officials estimated tens of thousands of residents will benefit financially from the latest federal pandemic relief legislation, including more than 30,000 who were at risk of losing pandemic assistance for the unemployed if the bill wasn’t signed into law. DELAWARE Rehoboth Beach: City Hall will be closed through Sunday because two employees tested positive for the coronavirus.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing
ton: New Year’s Eve would usually be a lucrative time of the year for bars and restaurants, but COVID-19 restrictions are creating more of a strain than a celebration, WUSA-TV reported.
GEORGIA Savannah: Savannah Kwanzaa Director Dorothy Cohen made a tough decision out of love for her community. Since 1984, Cohen hosted a Kwanzaa celebration in Savannah, most recently at the Tompkins Center, but this year she decided it would be safer to cancel the event because of the pandemic.
HAWAII Honolulu: Some hotel executives don’t expect a quick recovery for Hawaii’s tourism industry from the pandemic.
IDAHO Boise: Idaho officials have released a rough timeline for when residents can expect their turn to get the COVID-19 vaccination, though much of the planning remains a work in progress and is contingent on the state’s supply and demand. ILLINOIS Springfield: The Springfield Fire Department, nearly two months after a COVID-19 outbreak idled more than one-third of its force, will soon have access to once-a-week rapid virus testing through the University of Illinois.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Indiana set a single-day record of newly reported COVID-19 deaths following the Christmas holiday and a backlog of weekend reporting, state health officials said Tuesday.
IOWA Davenport: The Rock Island County Health Department reported five more deaths related to COVID-19 on Tuesday as the total number of new cases in the Quad-Cities was 98. According to health officials in Rock Island, those reported dead Tuesday were: a man in his 80s who had been hospitalized and a woman in her 90s, a woman in her 80s and two men in their 80s, all of whom had been living in long-term-care facilities.
KANSAS Topeka: Two northeastern Kansas counties are backing off mask mandates they imposed last month as coronavirus cases surged. KENTUCKY Frankfort: Gov. Andy Beshear implored Kentuckians to avoid large New Year’s Eve gatherings, calling it a small sacrifice to slow the spread of the coronavirus as he announced nearly 3,000 new cases and 31 more virus-related deaths on Tuesday.
LOUISIANA Moss Bluff: A former state lawmaker and his wife died on the same day from complications of COVID-19. Victor “Vic” Stelly and Terry Bass Stelly died within hours of each other on Saturday, according to the family’s obituary.
MAINE Portland: Maine dentists said the pandemic is taking a toll on oral health. Dentists are seeing more cracked teeth and jaw pain from patients who are clenching their jaws and grinding their teeth, the Portland Press Herald reported. MARYLAND Snow Hill: Worcester County Schools are heading back to the classroom in the new year. “We feel confident that our schools are well-positioned to continue our transition to Stage 2 of our ‘Responsible Return’ on Jan. 4, 2021,” Superintendent Lou Taylor said in a video message to families Tuesday. Stage 2 means the schools will welcome small, targeted groups of students back to in-person learning. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The head of the statewide firefighters union said the state’s plan to get firefighters vaccinated against the coronavirus lacks “coordination and communication.”
MICHIGAN Lansing: The state’s court administrator’s office told chief probate judges that they might see an increase in petitions seeking temporary guardians for some people in long-term care facilities as COVID-19 vaccinations pick up. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The Department of Health on Tuesday reported 36 more deaths from COVID-19, and 988 new infections with lower-than-usual testing volume. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Mississippi bars and restaurants are limited in selling alcohol to customers ringing in the new year. An executive order by Gov. Tate Reeves bans the sale of alcohol between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. MISSOURI St. Louis: St. Louis County is allowing restaurants and bars to resume limited indoor dining starting Monday after shutting it down last month to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
MONTANA Miles City: As vaccines continue to roll out across the state, staff and residents at the Montana VA Health Care System’s Miles City Community Living Center were expected to receive the vaccine on Tuesday.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine are participating in national testing of a potential new COVID-19 vaccine for adults. NEVADA Las Vegas: A New Year’s Eve event at a canopied casino-mall that is expected to draw at least 14,000 people could be a superspreader event that overruns hospitals, members of Nevada’s coronavirus task force said Tuesday. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: More than a month since protesters started gathering outside Gov. Chris Sununu’s home over his order requiring masks, police issued summonses to nine people and arrested one under a new anti-picketing ordinance passed by the select board, which includes Sununu’s brother.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: Presidentelect Joe Biden has named a member of Gov. Phil Murphy’s cabinet to lead the country’s COVID-19 testing strategy once Biden takes office next month, the governor’s office announced Tuesday night. Carole Johnson, the state’s Department of Human Services commissioner since 2018, is expected to join the White House’s COVID-19 response team on Jan. 15, Murphy’s office said.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: A group of businesses has sued in federal court to try to end New Mexico’s public health order, claiming Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state health officials have imposed arbitrary and unnecessary rules in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
NEW YORK Albany: Asymptomatic individuals who are exposed to COVID-19 can now end their quarantine after 10 days in New York under new guidance announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
NORTH CAROLINA Wilmington: Cases of COVID-19 are rising in New Hanover County as a holiday surge continues. In the last two weeks, 1,158 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the county, according to a press release from New Hanover County Public Health. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The number of hospitalizations because of complications from the coronavirus has dipped below 100 for the first time in more than three months, North Dakota health officials said Wednesday. The number of people receiving treatment in medical facilities dropped by 19 in the last day, for a total of 96.
OHIO Cincinnati: Hamilton County counted 2,814 positive coronavirus cases in the last week, bringing the total to 50,527, said Commissioner Denise Driehaus in a Wednesday briefing. This was the last scheduled Hamilton County COVID-19 briefing of 2020.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The Department of Health has announced plans for COVID-19 vaccine distribution locations in the state as it moves into Phase 2 of vaccinations that will begin with first responders and health care workers who are not in a hospital setting.
OREGON Portland: Five Oregon counties will be upgraded from extreme risk to high risk levels based on the area’s current COVID-19 data, Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday. High risk is the first level in which some businesses, including restaurants, can resume offering indoor services. PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Additional restrictions that were imposed almost three weeks ago to fight the pandemic will expire as expected early next week, Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: The Rhode Island Department of Education has ruled that the superintendent of North Kingstown schools could not bar two students from attending in-person classes because they went to school while their father awaited the results of a coronavirus test.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Beleaguered city and hospital leaders in the Upstate region of South Carolina hardest hit by the coronavirus rebuked residents who plan to party in large crowds for New Year’s Eve as hospitals have already reached a breaking point Tuesday.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Republican state Sen. Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown confirmed Tuesday he has tested positive for the coronavirus. He said he experienced only a deep dry cough that lasted two days and is currently isolating in his Black Hills cabin, the Watertown Public Opinion reported.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The state has updated its scheduled rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, including moving teachers into a higher priority category.
TEXAS Austin: Warning of a critical situation of rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and new cases, city officials moved Wednesday to tamp down social gatherings and parties over New Year’s with new limits on dinein and drink service at restaurants and bars.
UTAH Salt Lake City: County officials in Utah have warned against holding large gatherings for New Year’s Eve without a permit, which is now required under safety guidelines intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
VERMONT Bennington: The Bennington Police Department is dealing with an outbreak of the coronavirus among its force. Five officers, including the police chief, and one civilian employee have tested positive. VIRGINIA Fort Lee: The COVID-19 vaccines have not arrived yet, but that is not stopping the Kenner Army Health Clinic from getting ready to administer them, a spokeswoman for the post medical center said. WASHINGTON Olympia: Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday extended restrictions on businesses and social gatherings because of the pandemic for another week. Inslee said the restrictions are now set to expire Jan. 11.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice announced an aggressive plan Wednesday to reopen public schools to in-person learning for younger students and offer COVID-19 vaccines to residents age 80 and older and to teachers and school personnel over age 50.
WISCONSIN Madison: Assembly Democrats are considering skipping next week’s inauguration ceremony because Republicans who control the chamber aren’t mandating masks and they believe an in-person ceremony is too risky.
WYOMING Casper: An outgoing Wyoming Republican state representative is organizing a protest to urge Republican Gov. Mark Gordon to discontinue coronavirus health restrictions that are set to expire on Jan. 8. State Rep. Scott Clem said he plans on marching Monday at the state Capitol to protest the “tyranny” of the governor and his public health orders meant to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.