HIGHLIGHT: MICHIGAN
Detroit: As the pandemic worsens the economy and more Michiganders struggle to afford food, a new report says the state must strengthen its food supply by prioritizing food workers for personal protective equipment and helping to ensure more food makes it the “last mile” to residents in need. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created the Food Security Council in August and released its recommendations Monday. The state’s central 2-1-1 dashboard reports food pantries as one of the top reasons people contact the hotline. The report notes that “high food insecurity rates correlate with pronounced racial disparities.”
ALABAMA Huntsville: A state vaccination hotline was quickly overwhelmed by thousands of callers and “has not worked very well,” but officials are trying to fix the problem, a top health leader said Wednesday. ALASKA Anchorage: City health mandates helped reduce the spread of the coronavirus last year, a new Alaska Division of Public Health report said. It found a June mask mandate was responsible for reducing case counts by almost 20%. A decline throughout the August shutdown suggested bars and restaurants were a major factor in viral transmission. ARIZONA Phoenix: The state, facing the worst COVID-19 infection rate in the country, is teetering on the brink of having to ration life-saving care, leaders of its major hospitals said Wednesday. “During triage … we might have to make very difficult decisions about what type of care would be available for a patient,” said Dr. Marjorie Bessel of Banner Health. ARKANSAS Little Rock: Rep. Milton Nicks, D-Marion, has tested positive for the coronavirus, a state House spokeswoman said Wednesday, days after the legislative session began. CALIFORNIA Sacramento: State public health officials followed federal guidance Wednesday by announcing that people 65 and older could get the COVID-19 vaccine. But Los Angeles County said it couldn’t immediately provide the shots because it hasn’t yet inoculated health care workers, who have first crack at the vaccine. COLORADO Boulder: The University of Colorado, Boulder will resume some in-person classes starting Feb. 15 after starting the spring semester with all online instruction Thursday because of the pandemic. The school will require weekly virus tests for all faculty, staff and students on campus, the Daily Camera reports. CONNECTICUT Hartford: With a handful of special elections coming up in February, state lawmakers will likely decide soon whether to again give all eligible voters the option of voting absentee to avoid the polls during the pandemic. The General Assembly’s Government Administration and Elections Committee voted Wednesday to take up the issue as a “concept” that could ultimately lead to a bill being drafted.
DELAWARE Dover: Republican lawmakers are pushing to limit Democratic Gov. John Carney’s powers to issue statewide restrictions following a 10-month state of emergency order to limit the spread of COVID-19. Polling shows Delawareans have largely approved so far of the restrictions, despite the financial and emotional sacrifices they’ve had to endure. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The district is asking the federal Operation Warp Speed to increase its allotment of vaccine doses after all 6,700 available appointments for the week were booked by Monday afternoon, WUSA-TV reports.
FLORIDA Fort Lauderdale: Officials are moving quickly to dispel rumors that tourists and day-trippers are swooping into the state for COVID-19 vaccines. Gov. Ron DeSantis said stories of people flying to Florida, getting vaccinated and returning home are overblown, and nonresidents getting shots are almost entirely “snowbirds,” who live in the state during the winter and could infect others if they aren’t vaccinated. GEORGIA Atlanta: Gov. Brian Kemp delivered his annual State of the State address Thursday, shadowed by Georgia’s soaring COVID-19 death toll. He highlighted his early – and often criticized – push to reopen the economy, saying the decision “allowed Georgia’s small business community to live to fight another day.” HAWAII Honolulu: The state Department of Education will prohibit events involving gatherings of more than 20 people, including proms, for the remainder of the school year. IDAHO Boise: State senators on Wednesday joined their House colleagues in introducing legislation seeking to wrest power from Republican Gov. Brad Little on emergency declarations like the one dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
ILLINOIS Chicago: The city is opening six mass COVID-19 vaccination sites able to deliver roughly 25,000 weekly shots once operational, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Less than a week after the state expanded who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, more than 250,000 seniors have scheduled appointments, state health officials said Thursday. IOWA Des Moines: Iowa Chief Justice Susan Christensen said Wednesday that the pandemic forced the court system to enact two shutdowns of jury trials and institute remote hearings, but she is determined to resume in-person trials in February.
KANSAS Topeka: Coronavirus hospitalizations have fallen from their high last month, and staffing is under less strain as the state’s shaky vaccine rollout gains momentum, although overall case numbers remain stubbornly high. KENTUCKY Louisville: The state is on the verge of reaching 3,000 COVID-19 deaths.“We can stop this,” Gov. Andy Beshear said, calling on Kentuckians to redouble precautions such as wearing masks and avoiding crowds.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: Bar owners in the New Orleans and Lafayette areas who are fighting coronavirus-related closures of their businesses lost an appeal Wednesday at a federal appeals court. MAINE Portland: Unemployment claims remained high in the early part of the new year. The Maine Department of Labor reported about 3,700 initial claims for state unemployment insurance in the week that ended Jan. 9. That’s 200 less than the previous week but 1,000 more than the week before that. MARYLAND Ocean City: Lawmakers are considering a bill aimed at helping restaurants and bars stricken by the pandemic. Legislation has been prefiled in the General Assembly that would fully legalize the sale of alcohol for carryout and delivery. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The state will start vaccinating people living and working in congregate care facilities and prisons Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday. MINNESOTA Minneapolis: State health officials say they’re waiting for more information from the federal government on its new guidance to expand who’s eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The Minnesota Department of Health said no additional vaccine doses have been made available for the state so far. MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves received the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday on a video streamed to Facebook Live. “We’ve heard, ‘If the governor won’t take it, I won’t take it,’ ” Reeves said. MISSOURI Kansas City: Officials announced an easing of coronavirus restrictions Wednesday that allows Kansas City-area bars and restaurants to remain open until midnight. MONTANA Helena: Gov. Greg Gianforte announced Wednesday that he is removing health mandates issued by his predecessor, saying the restrictions on closing times, capacity limits and gathering sizes are harmful to businesses. A statewide mask mandate remains in place.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The state plans to expand the next phase of its COVID-19 vaccine campaign to include everyone 65 and older. Some younger people with high-risk medical conditions may also be eligible. Infectious disease expert Dr. Mark Rupp with the University of Nebraska Medical Center cautioned that the overall pace of vaccinations may not change much because of the logistical challenges involved. NEVADA Las Vegas: A hospital said Wednesday that it declared a capacity crisis over the weekend, citing a surge of COVID-19 patients that overfilled its intensive care unit. St. Rose Dominican Hospital’s San Martin campus in southwest Las Vegas canceled elective surgeries beginning Saturday and pressed specialized units into service for non-COVID-19 patients, according to a hospital memo to medical staff. NEW HAMPSHIRE Rye: The leader of Webster at Rye is apologizing after the long-term care facility was criticized by state health officials for allowing its board members to get COVID-19 vaccinations for which they were not eligible, effectively “cutting the line,” one official said. NEW JERSEY Trenton: Health officials expect the state will be hit with another surge in COVID-19 cases that may last a month and put a strain on hospital resources, the Murphy administration said Wednesday. Modeling by the state Health Department predicts levels not seen since early May.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The New Mexico Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday as it weighs whether the state must compensate businesses for losses due to temporary closures and other pandemicrelated restrictions.
NEW YORK Albany: Restaurants in some COVID-19 hot spots, including Staten Island and Monroe County in the Finger Lakes, can again offer limited indoor dining in the wake of the latest lawsuit against Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s virus restrictions. NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Public health officials on Thursday unveiled an updated state COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan that prioritizes adults 65 years or older, while removing college students as a priority over the general public. NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A Republican lawmaker wants to prohibit businesses from banning cash as a payment, saying cashless transactions create economic barriers for some residents. Rep. Ben Koppelman said an increasing number of businesses have gone cashless because of the “fear of virus transfer.” Public officials and health experts have said the risk of transferring the coronavirus through cash is small. OHIO Columbus: The state is rolling out an online tool on the state’s coronavirus website to allow residents to look up locations where the COVID-19 vaccine is available, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday. All local health departments should also have the information on their websites. Ohioans will still have to contact the vaccine providers themselves, DeWine said.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: As COVID-19 cases surge, hospital leaders in the state remain in talks with ethicists and lawyers about how to handle the allocation of critical resources for patients on the brink of death. OREGON Salem: Nearly 15,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been added to the state’s immunization registry. More than 320,000 doses have been delivered across Oregon, including a mass vaccination site at the Oregon State Fairgrounds, which Gov. Kate Brown visited Wednesday. PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Gov. Tom Wolf is urging Republican lawmakers to help free up $145 million in small-business relief. “They need to act quickly because businesses need this help now,” Wolf said.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: There are some positive signs in the state’s fight against the coronavirus, according to statistics Thursday. The daily test positivity rate was 4.5%. Gov. Gina Raimondo had said the goal was to get the rate below 5%.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The state will allow medical students, retired nurses and other qualified professionals to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Thursday that its hotline, which received 5,000 calls the day before, was “fully functional” after adding call center operators. SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: Lawmakers on Wednesday acknowledged their plans to meet in Pierre could be upended by the coronavirus. Many lawmakers haven’t worn masks. Senate Pro Tem Lee Schoenbeck said he encouraged fellow Republicans “to be kind for two months” and said that “if one of my friends in the Senate ends up on a vent, we’re going home.” TENNESSEE Memphis: Early COVID-19 vaccination data in Shelby County shows a significant racial gap, with far more white residents having received doses than Black residents. The Shelby County Health Department said the data is not yet robust enough to signify a racial disparity. TEXAS Austin: The state has distributed more than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday. The state has increased shot efforts by shifting doses to mass distribution centers. UTAH St. George: The Southwest Utah Public Health Department’s online booking service for COVID-19 vaccinations was down Wednesday after running into an “unexpected maintenance issue” Monday. VERMONT Montpelier: The Legislature is working on a bill to allow municipalities to move the date of their annual March town meetings amid the pandemic. The House passed the measure, which is now in the Senate, the Times Argus reports.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam gave his annual State of the Commonwealth address to lawmakers Wednesday, speaking to a mostly empty House chamber because of the pandemic. GOP legislators said their priorities this session would include pushing to get schools back to in-person classes. WASHINGTON Seattle: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating Seattle Public Schools after “disturbing reports” about how the district handled special education amid the pandemic. In a letter sent to Superintendent Denise Juneau, department officials cite concerns that some students went without specialized instruction, and some teachers weren’t allowed to provide it, The Seattle Times reports. WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Lawmakers met at the state Capitol on Wednesday to formally begin a maskmandatory legislative session. WISCONSIN Milwaukee: A state board on Wednesday suspended the license of a pharmacist accused of ruining more than 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine because he thought it was unsafe. A detective said Steven Brandenburg told investigators he tried to ruin the vaccine because it could change people’s DNA. WYOMING Jackson Hole: Allegiant Air is adding air service between Jackson Hole and Reno and Las Vegas starting in June. The airline announced eight new routes that were delayed last year amid the pandemic.