50 ☆ States
ALABAMA Montgomery: Alabama Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey on Friday estimated that up to half of the state’s public school students will be attending classes remotely in the fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ALASKA Anchorage: A seafood processing plant has found 56 employees tested positive for COVID-19, health officials said. The Anchorage Health Department announced Friday that more workers could test positive, as 30 test results are still pending. The plant is owned by Copper River Seafoods and employs 134 workers.
ARIZONA Phoenix: This year’s wildfire season has been extra challenging for firefighters, as crews have had to battle some massive fires around the state while dealing with changes in their routine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But efforts to mitigate COVID-19 cases among firefighters have been successful so far, according to fire officials, with only one crew member testing positive and since recovering.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: Two state prison inmates have died while being treated for COVID-19, according to the Arkansas Department of Correction.
CALIFORNIA Foresthill: Park officials have shut vehicle access to a pristine swimming hole due to an influx of visitors to the “hidden gem” that has become a popular photo backdrop on social media. There are just 12 parking spots near Yankee Jim’s, about 35 miles west of Lake Tahoe, but last weekend California State Parks and Placer County authorities counted more than 300 vehicles parked near the rugged roads surrounding a oneway bridge overhead.
COLORADO Grand Junction: Multiple high schools have said fall sports remain undecided as the state High School Activities Association awaits gubernatorial approval to move forward. District 51 Athletic Director Paul Cain said he’s had multiple conversations with Association Commissioner Rhonda BlanfordGreen in the past few weeks to discuss options to resume athletics this upcoming school year, The Daily Sentinel reports.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order Friday that state union leaders predict will provide hundreds, possibly thousands, of front-line workers “presumptive eligibility” for workers’ compensation benefits if they contracted the coronavirus while on the job during the pandemic’s early days.
DELAWARE Dover: Twelve residents who tested positive for COVID-19 were incorrectly told they had tested negative, state public health officials acknowledged Friday.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing
ton: Crowds of people gathered at Columbia Heights Civic Plaza on Saturday to continue to call on D.C. leaders to cancel rent throughout the pandemic, WUSA-TV reports.
FLORIDA Orlando: More than 9,300 new coronavirus cases were reported in the state Sunday, accompanied by an additional 78 deaths.
GEORGIA Atlanta: The state reported more than 4,800 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus Friday, the highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic, capping a week that also saw the state report its highestyet death toll.
HAWAII Honolulu: Investigators with the state attorney general’s office arrested a 20-year-old woman after seeing videos of her dancing in a store and dining out when she was supposed to be obeying a traveler quarantine that the state mandated to protect against the spread of the coronavirus on the islands.
IDAHO Boise: Gov. Brad Little said Thursday that there are too many coronavirus infections, and the state will remain in the fourth and final stage of his plan to reopen during the pandemic for at least another two weeks.
INDIANA Indianapolis: The state reported 860 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and eight deaths Sunday, a day ahead of a statewide mask mandate taking effect.
IOWA Des Moines: Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation Friday extending an order that bars and restaurants require patrons to remain at least 6 feet apart to limit spread of the coronavirus.
KANSAS Topeka: Some businesses in two western Kansas counties, Rawlins and Wallace, that have yet to report a single coronavirus case aren’t requiring customers to wear masks, but they are asking if they have traveled outside the county.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Gov. Andy Beshear announced 836 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, breaking Friday’s record for the second-highest single-day total.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: The mayor has shut down the city’s bars because of rising coronavirus numbers and has also forbid restaurants from selling alcoholic drinks to go.
MAINE Augusta: A water district is collecting sewage samples for testing to determine the prevalence of the coronavirus based on what’s being flushed down the toilet. The Greater Augusta Utility District began collecting samples of sewage last week at its treatment plant.
MARYLAND Baltimore: The state’s prison system has received more than 2 million pieces of personal protective equipment since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but advocates for workers and offenders say they’ve been hardly enough to stem the virus’s spread behind bars.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Travelers to Massachusetts, including residents returning from out-ofstate trips, face $500-per-day fines if they refuse to comply with a new executive order requiring them to quarantine for 14 days, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Friday. The order takes effect Aug. 1.
MICHIGAN Lansing: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has extended a ban on family visitors at nursing homes and congregate care sites through Aug. 31. There’s an exception for seeing a resident in serious or critical condition or in hospice care.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: State health officials are concerned about renewed pressure on the testing supply chain, which could affect the state’s response to a recent growth in cases and plans to continue to ramp up testing. Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said state officials have received reports of delays or reductions in testing supplies from some health systems across the state, which rely on their own supply channels.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The governor is setting new restrictions on bars and social gatherings to curb the spread of the coronavirus among a group he called “young, drunk, careless folks.”
MISSOURI Springfield: A woman is suing the city over its decision to require face coverings, saying the health of others “is not my responsibility.” Rachel Shelton is asking the court to temporarily stop an ordinance and rule it violates her rights.
MONTANA Billings: A senior home that has been pummeled by a coronavirus outbreak that infected nearly every resident has seen another death as the number of confirmed virus cases to date topped 3,000 statewide Friday. Canyon Creek Memory Care in Billings saw its 15th death Thursday.
NEBRASKA Omaha: The state continues to see high numbers of coronavirus cases, according to state health figures, as the prison system reported four additional staffers testing positive for the virus.
NEVADA Reno: A sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court denied a rural church’s request late Friday to strike down as unconstitutional a 50person cap on worship services as part of the state’s ongoing response to the coronavirus.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Gov. Chris Sununu on Friday vetoed a bill that would have raised the state’s minimum wage, saying it creates negative unintended consequences that are only “exacerbated” by the economic situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: State officials provided more details Friday on the reopening of schools this fall, including that parents will be allowed to opt their children out from in-person learning without having to demonstrate a risk of illness or other special circumstance.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: Health officials say the state has 324 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 18,788. State data released Saturday by the state Department of Health also showed six new deaths from the coronavirus.
NEW YORK New York: More than 100 bars and restaurants in the area were flagged for social distancing violations over the weekend, and some now face the possible suspension of their liquor licenses, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. The violations, for issues such as people crowding outside and workers not wearing masks, were handed out to establishments in the city and on Long Island, Cuomo said.
NORTH CAROLINA Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina school system officials have voted to keep tuition rates the same regardless of whether classes move online because of coronavirus concerns.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: State health officials reported 124 new coronavirus infections Saturday but no new deaths.
OHIO Columbus: Lawyers who volunteer as poll workers could earn continuing education credit hours in exchange, under a program announced by the Ohio Supreme Court and the state elections chief, as the state faces a poll worker shortage because of the pandemic.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: The head of coronavirus response at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center said an increase in the number of younger Oklahoma residents dying as a result of the virus has become a worry. Although most of the 484 deaths reported in the state due to COVID-19 remain in the 65and-up age group with nearly 80%, an increase in deaths of those 36-49 shows it can kill younger people as well, Dr. Dale Bratzler said.
OREGON Portland: Nine more people in the state have died from COVID-19, the most deaths reported in one day since the pandemic began, health officials said Friday.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The many school districts across the state that have not settled on how and when they will restart instruction will be making decisions in the coming weeks, and the pandemic plans that have been produced so far are all over the map. That’s by design, the state education secretary said Friday, as he encouraged districts to customize state-issued guidelines.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: Gov. Gina Raimondo has enlisted the help of two pediatricians to reassure parents it is safe to reopen the state’s schools Aug. 31 as planned. Dr. Jim McDonald of the state Department of Health and Dr. Elizabeth Lange, former president of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatricians, said at a live forum Thursday that while there is no way to make in-person learning risk-free, there are ways to minimize it, and they pointed to other risks for children “feeling the stress from the lack of a routine.”
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state pushed past 80,000 Sunday. Health department officials say they don’t have an accurate count of how many people are hospitalized with COVID-19 because of the transition to a new tracking system mandated by President Donald Trump’s administration.
SOUTH DAKOTA Pierre: State health officials reported 105 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday but no deaths.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The state’s attorney general says mask mandates are constitutionally defensible in an opinion that comes as some county mayors have moved to enact the requirements. Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III wrote in an opinion Friday that for more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that “a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.”
TEXAS Houston: Houston-area officials announced Friday that they have ordered all public and non-religious private schools not to reopen for in-person instruction until at least Sept. 8 because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. On-campus instruction might be delayed further based on public health conditions, Harris County officials said.
UTAH St. George: Southwest Utah is seeing another drop in coronavirus cases, similar to the drop the fivecounty region saw the week before last, but officials want to see more before officially calling it a downturn.
VERMONT Montpelier: Gov. Phil Scott on Friday issued an order requiring people in the state to wear masks in public as part of an ongoing effort to reduce the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19. Scott said the outbreaks hitting the South and West may be spreading back toward the Northeast and Vermont.
VIRGINIA Richmond: The State Fair of Virginia has been canceled this year because of the pandemic.
WASHINGTON Olympia: A federal judge on Friday denied a request for a preliminary injunction against Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency coronavirus orders that had been brought by some Republican state lawmakers. Filed in May, the legal challenge contended that “the emergency has been contained” and that ongoing restrictions for businesses, workers and residents weren’t legally justified, The Seattle Times reports.
WEST VIRGINIA Gary: The town has been without water service for several days after a pump broke, prompting concerns about a shortage of a precious resource during the coronavirus pandemic.
WISCONSIN Green Bay: Police are investigating threats made against city officials over a new mandate requiring face coverings in public buildings because of the coronavirus.
WYOMING Casper: The state Department of Corrections has a new acting director. Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement that deputy director Dan Shannon would replace Bob Lampert, who announced his retirement last week after serving as director since 2003, KTWO-AM radio reports. Authorities say the department has been performing well despite the challenges of COVID-19 and looming budget reductions.