News from across the USA
ALABAMA Clanton: The city has lost a second elected official to the coronavirus six months after the longtime mayor died of COVID-19. City Council member Sammy Wilson died Thursday, WBRC-TV reports.
ALASKA Anchorage: Differences in vaccine eligibility between state and tribal systems have resulted in frustration among some who are waiting to get shots. Anchorage’s main tribal health provider is vaccinating employees of its affiliated for-profit company and nonprofit organizations without regard to race, age or vulnerability, Alaska Public Media reports.
ARIZONA Phoenix: The state reported more than 3,700 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, and hospitalizations have been gradually declining, even as the state remains highest-ranked nationwide for its case rate over the past week.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state Department of Health reported 881 new coronavirus cases Sunday and 30 new deaths due to COVID-19.
CALIFORNIA San Francisco: An effort to reopen schools is foundering, stoking frustrations across the state from parents eager to get their children back in classrooms and a governor who wants them there. Parents and behavioral experts say many students are feeling helpless or depressed and need a classroom setting to improve their mental health.
COLORADO Grand Junction: Selfemployed workers and residents whose unemployment benefits have expired can register for two renewed federal aid programs to help workers who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. Jobless residents can log into the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s new MyUI+ system to reopen claims that were not fully paid by the end of 2020.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: Lawmakers are being asked to consider a new five-year proposal to boost state funding for nonprofit social service agencies, many of which have seen both an uptick in clients and increased costs during the pandemic.
DELAWARE Wilmington: With more than 100,000 doses of vaccine administered, the state ranks eighth in the nation in the percentage of its population that has received at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Division of Public Health, said last week it could be until September before Delaware achieves herd immunity.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Activists are facing a crisis of violence that they say seems to only have gotten worse amid the pandemic, WUSA-TV reports. Last year D.C. saw its highest homicide numbers in 16 years. “It’s so much idle time right now, and people are hurt,” community activist Clayton Rosenberg said.
FLORIDA Tallahassee: A statewide system launched Friday for residents 65 and older and front-line medical workers to preregister for COVID-19 vaccine slots at myvaccine.fl.gov.
GEORGIA Atlanta: Public health departments and other providers are being forced to “pause” appointments for vaccinations amid an inadequate supply, the governor’s office said.
HAWAII Hilo: Some restaurant owners have come out against a proposal for a 2-cent tax per ounce on sugarsweetened beverages. The tax targets small businesses and people without disposable income during a pandemic, said Victor Lim of the Hawaii Restaurant Association.
IDAHO Boise: The state’s judicial system faces a backlog of thousands of cases because of delays caused by the public health crisis, said the chief justice of Idaho’s Supreme Court.
ILLINOIS Grafton: The popular Two Rivers Family Fishing Fair at Pere Marquette State Park is slated to return in October, rather than June, after skipping 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
INDIANA Indianapolis: State health officials are making vaccinations available to those between ages 65 and 69, they announced Monday.
IOWA Des Moines: A Democratic state lawmaker said she has tested positive for the coronavirus and thinks she was infected at the Iowa Capitol, where Republicans have refused to mandate masks or require people to disclose positive cases.
KANSAS Topeka: A recently detected coronavirus variant did not cause a fast-moving outbreak at Winfield Correctional Facility, the state health department said Monday.
KENTUCKY Louisville: New polling from the COVID States Project shows about 34% of Kentuckians are receptive to getting vaccinated, and 24% would refuse it. About 41% want to wait until some or most of the people they know have received a shot before getting vaccinated.
LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: Most state agencies didn’t have workfrom-home policies before the pandemic and struggled with technology challenges when told to allow employees to work virtually, according to an audit released Monday.
MAINE Portland: The University of Maine System will not require students and employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
MARYLAND Baltimore: Adults who are hospitalized with certain health conditions – active cancer treatment, sickle cell disease, solid organ transplants and diabetes – are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, according to the Maryland Department of Health’s latest clinician guidance.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The second phase of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout Monday was disrupted by a winter storm causing schedule changes and at least one vaccination location shutdown. The Reggie Lewis Center in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, which was slated to open Monday as a mass vaccination site for residents 75 and over, did not open, the Boston Public Health Commission announced.
MICHIGAN Royal Oak: The state’s largest health care provider canceled vaccine appointments for about 2,700 people after learning they jumped the line while registering online. Beaumont Health said a user publicly shared an unauthorized pathway for scheduling.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: More than 35,000 doses of vaccine will be reserved this week for residents 65 and older after the state received a boost in supplies from the federal government, health officials announced Monday.
MISSISSIPPI Starkville: Mississippi State University is offering $1,000 grants to students in need during their last year of college to complete their degrees. Vice President for Student Affairs Regina Hyatt said the grants are meant to bolster students who may be struggling financially during the pandemic “to help them get over the finish line.”
MISSOURI Columbia: Gov. Mike Parson said he felt disrespected when leaders of the GOP-led House told him just hours before he was due to deliver his State of the State address that he couldn’t do it in that chamber because of coronavirus concerns. “It is hard to see this as anything other than a purposeful and disgusting scheme to embarrass me and the Office of the Governor,” the Republican governor wrote.
MONTANA Helena: The state Department of Labor and Industry has mailed tax forms to people who got unemployment benefits last year, the agency said. Withholding wasn’t available for payments from three federal pandemic-related supplemental programs, agency spokeswoman Lauren Lewis said.
NEBRASKA Lincoln: Nearly 47,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered across the state last week as officials continue to speed up distribution. The state estimates 3.25% of Nebraska’s population has now received both required doses.
NEVADA Las Vegas: Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara says isolation and stress produced by the pandemic have taken a toll on the mental health of students and staff. Jara said in his State of the Schools address that student suicides reached a “nearly unthinkable” level of 20 since schools were closed in March, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Lawmakers would be able to rescind emergency orders issued by the state’s top health official under a bill inspired by the pandemic.
NEW JERSEY Trenton: The state’s six mass-capacity vaccination sites were closed Monday amid a winter storm, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
NEW MEXICO Santa Fe: The city’s school superintendent announced Saturday that the school system will reopen in a voluntary hybrid model Feb. 22, two weeks after when state officials have said school districts and charter schools can reopen.
NEW YORK New York: Oases in the best of times, the city’s parks have served as essential refuges through the hard times of the pandemic. “We don’t track park users,” Parks Department spokeswoman Crystal Howard said. “But anecdotally, we know that there was beyond a noticeable increase in trash.” With the city forced to slash $84 million from parks funding, the Parks Department launched an anti-litter campaign, posting signs urging New Yorkers to “Show Your Parks Some Love.” And it has enlisted volunteers to augment the cleanup effort.
NORTH CAROLINA Winston-Salem: The state just experienced its deadliest year for workplace fatalities in at least a decade. The WinstonSalem Journal reports there were 91 workplace fatalities in 2020, including 26 related to COVID-19.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A bipartisan bill aims to standardize sanctions for lead-footed drivers, a move that could spur higher fines and more points assessed against driving records for speeding.
OHIO Cincinnati: The local teachers union is suing to try to stop the city’s school district from reopening for in-person learning as Ohio begins distributing COVID-19 vaccines for school employees. The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers is objecting to reopening under circumstances it considers unsafe.
OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Students in fifth through 12th grades in Oklahoma City Public Schools are set to return to classrooms for in-person learning starting Tuesday, leaving Tulsa Public Schools the state’s only independent district still in distance learning, the Tulsa World reports.
OREGON Salem: Sewage testing for the coronavirus will expand statewide through a partnership between Oregon State University and the Oregon Health Authority.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Revenue from the state’s casinos dropped by nearly $800 million last year compared to 2019 as the pandemic ravaged the industry with forced closures and reduced capacities.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: A winter storm forced changes to the state’s coronavirus testing and vaccination efforts. All state-operated coronavirus testing sites were closed Monday, the state Department of Health said.
SOUTH CAROLINA Greenville: Health care groups joined together Monday to criticize the board of the Department of Health and Environmental Control for its decision to allocate vaccine supply based on county populations. AARP South Carolina, ABLE SC and the Carolina Health Centers said many vulnerable populations are not being prioritized.
SOUTH DAKOTA Rapid City: The Black Hills Stock Show is underway with new events and safety protocols to guard against the coronavirus. The event runs through next Sunday.
TENNESSEE Nashville: A man is accused of stabbing another man with whom he got into an argument over mask-wearing and later swinging two metal baseball bats at police officers, according to police documents.
UTAH Salt Lake City: Cosmetologists protested state legislation aimed at loosening restrictions for certain hairstylists. Dozens of people gathered outside the Salt Lake City-County Building with signs opposing the bill they said will create health and safety issues, KSTU-TV reports. “We are in a global pandemic, and you are going to deregulate businesses who touch people,” Devin Johnson said.
VERMONT Montpelier: A public WiFi site has been installed outside City Hall to expand access to reliable internet connections, city officials said. “The need for access to a reliable internet connections for healthcare, education, and government services has grown exponentially while existing public access points have become suddenly unavailable due to social distancing requirements,” the city said in a statement.
VIRGINIA Waynesboro: A student at Fishburne Military School has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a release from the school Friday. Chris Richmond, the school’s communications director, said this is the first case at the school since students returned in August.
WASHINGTON Seattle: Mayor Jenny Durkan is calling on the state to stop hospital systems from giving special vaccine access to donors, board members or other connected community members following reports of that happening at several area hospital systems. Durkan on Friday also called for the state to reallocate vaccines to community health clinics that serve low-income communities of color, The Seattle Times reports.
WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continued to decline last week. The 3,886 confirmed cases statewide last week were down 7% from the prior week and the fewest since November.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state is working with Microsoft to set up an online signup system for COVID-19 vaccinations. Wisconsin Public Radio reports the system will launch in 10 communities Feb. 15. The state’s plan is to use those communities as a test before the system rolls out statewide.
WYOMING Gillette: The physical toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented, but the harder-toquantify mental health effects may be starting to show through, the Gillette News Record reports. “I received more calls in the last year for counseling services than in the four years I’ve been doing this,” said Ashley McRae, community prevention specialist for Campbell County.