50 STATES
ALABAMA Montgomery: The coronavirus outbreak is headed in a “bad direction,” the head of the Alabama Hospital Association said Wednesday, as the state reached a new high for people hospitalized with COVID-19 and a new low for available intensive care beds.
ALASKA Sitka: All residents of the city will be offered free coronavirus screening tests to help prevent the spread of the illness regardless of whether they exhibit symptoms, The Daily Sitka Sentinel reports.
ARIZONA Glendale: An Arizona State University researcher and the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator both say an exponential rise in the percentage of people testing positive for the virus in the state appears to have leveled off.
ARKANSAS Little Rock: The state on Wednesday reported its second-highest increase in new confirmed coronavirus cases and four more deaths from COVID-19. Arkansas Health Secretary Dr. Nathaniel Smith said a summer camp, Camp Ozark in Mt. Ida, shut down after campers and staff had tested positive for the virus.
CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Surging coronavirus cases prompted a warning Wednesday from the nation’s most populous county of a possible delay to classroom instruction in public schools next month – a setback Gov. Gavin Newsom said he hopes to avoid by convincing more people to wear face coverings and stay away from gatherings. Los Angeles County public health officials say, on average, more than 10% of people tested for the virus end up having it, a rate not seen since late April.
COLORADO Aurora: Health officials who oversee a large swath of suburban Denver decided Wednesday to impose a mask-wearing requirement to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but jurisdictions will be allowed to opt out of the order. The Tri-County Health Department’s Board of Health voted 5-4 on the mask order, which will apply to Douglas, Arapahoe and Adams counties, the Aurora Sentinel reports.
CONNECTICUT Hartford: The state has so far built up a stockpile of personal protective equipment that can last about 60 or 70 days, with plans to eventually have enough for 90 days in case there is a second wave of the coronavirus, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday. While it’s the responsibility of nursing homes and businesses to secure their own PPE, the state has been a “backstop” for those entities during the pandemic.
DELAWARE Georgetown: After fighting back a large outbreak at the state’s largest prison earlier this year – a fight that saw seven prisoners die from the coronavirus – the prison system is now battling an outbreak among 119 inmates at Sussex Correctional Institution.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: The district’s top health official said more people in the nation’s capital are now dying of treatable ailments, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer, as routine visits to hospitals and primary care providers continue to fall during the pandemic, WUSA-TV reports.
FLORIDA St. Petersburg: A man and his three sons are facing federal charges that they illegally sold a bleachlike chemical mixture as a miracle cure for the coronavirus and other diseases.
GEORGIA Atlanta: The mayor has signed an executive order mandating masks in the state’s largest city, defying Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to strongly encourage but not require face coverings.
HAWAII Honolulu: The City Council on Wednesday urged the governor to consider delaying a plan to allow travelers to use a negative COVID-19 test to bypass quarantine until the numbers of new cases on the mainland and in Hawaii drop significantly.
IDAHO Boise: The state’s 300,000 schoolchildren in grades K-12 can return to schools this fall but with flexible learning strategies to protect them and their communities during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Brad Little said Thursday.
ILLINOIS Springfield: The state reported more than 900 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus Wednesday, the highest one-day total since early June.
INDIANA Indianapolis: Officials showed no signs Wednesday of slowing down school reopenings that are just weeks away even as the state has been seeing higher rates of people testing positive and being hospitalized for the coronavirus. Some Indiana school districts are poised to resume classes with students in attendance starting later this month.
IOWA Iowa City: As the state faced a shortage of equipment needed to protect people from the coronavirus, it received timely gifts from a foreign government and major corporations of nearly 1.4 million surgical masks. New disclosure filings show that the free masks came from the government of Taiwan and its diplomatic office in Chicago, a Chinese auto parts conglomerate, a major apparel company and the state’s largest health insurer.
KANSAS Topeka: The state’s top health official says most counties are not following Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order requiring people to wear masks to help contain the spread of COVID-19, even though data is showing that masks work.
KENTUCKY Louisville: Mayor Greg Fischer said that in light of “very worrisome” increases in coronavirus cases in the city and across the state, he supports a national maskwearing mandate or at least some action that requires all Kentuckians to wear face coverings in public.
LOUISIANA New Orleans: COVID-19 is showing an alarming statewide rise, and New Orleans will restrict bars and restaurants to table service starting Saturday in hopes of reducing the disease’s resurgence, officials said Wednesday.
MAINE Portland: The governor announced Wednesday that the state is requiring many businesses to enforce mask rules and extending its state of civil emergency order until at least August.
MARYLAND Annapolis: After problems in the state’s mostly mail-in primary last month, Gov. Larry Hogan directed election officials Wednesday to conduct the November election with enhanced options for voters in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Hogan directed the state to open all polling locations on Election Day, as well as all early voting centers.
MASSACHUSETTS Boston: The state has drastically scaled back its ambitious, statewide contract tracing effort to prevent spread of the coronavirus amid complaints from local health officials that it was unreliable.
MICHIGAN Lansing: All health workers in the state will be required to receive “implicit bias” training under a directive issued Thursday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who said the mandate is intended to address the coronavirus pandemic’s disproportionate impact on people of color.
MINNESOTA Minneapolis: State health officials are warning against people holding or attending “COVID parties” as a way to share exposure to the coronavirus.
MISSISSIPPI Jackson: After weeks of loosening restrictions on residents and business, Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday that he is preparing new executive orders that will enforce social distancing – and possibly include a mask mandate.
MISSOURI Branson: A surge in coronavirus cases is proving worrisome in this popular tourist destination. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have more than doubled in less than two weeks in Taney County, the Kansas City Star reports.
MONTANA Helena: The Chippewa Cree Tribe implemented a sevenday lockdown that began Wednesday for all but essential services and is requiring residents to self-quarantine during that time. The Whitefish City Council adopted a resolution Monday encouraging mask use, while Lewis and Clark Public Health set stringent guidelines for events.
NEBRASKA Omaha: State figures released Wednesday show Nebraska has surpassed 20,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the outbreak began. Some health care providers and testing sites report a shortage of testing supplies and longer wait times for test results.
NEVADA Reno: The first coronavirus antibody study conducted in the state suggests COVID-19 test results dramatically underestimate the number of people who actually have been infected by the disease, health officials said Wednesday.
NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: State House Speaker Steve Shurtleff asked the governor Wednesday to use his “close relationship” with President Donald Trump to ensure that attendees at the president’s Saturday rally at Portsmouth Regional Airport wear face masks to prevent the coronavirus’ spread.
NEW JERSEY Hillside: Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday that he is directing $20 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to food banks across the state.
NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: It will be up to the New Mexico Supreme Court to decide what authority the state has to enforce certain provisions of the public health orders that have stemmed from the coronavirus pandemic. Arguments will be presented during an Aug. 4 remote hearing.
NEW YORK Albany: Malls can reopen Friday if they have high-efficiency venting systems capable of reducing the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Dozens of bowling alleys closed since March can reopen provided they meet sanitizing and social distancing rules, a state judge ruled this week in blocking part of Gov. Roy Cooper’s COVID-19 executive orders shuttering them.
NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: A foundation that supports the state’s biggest tourist attraction and Gov. Doug Burgum’s real estate development firm were among hundreds of thousands of businesses and nonprofits across the country to get loans from the Treasury Department’s Payroll Protection Program.
OHIO Columbus: The state’s unemployment claims declined for the 10th consecutive week, indicating residents are returning to work as Ohio reopens its economy.
OREGON Bend: A steep drop in lottery funds due to the COVID-19 crisis has killed the sale of $273 million in state bonds to pay for major projects, the Bulletin newspaper reports. The 37 projects authorized by the Legislature at the end of the 2019 session include water system overhauls in Warm Springs and Salem, rehabilitating the Wallowa Lake Dam, two affordable housing projects, a new YMCA for Eugene and deepening the Coos Bay channel.
PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday extended a statewide moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until Aug. 31, saying renters need more breathing room in the midst of the pandemic.
RHODE ISLAND Providence: A restaurant was ordered closed over the July Fourth weekend for failing to follow the state’s coronavirus safety regulations. The Department of Business Regulation ordered Harris Bar and Grill in Coventry closed July 3, making it first establishment the state has closed for failing to follow the pandemic regulations.
SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: As the state reports spiking numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19, its children are also suffering from mental health and educational consequences of closed schools, health and education leaders told lawmakers Wednesday. The state needs to reduce its high rate of cases so students can return to school safely, Department of Education Superintendent Molly Spearman told a state Senate subcommittee meeting.
SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday doubled down on her hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic by pointing to the state’s low hospitalization numbers, and she cast doubt on key recommendations from public health officials like wearing a mask.
TENNESSEE Nashville: The state’s elections coordinator says all 95 counties have updated their websites or written materials to reflect a judge’s ruling that every eligible voter can choose to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic.
TEXAS Austin: The state reported its deadliest day of the pandemic with nearly 100 new deaths Wednesday as newly confirmed cases continued soaring, and Austin began preparations to turn the downtown convention center into a field hospital.
UTAH St. George: The state’s surge in COVID-19 cases continued Wednesday as health officials counted 722 new confirmed cases, a new record.
VERMONT Rutland: A New Jersey summer camp that brought several hundred students to Vermont for a three-week stay at a Rutland hotel has been told it’s over capacity. After the state inspected the Holiday Inn, officials with camp Zichron Chaim were given three days to reduce the number of guests to comply with COVID-19 occupancy restrictions.
VIRGINIA Richmond: Initial payments have begun to laid-off workers under the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which Virginia lagged most other states in getting up and running. The program provides up to 13 additional weeks of unemployment insurance.
WASHINGTON Puyallup: The 2020 Washington State Fair has been canceled because of the pandemic.
WEST VIRGINIA Milton: The West Virginia Pumpkin Festival board has voted to call off this year’s event.
WISCONSIN Madison: The state Capitol building will not reopen next week as planned, and state employees will have to start wearing masks whenever they’re working indoors as the coronavirus continues to spread in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration announced Wednesday.
WYOMING Cheyenne: State agencies have submitted plans for 10% budget cuts that could eliminate services for children and the elderly and slash funding for mental health programs, Gov. Mark Gordon said. With the pandemic, the state could see a $1.5 billion budget shortfall, the Casper Star-Tribune reports.