USA Today - 06.04.2020

NEWS USA TODAY ❚ MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020❚ 5D

News from across the USA

ALABAMA Montgomery: State resi-
dents are now under an emergency
order to stay home as much as pos-
sible. Gov. Kay Ivey’s order is sched-
uled to last until at least April 30.

ALASKA Anchorage: Republican Gov.
Mike Dunleavy’s administration has
launched a new virtual school for
Alaska students in partnership with a
Florida program, garnering some
criticism from educators adjusting
their lessons to online teaching amid
the coronavirus pandemic.

ARIZONA Phoenix: In light of the
outbreak that has forced the closure
of many businesses and other tour-
ism destinations, some Lake Havasu
City residents are pushing for a clo-
sure of the popular lake that’s a
spring break mecca for many college
students. A petition to close the lake
had gathered more than 2,200 signa-
tures as of late Saturday night. A
counter-petition was also circulating.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: A church
that officials had accused of disre-
garding restrictions on large group
gatherings has agreed to comply with
the rules, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said
Saturday. Officials had threatened to
issue a directive ordering Awaken
Church in Jonesboro to comply.

CALIFORNIA Sacramento: Federal
judges on Saturday refused on proce-
dural grounds to order the state to
free thousands of prisoners to ease
crowded conditions that attorneys
representing inmates likened to a
“tinderbox” ready to ignite with the
rapid spread of the coronavirus.

COLORADO Centennial: A member
of Colorado’s Unified Command
Group at the State Emergency Opera-
tions Center in Centennial has tested
positive for the coronavirus, officials
say. The state has 4,565 confirmed
cases and 126 deaths because of the
virus, according to a Johns Hopkins
University tally Sunday morning.

CONNECTICUT Hartford: Gov. Ned
Lamont on Friday publicly an-
nounced financial incentives for
nursing homes that agree to house
only COVID-19-positive residents.

DELAWARE Dover: State officials are
warning of an impending spike in
coronavirus cases over the next two
weeks and urging residents and busi-
nesses to heed restrictions on travel
and gatherings. Emergency manage-
ment director A.J. Schall said hospi-
tals are preparing for the surge.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing-
ton:In response to the COVID-19
outbreak, the D.C. Humane Rescue
Alliance is hosting several events this
month giving away free pet food to
those in need, WUSA-TV reports.

FLORIDA Tallahassee: The coro-
navirus death toll in the state has
now reached 218, and total cases have
topped 12,000, according to the state
Department of Health. The deaths
have been heaviest in South Florida.

GEORGIA Atlanta: Coronavirus
deaths exceeded 200 on Saturday as
people statewide spent their first full
day under an emergency order to stay
home. But Republican Gov. Brian
Kemp’s order reversed some tougher
restrictions imposed by local officials.
Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions
struck a defiant tone Saturday, saying
parking lots at the state’s largest
public beach remained closed, and no
lifeguards were on duty.

HAWAII Honolulu: Gov. David Ige
said he will ask the U.S. military to
postpone the world’s largest mari-
time exercises because of the pan-
demic. Ige said Friday that he would
send a letter requesting that the Rim
of the Pacific drills be postponed
“until the COVID-19 situation here in
the islands subsides.”

IDAHO Boise: Gravity Payments, the
tech company founded by an Idahoan
that gained worldwide attention after
offering employees a minimum salary
of $70,000, has taken a huge finan-
cial hit from the pandemic. Employ-
ees are volunteering for pay cuts and
some even working for free tempora-
rily as fewer transactions take place
that require credit card processing.

ILLINOIS Springfield: The governor
and the mayor of Chicago on Friday
re-christened North America’s largest
convention center as a pandemic-
battling field hospital and publicly
hoped it would never see a single
patient. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor
Lori Lightfoot toured a section of
Chicago’s McCormick Place with the
first 500 of what will be a 3,000-bed
“alternative care facility.”

INDIANA Ossian: Officials in this

Wells County community are of-

fering “isolation packets” for elderly

residents who fear leaving home

during the pandemic and need help.

The packets contain a color-coded

paper system residents can hang on

windows to communicate. Green

signals the person is fine, yellow

means help is needed for everyday

errands like shopping, and red

means urgent errands like prescrip-

tion pickup, according to WANE-TV.

IOWA Iowa City: Two of the largest

banks in the state did not take ap-

plications for the $349 billion small-

business aid program that launched

Friday. MidwestOne Bank and Bank-

ers Trust announced they did not

have enough information from the

federal Small Business Administra-

tion to proceed.

KANSAS Kansas City: More than 50

University of Kansas medical stu-

dents are graduating early to partic-

ipate in a program that will deploy

them throughout the state to re-

spond to the coronavirus pandemic.

KENTUCKY Louisville: About 50

people gathered at Maryville Baptist

Church on Sunday for its 11 a.m.

service despite Gov. Andy Beshear’s

repeated warnings against in-per-

son services during the pandemic.

“If you’re still holding mass gather-

ings, church or otherwise, you are

spreading the coronavirus. And you

are likely causing the death of Ken-

tuckians,” Beshear said Saturday.

LOUISIANA New Orleans: A food

pantry in the city has received near-

ly 2,500 pounds of shrimp in an

effort to help families in need during

the COVID-19 pandemic. Second

Harvest Food Bank is the recipient

of the donation, announced Friday

by Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the

Louisiana Seafood Promotion and

Marketing Board.

MAINE Augusta: The governor is-

sued an executive order Friday re-

quiring travelers to the state to self-

quarantine for 14 days.

MARYLAND Annapolis: Four addi-

tional residents at a nursing home

beleaguered by more than 100 posi-

tive cases of COVID-19 have died,

local health officials announced.

The Carroll County Health Depart-

ment said nine people living at

Pleasant View Nursing Home in

Mount Airy and diagnosed with the

new coronavirus had died as of late

Saturday.

MASSACHUSETTS Boston: Gov.

Charlie Baker announced a new

contact tracing program Friday that

he said will help the state limit the

further spread of COVID-19. The

program will focus on alerting indi-

viduals who may have come in con-

tact with someone who tested posi-

tive for COVID-19 so they can self-

quarantine or be tested themselves.

Massachusetts will be the first state

to launch such an initiative, Baker

said.

MICHIGAN Lansing: State officials

have issued an emergency order

designed to speed up the reporting

of COVID-19 deaths. The Depart-

ment of Health and Human Services

issued a directive late Saturday and

effective immediately for funeral

directors and medical professionals.

MINNESOTA Minneapolis: The

state government has rolled out a

new COVID-19 dashboard as a one-

stop shop for residents to see the

latest data on the state’s response

to the pandemic as well as informa-

tion on how to protect themselves.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: Some houses

of worship are offering online ser-

vices during the coronavirus pan-

demic. Others are inviting people to

sit in vehicles outside the sanctu-

ary. Gov. Tate Reeves has said he

does not believe government has

the power to shut down churches,

but he strongly prefers people not

gather in parking lots for worship.

MISSOURI Jefferson City: The state

is asking medical professionals who

are not working to join a specialized

state team that responds to critical

health emergencies.

MONTANA Helena: The state’s

June 2 primary will be conducted by

mail in an effort to limit the spread

of the coronavirus. Same-day regis-

tration and voting will be allowed.

NEBRASKA Omaha: Gov. Pete Rick-

etts has expanded to all 93 counties

an enforceable order that limits

gatherings to fewer than 10 and

closes many nonessential busi-

nesses and services.

NEVADA Carson City: The U.S.

government has approved a request

to declare a major disaster declara-

tion for the state, a move that will

unlock extra federal assistance, Gov.

Steve Sisolak said Saturday.

NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: The

state has set up 14 “flex facilities” to

handle hospital overflow if it sees a

surge in COVID-19 cases. The facil-

ities include 1,600 beds, pushing the

state’s total capacity past 5,000.

NEW JERSEY Trenton: New powers

for the state’s local and county gov-

ernments to restrict short-term

rentals took effect Sunday night.

NEW MEXICO Albuquerque: With

the state’s schools shut down for

the rest of the school year because

of the coronavirus outbreak, three

public television stations on Mon-

day will begin broadcasting class

lessons for home learning for stu-

dents in grades K-5.

NEW YORK New York: The city has

canceled all of spring break for its

public schools and, in a contro-

versial reversal, called for classes to

be held on the start of Passover and

Good Friday.

NORTH CAROLINA Raleigh: Three

residents of a nursing home have

tested positive for COVID-19, public

health officials said Saturday. The

three cases occurred within the

population of the Springbrook Re-

habilitation and Nursing Center in

Clayton, the Johnston County

Health Department said.

NORTH DAKOTA Willow City: A

small-town bar owner who was

cited five times in four days for vio-

lating Gov. Doug Burgum’s order to

close downplayed risks from the

coronavirus and said he prefers “a

dangerous freedom to a peaceful

slavery.” David Corum, owner of

Gunslinger’s, said that “you’re just

not going to convince me this pan-

demic is the threat they claim it is.”

OHIO Cleveland: Gov. Mike DeWine

said Saturday that he won’t require

people to wear cloth masks in public

but is strongly encouraging their use.

He also said he has signed an exec-

utive order removing training re-

quirements for mental health and

marriage counselors to make remote

“telehealth” visits more accessible.

OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Bat-

tered oil prices and the state’s eco-

nomic shutdown in response to the

coronavirus are expected to punch a

$416 million hole in this year’s state

budget, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced

Friday.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The

state’s health secretary issued new

standards Sunday for cleaning large

buildings that remain open during

the COVID-19 shutdown.

RHODE ISLAND Richmond: Three

men are facing misdemeanor charges

for driving to the state to play a round

of golf in violation of an order that

requires out-of-state visitors to self-

quarantine for 14 days during the

coronavirus pandemic, police said.

SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: The

state’s death toll from the coronavi-

rus has risen to at least 40, health

officials said Saturday. The state De-

partment of Health and Environ-

mental Control reported that con-

firmed infections statewide have

exceeded 1,900.

SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: A state

lawmaker who was among several

family members to contract the coro-

navirus has died. State Rep. Bob

Glanzer died Friday, his son Tom said

in a Facebook post.

TENNESSEE Nashville: A fifth person

has died from a coronavirus outbreak

at a nursing home that saw more

than 100 people test positive. Sumner

Regional Medical Center spokesman

Kyle Brogdon confirmed the death

from the Gallatin Center for Rehabili-

tation and Healing. State health offi-

cials have said more than 70 resi-

dents and more than 30 staffers test-

ed positive at the facility.

TEXAS Orange: State troopers start-

ed stopping and screening travelers

entering Southeast Texas from Loui-

siana on Sunday, in accordance with

an executive order from Gov. Greg

Abbott.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Leaders from

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

day Saints sat 6 feet apart inside a

mostly empty room as the faith car-

ried out its signature conference Sat-

urday. Church President Russell M.

Nelson acknowledged the unusual

circumstances and the major impact

COVID-19 is having on the world dur-

ing his opening speech.

VERMONT Montpelier: State officials

said they are so desperate to find

medical professionals to help with

the COVID-19 response that they’re

even willing to use veterinarians to

help with care for people.

VIRGINIA Richmond: Gov. Ralph

Northam is instituting a hiring freeze

of state employees and telling agency

heads to look for ways to cut budgets

in response to the coronavirus.

WASHINGTON Olympia: Gov. Jay

Inslee on Friday vetoed hundreds of

millions of dollars of spending in

hopes of making a dent in the loss of

state revenues as the COVID-19 pan-

demic continues to keep the state’s

economy largely shut down.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A nurs-

ing home patient with underlying

health conditions became the third

person in the state to die from the

new coronavirus, health officials said

Sunday.

WISCONSIN Madison: Democrats

and liberal groups on Sunday asked

the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand

an extended absentee voting period

for the state’s spring primary, an

election unfolding amid public health

fears due to the coronavirus.

WYOMING Cheyenne: Gov. Mark

Gordon expressed frustration Friday

about growing public focus on his

reluctance to issue a statewide stay-

at-home order rather than on his call

for personal action to control the

spread of the coronavirus. “I’m telling

you to stay home,” Gordon said.

“What are you waiting for? Are you

waiting for ‘mother may I?’ Or are you

taking care of yourselves and practic-

ing the common sense that we

expect?”

From USA TODAY Network and

wire reports

HIGHLIGHT: OREGON

People from Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics hand out kits to make masks. AP

Salem:Hospital workers are astounded at the community response to an effort

to provide those on the front lines of the coronavirus fight with protective masks.

Oregon officials have been disappointed in the response by the federal govern-

ment. Faced with shortages, Salem Health, which runs two hospitals and several

clinics, announced March 26 that it would hand out kits for people to make

them. So many cars lined up to receive the kits that a traffic jam ensued, and

some had to be turned away. By Friday, the last day for dropoff, 10,942 assembled

masks had been delivered, said Elijah Tanner, a Salem Health spokesman.