Meat woes, food pantries, counterfeit masks: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Mobile: Traffic accidents are killing fewer people as they stay home more and drive less during the pandemic. Highway deaths in April dropped 58% from March and 42% from a year earlier, according to statistics from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. State troopers also investigated 43% fewer traffic accidents in April than in March. Troopers in Mobile and Baldwin worked only one fatal crash in April. “It’s pretty unusual for around here. That kind of stood out,” Lt. Joe Piggott, a state trooper spokesman, told WALA-TV. The Alabama Department of Transportation reports traffic volume over a nearly three-week period in April was down by about 46% compared with 2019. One consequence of less congestion may be a tendency for drivers who are on the roads to drive faster. “It seems like the speeds are increasing on the highways,” Piggott said. “We’ve clocked quite a few at triple digits.”

Alaska

Juneau: Dentists say their business may be hurt by a state mandate requiring patients to have a negative test result for the coronavirus within 48 hours of an elective procedure. The testing requirements cover non-emergency procedures generating aerosols, floating airborne particles that can carry the virus and are produced through the use of many dental tools, Alaska Public Media reports. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and state health officials said elective health care procedures could restart in a phased approach, but they point to federal guidelines saying dentists are at high risk of virus exposure. Dr. David Nielson, president of the Alaska Board of Dental Examiners, told state Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink there is a challenge for patients to obtain test results within 48 hours of a dental appointment. “We do believe that waiting for the availability of testing to ramp up to the levels that would be necessary will jeopardize the oral health of the public,” he said.

Arizona

Phoenix: Restaurants in the state can reopen next week amid a downward trend in coronavirus cases and other measurements laid out by federal officials, Gov. Doug Ducey announced Monday. Ducey said restaurants can open next Monday, and salons and barbershops can open this Friday. The businesses will need enhanced sanitation and social distancing to open their doors. Ducey is also considering allowing some food establishments that are licensed as bars to open as well. The decisions came less than a week after the Republican governor extended his stay-home order until May 15. The order remains in place, although closed retail businesses were allowed to start curbside sales Monday and can resume full in-store sales Friday. The governor has been hammered by some Republican lawmakers, who were angered at the extended closure order because the economy has tanked.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Movie theaters, bowling alleys, arenas and other large venues will be allowed to reopen but with new limits to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday. The Republican governor continued rolling back the state’s restrictions on businesses as gyms began to reopen with similar social distancing rules. He also issued recommendations to churches and other places of worship, which had not been closed in the state, on how to safely resume in-person services. Hutchinson said large outdoor venues will be allowed to reopen Monday, while indoor ones can open May 18. The venues will face similar restrictions, including limiting audiences to 50 or fewer people and requiring at least 6 feet of distance except for family groups. The recommendations for churches include eliminating the use of items touched by multiple people such as offering plates, no classes for youth or child care, and no physical contact.

California

Sacramento: With more local governments moving ahead with their own plans for reopening, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that the state will begin gradually allowing clothing stores, florists, bookstores and sporting goods shops to open their doors after a nearly seven-week coronavirus shutdown. Newsom said the threat of the virus spreading had leveled off to a point where certain retail businesses could again serve customers starting as early as Friday, but with curbside pickups and other restrictions. Requirements for operation won’t be released until Thursday, and Newsom warned that signs the virus has started spreading rapidly might force him to reimpose tighter restrictions. “I know this can sound confusing,” Newsom said at one point, as he sought to explain various requirements in the state’s evolving plan to emerge from the crisis. “Let’s stay the course; let’s stay together.”

Colorado

Denver: Offices in the state were allowed to reopen Monday with half the usual staff, and Denver’s mayor will let his stay-at-home order expire as the outbreak of the coronavirus eases in Colorado. Mayor Michael Hancock’s order is set to expire at the end of Friday. Gov. Jared Polis said Monday that fewer people were being hospitalized with the virus, and he referenced Star Wars multiple times to remind people to wear face masks and to practice social distancing while out. “May the Fourth be with you,” the governor said, using a catchphrase widely shared on May 4, the unofficial holiday celebrating the Star Wars movies. Polis showed graphics of a Darth Vader helmet and a 6-foot-long light saber to hammer home his point on safety precautions. “Darth Vader would be very safe right now despite his preexisting respiratory condition,” Polis cracked.

Connecticut

Hartford: The state agriculture commissioner is considering buying food in bulk to provide to organizations that feed needy people, which have seen huge upticks in demand coupled with challenges in getting supplies, he said Monday. Having the state or another entity do so on behalf of charitable food banks and pantries might help make more food available, said Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt, whose agency was recently tasked with overseeing food insecurity issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Each organization is trying to outbid the other for additional food, and that can’t be the solution,” Hurlburt said at a virtual roundtable with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, and the organization End Hunger CT. Hurlburt said his agency has already reached agreements with state colleges and universities to use their refrigerators to store bulk purchases of food and is looking to work with other entities.

Delaware

Dover: The state will now allow independent contractors and people who work for themselves to file for unemployment. The Delaware State News reports that the benefits are available as of Monday. Such workers normally are ineligible for jobless benefits. But a federal stimulus measure has temporarily opened unemployment benefits to them because of the coronavirus pandemic. People in Delaware who are eligible will receive $600 per week from the federal government. Benefits from the state range from $133 to $400 a week. The $600 federal benefit expires July 25. More than 75,000 Delaware residents have filed for unemployment since the state’s first coronavirus case was reported.

District of Columbia

Washington: With more than 700,000 residents, the nation’s capital has more people than Vermont and Wyoming, WUSA-TV reports. But the question of statehood for D.C. is something President Donald Trump believes will never happen. In a New York Post interview, Trump said Republicans aren’t “stupid” enough to add guaranteed Democratic seats in Congress. While nearly 86% of district voters in 2016 endorsed statehood, D.C. residents vote heavily for Democratic Party candidates. Trump only received 4.09% of the district’s vote for president in 2016. Trump said he believes the real reason Democrats want to make D.C. a state has nothing to do with representation for its residents but is simply so the party can gain congressional votes.

Florida

Daytona Beach: Officials issued about 900 verbal social distancing warnings to people during the first weekend Volusia County’s beaches were largely reopened for almost all activities. “For the most part, beachgoers spaced out and kept groups small,” Ray Manchester, Volusia County Beach Safety director, said Monday. While the beautiful weather drew crowds to the beaches, most people complied with the spacing rules, Manchester said. He said the heaviest crowds were near large, off-beach parking lots and hotels that have reopened. In addition to warnings, lifeguards made about 100 water rescues over the weekend. The warnings don’t necessarily mean citations or fines for breaking the rules. By and large, the verbal warnings are issued by megaphone to remind people to space out a little more. “When I say we issued warnings,” Manchester said, “what that means is we provided information and education to keep people safe and healthy.”

Georgia

Atlanta: The Georgia State Board of Education is allocating $411 million in federal aid to help pay for COVID-19-related issues to the state’s school districts and independent charter schools. The board voted Monday to allocate 90% of the state’s total of $457 million in K-12 aid from the federal CARES Act based on districts’ proportion of students in poverty, as required by the federal law. The state Department of Education will later approve the release of funds after districts submit spending plans. The schools can spend the money on distance learning devices and internet services, supplemental learning efforts, school-provided meals, facility cleaning, equipment, counseling or offsetting potential revenue losses to avoid furloughs. State Superintendent Richard Woods said the state will retain $46 million for future needs.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The University of Hawaii said Monday that it plans to resume in-person instruction at its 10 campuses around the state during the fall 2020 semester. To prevent the coronavirus from spreading, the university plans to reconfigure some classrooms, laboratories and study areas to allow people to stay at least 6 feet apart. University of Hawaii President David Lassner told a news briefing that some classes would adopt a hybrid instruction format. Lectures would be given online, but then students would meet in person in smaller groups. The university switched to online instruction midway through the spring 2020 semester as coronavirus numbers grew in Hawaii. The school said it was also preparing for the possibility it may have to return to all-online courses at one or more of its campuses if there’s a significant outbreak of COVID-19.

Idaho

Boise: Before the surge of coronavirus-related joblessness hit, the state estimated it had enough money to cover nearly 16 months’ worth of unemployment benefits. That’s far better than many states, but Idaho’s unemployment trust could still fall short, depending on how long the pandemic lasts. “It’s almost twice as solvent as it was in the Great Recession, so we think it’s very healthy, and it will sustain this one,” said Salvador Vazquez, Idaho Department of Labor’s market information director. “The other question is how long is this going to last, and, you know, nobody has an answer to that.” Idaho calculates its unemployment trust solvency rate based on the most expensive three years in the past 20. The last peak was during the Great Recession: In the first week of March 2009, nearly 4,000 new unemployment claims were filed, and nearly 47,000 people were already receiving unemployment benefits. That amount was dwarfed last month.

Illinois

Chicago: The legal sale of marijuana during the state’s first full month of lockdown due to the coronavirus surpassed sales in two previous months, officials announced Monday. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation reports April adult-use cannabis sales totaled more than $37.2 million. A little over $7.5 million of sales at the state’s 50 recreational marijuana dispensaries were to out-of-state residents. When Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued his stay-at-home order to battle spread of the coronavirus March 20, he allowed medical and adult-use cannabis dispensaries to remain open as essential businesses. However, operators adapted to the new social situation by implementing online ordering systems, curbside pickup and social distancing in stores. The pandemic has forced Illinois to delay awarding licenses for 75 new recreational cannabis dispensaries.

Indiana

Indianapolis: Shoppers trickled into some large shopping malls Monday as they opened for the first time in more than a month under a new order from the governor easing many restrictions imposed to slow the coronavirus’ spread. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb defended his decision announced Friday allowing more manufacturers and retailers to open their doors in most of the state, with the allowing of nearly all activities to resume July 4. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dr. Woody Myers, a former state health commissioner, called the steps premature, with the state still not providing enough COVID-19 infection testing. Holcomb said he believed it was important to give residents a long-term look at the state’s reopening plan. He said the establishing stages for reopening businesses and activities in stages will depend on Indiana’s number of coronavirus illnesses not suddenly jumping and putting pressure on the hospital system.

Iowa

Iowa City: Nearly 1,400 workers at three Tyson Foods pork processing plants have tested positive for the coronavirus, the state reported Tuesday, as deaths surged to a new daily high. The Iowa Department of Public Health revealed that the state’s largest outbreak to date has been at the Tyson plant in Perry, in central Iowa. There, 730 workers were confirmed to have the virus, a stunning 58% of those tested, the department said. The Tyson plant in Waterloo has had 444 workers test positive, and its Columbus Junction plant has had 221 confirmed infections, the department said. The department said 258 workers at a National Beef plant in Tama tested positive, as did another 131 employees of a Newton wind turbine blade manufacturer. The department’s deputy director, Sarah Reisetter, said state officials determined that releasing the locations and scope of those five workplace outbreaks was in the public interest.

Kansas

Lawrence: The hospital in the city is furloughing more than 220 employees because it is struggling financially after temporarily halting elective surgeries and treatments amid the coronavirus outbreak. Lawrence Memorial Hospital said Monday in announcing the furloughs that it has experienced revenue declines of more than $1 million per week since the pandemic began, the Lawrence Journal-World reports. Confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas rose by 4.3% on Monday, up 215 to 5,245 total, though the actual number is thought to be higher because of limited testing and because people can be infected without showing symptoms. Reported COVID-19-related deaths increased by two. Meanwhile, the Kansas Department of Corrections reported that a third inmate died in a coronavirus outbreak at the state prison in Lansing, near Kansas City. The prison is the state’s hardest hit, with 380 inmates and 88 employees testing positive. Another seven staff and five inmates are infected at six other correctional facilities.

Kentucky

Louisville: A federal judge has ruled that Gov. Andy Beshear’s restriction on travel amid the coronavirus pandemic is unconstitutional. But U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman sided with the governor on his ban of mass gatherings in a ruling issued Monday. A trio of plaintiffs who attended a church service in Louisville had filed suit challenging the two bans. The plaintiffs argued the mass gathering ban unfairly singles out religious gatherings. “To the contrary, the plain text of the challenged order categorically bans all ‘mass gatherings’ as a means of preventing the spread of a life-threatening virus,” Bertelsman wrote in the ruling. The judge said Beshear’s ban on travel “does not pass constitutional muster.” Bertelsman said, for example, it would prohibit a Kentuckian from visiting a relative in Ohio. Beshear said at his daily briefing Monday night that he was aware of the ruling and was willing to amend the travel restrictions.

Louisiana

New Orleans: Nearly every woman in a prison dormitory has tested positive for COVID-19, and two-thirds of them showed no symptoms, state figures show. The women at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel are housed in a dormitory for some of the inmates moved out of the Louisiana Correctional Women’s Institute after floods in 2016, Department of Corrections spokesman Ken Pastorick said last week. He said 155 women without symptoms were tested after 39 became ill with the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. As of Monday, 192 inmates had tested positive, including 66 who had symptoms, according to Department of Correction statistics. The unit has about 195 inmates, though the number fluctuates, Pastorick said Monday. The chart showed 41 dormitory staffers diagnosed with COVID-19 but did not indicate total staffing.

Maine

Bethel: A restaurant owner said he’s ready for Round 2 of flouting Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ executive orders over the coronavirus. Rick Savage said he was reopening his Sunday River Brewing Co. on Tuesday in defiance of the governor’s orders, and he continued to criticize Mills for not acting fast enough to reopen the state’s economy. “They don’t understand. They think they can take their time and figure things out. Businesses aren’t going to last,” he said. Savage opened his restaurant for dine-in customers Friday and then closed over the weekend. He said he’s reopening after determining that his beer-making license wouldn’t be imperiled. The state already revoked his restaurant and liquor licenses, but he has said he’ll pay the fines.

Maryland

Ocean City: The state’s most popular beach destination is set to reopen its shore this weekend, and a city official has said “day-trippers” won’t be turned away, even though out-of-town visitors would be violating the state’s stay-at-home order. Ocean City’s mayor and City Council decided Monday to allow beaches and the boardwalk to open Saturday after being closed for more than a month to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, news outlets report. City Council Secretary Mary Knight said the reopening would give people more opportunities to get outside, and she suggested visitors from out of town could enjoy the resort town’s beaches, in addition to local residents. “If they want to come down and spend the day at the beach and walk the boardwalk, there’s no problem with that,” The Baltimore Sun quoted Knight as saying. “It’s Mother’s Day this weekend; it might be nice to take your mom somewhere.”

Massachusetts

Quincy: A second Walmart store in the state temporarily closed after an employee died of COVID-19 and several others tested positive for the coronavirus that causes the disease, authorities said. The Walmart in Quincy closed Monday and will remain shuttered until further notice, Mayor Thomas Koch said on the city’s YouTube page. Nine workers, including the woman who died, tested positive, he said. “There are no words to express the loss of our associate, and we are mourning alongside their family,” Walmart said in a statement. The store will undergo a cleaning, and all employees will be tested, Quincy Health Commissioner Ruth Jones said. Walmart said employee temperature checks will continue at the Quincy store once it reopens. Employees will also be provided with face masks and gloves. A Worcester Walmart was shut down last week after dozens of employees tested positive. That store is expected to reopen this week.

Michigan

Detroit: A hospital under scrutiny for its treatment of the dead and dying during the coronavirus pandemic has been found in compliance of rules related to staffing and infection control, a state agency said. A spokesman for Michigan’s Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said in an email Monday to The Detroit News that that no citations were issued against Sinai-Grace in northwest Detroit. The state began looking into Sinai-Grace after the newspaper reported April 9 that people hospitalized with COVID-19 were dying in its hallways and that nurses were searching for body bags and places to put the deceased. CNN later released photos that appeared to show bodies in vacant hospital rooms at Sinai-Grace and in refrigerated trucks in its parking lot. In early April, emergency room nurses protested what they called dangerous working conditions at the hospital, leading to the swift spread of the virus and a staffing crisis, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: The COVID-19 pandemic has erased the state’s budget cushion, Minnesota Management and Budget reported Tuesday. The agency said it now projects a nearly $2.43 billion deficit for the current two-year budget period, which runs through mid-2021. That’s almost a $4 billion plunge from a February forecast that projected a $1.5 billion surplus. The projected deficit is slightly larger than the state’s budget reserve of nearly $2.34 billion, which the state can tap to cover the hole in the budget. Budget officials have been warning for the past few weeks that the pandemic would upend its budget projections, and they finally quantified the damage Tuesday. The agency said the economic shock of the pandemic has sharply cut tax revenues by $3.6 billion, while emergency measures have pushed projected spending $391 million higher.

Mississippi

Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday that he will ease some of the restrictions he imposed on restaurants and outdoor gatherings to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and the new rules will take effect Thursday. “The threat is not gone. … We all want to move on, but we must stay vigilant,” said Reeves, a Republican. Restaurants will be allowed to open their indoor dining rooms and outdoor seating areas, with each at no more than 50% capacity and with no more than six customers per table. Servers must wear masks, and customers entering restaurants will be asked if they have shown any signs of the virus or have been exposed to anyone who has it. For more than a month, restaurants have been restricted to takeout or delivery. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to 20 or fewer people, up from the current restriction of 10 or fewer. Reeves said the change could help some youth sports teams get back to practice.

Missouri

Jefferson City: Gov. Mike Parson has a simple reason for not wearing a face mask during a visit to a southwestern Missouri thrift store. “I chose not to,” Parson said tersely Monday in response to a reporter’s question. Parson’s stay-at-home order ended Sunday, and businesses reopened across most of Missouri a day later, except in St. Louis, St. Louis County and Kansas City. The Republican governor spent the morning visiting several businesses in southwestern Missouri. Among them was a thrift shop in Joplin operated by the Disabled American Veterans. A photo posted on Parson’s Twitter account shows him bare-faced but surrounded by mask-wearing veterans. “I think it’s up to the individual,” Parson said in response to a question during his afternoon news conference. “I don’t think its government’s role to mandate who wears a mask and who doesn’t.”

Montana

Great Falls: After nine years of steady job growth, COVID-19 plunged the state into its worst recession since World War II in just a few weeks, with a new economic forecast estimating the 2020 job loss at more than 51,000. “The world has changed,” said Patrick Barkey, director of the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “The economy is at a completely different place than we thought it would be.” In a preliminary analysis of the economic impacts of COVID-19 in Montana, BBER predicts that Montana’s economy will suffer an employment drop of more than 51,000 jobs, a 7.3% decline, in 2020; that personal income in 2020 will be $3.9 billion lower than a December projection, down 7.1%; and that stronger economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2020 and in 2021 and 2022 could close the gap and bring economic activity back within a medium-term growth projection made before the crisis.

Nebraska

Omaha: Two meat processing plants in the state have announced temporary closures in the wake of a surge in coronavirus cases among meatpacking plant workers. A Tyson Foods pork plant in Madison and a Cargill beef plant in Schuyler announced Monday that they would temporarily shut down production to deep-clean the plants, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Tyson said it will await the results of workers who had been tested for COVID-19 last weekend before deciding when it will reopen. The closures follow that last week of Tyson’s beef processing plant in Dakota City – its largest in the U.S. – that sidelined some 4,300 workers. The plant had been scheduled to restart production Tuesday, but Tyson postponed the reopening to await results of COVID-19 tests for its workers. The plant closures will affect more than 3,000 workers and will likely slow the ability of producers to get hogs and cattle to slaughter, officials said.

Nevada

Las Vegas: When casinos eventually reopen, customer numbers will be cut in half, nightclubs will remain closed, convention groups will be limited, and gamblers will have to keep safe distances apart, according to new rules from state gambling regulators. “Plans should … address how licensees will disinfect cards and chips,” the Nevada Gaming Control Board guidelines said. Table games should be limited to three players for blackjack, six for craps, four for roulette and four for poker. Chairs could be removed from every second slot machine. Casino supervisors and managers have to prevent patrons from congregating in groups around tables. “We’re definitely going to require a lot of our licensees. They understand they need to get it right,” board Chairwoman Sandra Douglass Morgan said Monday.

New Hampshire

Concord: Towns and cities are getting $40 million for costs associated with the coronavirus pandemic, and first responders are getting a temporary boost in pay, Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday. New Hampshire’s towns and cities have seen expenses such as overtime pay for police and welfare costs soar during the pandemic. The new grants can be used for those kinds of expenses, as well as costs associated with cleaning municipal buildings and moving services online. Full-time firefighters, emergency medical technicians, corrections officers and police will be eligible for an extra $300 per week, while part-time first responders will get $150 for the next eight weeks. Some Democrats had been calling for municipal aid and hazard pay for first responders for more than a month.

New Jersey

Trenton: Former Gov. Chris Christie, saying that “there are going to be deaths no matter what,” called for leaders to allow people to get back to work before we “destroy the American way of life” by shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking on The Daily DC Podcast hosted by CNN’s Dana Bash on Monday, Christie said, “What we are doing now I just don’t think can be sustained as a country.” The Republican former governor said people claiming a choice must be made between money and lives are offering a “false choice.” Christie also said the medical community might keep us “locked in our houses for another year” until there is a vaccine. He said it’s not time to have concerts or full stadiums for sporting events, and “temperature checks will be a way of life.” Also, we need to continue to “keep our more vulnerable folks inside.” Christie said if he were still governor of New Jersey, “I would be reopening.”

New Mexico

Las Cruces: Former Gov. Bill Richardson has recruited two Hollywood actors to help raise money for areas of Dona Ana County that were already struggling before the pandemic. Richardson’s philanthropic foundation is partnering with the Las Cruces Sun-News to promote a relief fund. Richardson said he reached out to Edward James Olmos and Danny Trejo to see if they would join. The fund has already amassed $40,000. Olmos (“Battlestar Galactica”) and Trejo (“Desperado,” “Spy Kids”) said they have fond memories of filming in that part of the state. The colonias are unincorporated, low-income areas in Dona Ana County along the U.S.-Mexico border. The communities there often lack adequate housing and potable water, but the issues have been exacerbated by the pandemic. The Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico will process applications for those looking for assistance.

New York

Albany: The state has reported more than 1,700 previously undisclosed deaths at nursing homes and adult care facilities amid scrutiny over how New York has protected vulnerable residents during the coronavirus pandemic. At least 4,813 people have died from COVID-19 in the state’s nursing homes since March 1, according to a tally released late Monday that, for the first time, included people believed to have been killed by the virus before their diagnoses could be confirmed by a lab test. Exactly how many nursing home residents have died remains uncertain despite the state’s latest disclosure. The list released by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration did not include nursing home residents who were transferred to hospitals before dying. With the inclusion of the additional deaths, the state now lists 22 nursing homes, largely in New York City and on Long Island, as having at least 40 deaths. And 62 nursing homes have reported between 20 and 39 deaths.

North Carolina

Gastonia: The chairman of the board of a health care system has resigned after reports about his social media posts, including one in which he called stay-at-home orders “tyranny.” CaroMont Health board of directors chairman Donnie Loftis resigned Monday after eight years, The Charlotte Observer reports. On his personal Facebook page, Loftis showed support for anti-abortion protesters who violated the stay-at-home order. Gaston County issued a stay-at-home order March 26. Loftis appeared to support the county order at first, but in April he shared a picture of a pie chart that read: “What I worry about. COVID-19: 0.5, Loss of my rights: 99.5. You should be worried also.” CaroMont previously said board members’ personal opinions and beliefs “are not statements made on the behalf of CaroMont Health nor an indication of the health system’s position on any topic, situation or circumstance.”

North Dakota

Fargo: Health officials say a lack of testing supplies for COVID-19 forced a cancellation of mass screenings Monday in the city, which is North Dakota’s largest metropolitan area and the state’s biggest coronavirus hot spot. Fargo Cass Public Health said on its Facebook page that the event planned at the Fargodome was canceled due to a shortage of supplies at the state Department of Health’s microbiology lab. A spokesman for Gov. Doug Burgum said the cancellation was the result of a “supply chain issue,” and state health officials were investigating the cause. The mass screenings were set for Sunday and Monday afternoons at the Fargodome and were reserved for the close contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and for essential workers. The county health agency said “the goal of 500 tests” was reached Sunday.

Ohio

Columbus: Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that he’s cutting $775 million from the state budget in the next two months because of plummeting revenue due to the pandemic. The spending reductions are necessary now to avoid worse cuts down the road and will affect every state agency except the prisons department, the Republican governor said. The state had been running $200 million ahead in revenue estimates in February, DeWine said. He said he’s not tapping Ohio’s $2.7 billion rainy day fund until the new fiscal year beginning in July. The budget can be balanced now with cuts, and the rainy day money will be needed later this year and next, he said. “This rain is not a passing spring shower,” DeWine said. The budget slashing includes $355 million for schools and $110 million for higher education, plus $210 million from the state Medicaid program, which provides health care for poor children and families.

Oklahoma

Guymon: At least 116 employees at a pork processing plant have tested positive for coronavirus, Seaboard Foods spokesman David Eahart said in a statement Monday. The plant in Guymon has about 2,700 employees who are advised to stay home if sick, provided face masks and hand-sanitizing stations, and encouraged to maintain social distancing, Eahart said. Texas County, where Guymon is located about 235 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, has 236 confirmed virus cases and two deaths, according to the state Health Department. Eahart said about 30% of the plant’s employees do not live in Texas County. Health Department spokeswoman Donelle Harder said all cases and deaths would be attributed to an infected person’s county or state of residence. Guymon is about 15 miles north of Texas and about 20 miles south of Kansas. The Seaboard plant has not closed.

Oregon

Astoria: A seafood processor has shut down after 13 workers tested positive for the new coronavirus. The outbreak at Bornstein Seafoods tripled the number of cases in Clatsop County after three weeks during which no new cases had emerged, The Astorian reports. Tests on five more people who show symptoms of the illness are pending. The newspaper reports the Lower Columbia Hispanic Council filed a complaint with the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration on April 13 – before the outbreak – on behalf of plant workers. The complaint cited a lack of personal protective equipment and a lack of social distancing inside the plants. Bornstein Seafoods employs more than 150 people between two plants at the Port of Astoria. An OSHA spokesperson confirmed a complaint is open but declined to comment on whether OSHA has inspected the plant.

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia: A new initiative is bringing works by local artists to some downtown businesses temporarily shuttered in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. The Center City District and Mural Arts Philadelphia said two dozen works by 11 artists were selected for installation over the boarded-up windows of nine locations ranging from small retailers to large restaurants. Protective plywood boards installed by business owners at 56 downtown locations have drawn graffiti, and crews have been painting the boards black to stem the problem. As part of the Storefront Artwork Initiative, works of art were printed on 6-by-6-foot panels of parachute cloth and applied with acrylic gel adhesive to the boards. District president and CEO Paul Levy said it’s intended to “temporarily brighten the physical environment, engage local artists and send the message that through creativity and innovation we will prevail.” He said it’s important to ensure that Center City “remains ready to welcome back workers, students and shoppers as this crisis ends.”

Rhode Island

Providence: Almost everyone in an indoor or outdoor public place will be required to wear a face mask starting Friday to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced Tuesday. The Democratic governor said at her daily news conference that she intends to sign an executive order requiring masks, with exceptions for small children, the developmentally disabled and people with certain medical conditions. She said she wants people to think of masks like they do a wallet, car keys or phone – “Don’t leave home without it.” Even people who go out alone for a walk, run or bike ride should carry a mask with them to put on if they come into contact with other people, she said. Penalties for violating the order are still being worked out, Raimondo said.

South Carolina

Columbia: As Gov. Henry McMaster continues to gather data and opinions on reopening society during the coronavirus, the state’s peak of cases and deaths has been pushed further into the future, with predictions of hundreds more people dying. The new prediction is for more than 1,100 deaths by early August from COVID-19. Less than two weeks ago, state health officials predicted fewer than 700 deaths by early August, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The latest epidemiological estimates reflect that virus and infection rates have not dropped significantly, so with more people circulating, more people will fall ill. The predictions released Monday also indicate the increase in cases reported each week is near a peak and should start to fall around the middle of May. McMaster, a Republican, acknowledged the desire of businesses to get back to making money and people to get out of their homes. During his introductory remarks Tuesday at his Accelerate SC committee, he said he’s balancing those wishes with a need to stop the virus from spreading rapidly again. “I get letters from ladies that are dying to go to the beauty parlor. Of course, we don’t want them to die when they go to the beauty parlor,” McMaster said.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem said Monday that the state’s budget is expected to take a big hit from the economic shock of the coronavirus pandemic. Noem said South Dakota’s general fund revenues for March are down $18.1 million. While not all of that is related to COVID-19, the Republican governor said the brunt of the economic impact will be felt in April. She said those figures will be available at the beginning of June. Meanwhile, state health officials on Tuesday reported three deaths from COVID-19, along with 53 new confirmed cases. All three deaths were in Minnehaha County, which has seen most of the infections in the state. A total of 2,721 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, but the actual number of infections is thought to be far higher than the number of confirmed because many people have not been tested, and people can be infected without feeling sick.

Tennessee

Memphis: The mayor of the state’s largest county issued rules Monday for the reopening of barbershops and hair salons after saying Gov. Bill Lee only offered guidelines but not strict COVID-19-related safety requirements for the reopening of “close-contact” businesses. During an online news conference Monday, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris worried that confusion caused by mixed messaging from different jurisdictions could lead to the more rapid spread of the new coronavirus. Last week, Lee said close-contact businesses such as salons and barbershops can open Wednesday in 89 of 95 Tennessee counties. That did not include Shelby County, which, like the other excluded counties, has its own health department and can make its own public health directives related to the coronavirus response. However, barbershops and hair salons in some of the county’s suburban cities said they were going to reopen anyway, causing confusion.

Texas

Amarillo: A surge of coronavirus cases in the Texas Panhandle, a crucial region for the nation’s beef supply, has federal officials sending help to the city to try to control rising numbers of infections over the past week, the mayor said Monday. The Amarillo area is responsible for 25% of the nation’s fed beef supply, Mayor Ginger Nelson said, as the community joins others in the Midwest where the virus has sickened hundreds of meatpacking workers and threatens to disrupt the nation’s supply of pork and beef. In Texas, more than 240 cases are linked to a JBS USA plant in Moore County, according to Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has previously singled out the county as an area of concern. Confirmed cases in neighboring Potter County have doubled over the past week to more than 800, and at least nine people have died. President Donald Trump has ordered meat plants to remain open.

Utah

St. George: Intermountain Healthcare is accepting donations of homemade cloth face coverings for visitors and non-front-line caregivers at hospitals and clinics throughout the state. According to a press release, Intermountain Healthcare has set up 28 collection bins throughout Utah. After donation, the face coverings will be collected, sanitized and shipped to where they’re needed most. In St. George, donations are being accepted at the Dixie Regional Medical Center and at the Sunset Clinic. In Cedar City, donations are being accepted at the Cedar City Hospital. These drop-off donations are different from ProjectProtect, a partnership among Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to produce medical-grade masks that can be used by frontline caregivers.

Vermont

Shelburne: For the first time in its 73-year history, the Shelburne Museum is not going to open for the summer season, as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Museum Director Thomas Denenberg told WCAX-TV it’s too hard to invite the public into the museum spaces and maintain social distancing. “So, unfortunately, we will be closed for the foreseeable future,” Denenberg said. The Shelburne Museum was founded by Electra Havemeyer Webb, the daughter of art collectors, in 1947. She not only acquired 19th-century folk art, quilts and decoys but also moved historic buildings from Vermont and New York – a one-room schoolhouse, homes, a round barn, a covered bridge and a steamship – to the site to house her collections. The museum’s online resources will remain available for schools and the community.

Virginia

Locust Hill: A rural food pantry has seen its membership spike in the weeks since the coronavirus pandemic began walloping the economy. Fifty new families have joined the pantry’s list of about 800 members, pantry chair Dave Cryer said last week. The food pantry in Locust Hill, on the Chesapeake Bay’s western shore, is operated by Hands Across Middlesex Interfaith Outreach. Middlesex is a county of about 10,000 people, although the pantry serves surrounding counties as well. “We’ve had more new people applying than we have in the last two years,” said Cryer, the organization’s vice president. He said the organization is blessed with an overwhelming number of volunteers and donations. It receives as much as 60,000 pounds of food each month. “We’re so blessed with the support we have here,” Cryer said. “We probably have two volunteers for every one that we need.”

Washington

Seattle: More than 100 state parks, trails and boating sites across the state reopened Tuesday as some coronavirus restrictions were eased. Parks that open will be limited to daytime use, and the number of parking spaces will be reduced at some urban parks to discourage crowding. But authorities say all ocean beach parks and parks along the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington-Oregon border will remain closed to reduce impacts on rural communities and prevent crowds. The parks have been closed more than a month and are being reopened under the first phase of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to ease rules imposed to prevent the spread of the virus. Beaches and campgrounds would reopen under the second phase of the plan, although large gatherings would still be banned. State officials plan to wait at least three weeks between each phase to see how the changes affect infection rates.

West Virginia

Charleston: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told state officials that respirator masks distributed to 50,000 first responders might be counterfeit, but officials decided to leave them in use, according to a report. After the warning, the state’s top public safety official issued a report to first responders that said the masks are “authentic,” the Charleston Gazette-Mail reports. “These masks are genuine products from Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacture Co. Ltd. (Dasheng) and not counterfeit,” Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety Secretary Jeff Sandy said in a memo. A model of the mask with ear loops was “being misrepresented as” approved by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the CDC said. Masks with ear loops instead of head bands often don’t have the proper fit to provide sufficient protection, according to the health agencies. Half of the 100,000 respirators West Virginia purchased had ear loops.

Wisconsin

Madison: Conservative justices who control the state Supreme Court raised doubts Tuesday about whether Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order is legal, asserting that the Legislature never intended to give the executive branch so much power. Justice Rebecca Bradley suggested during oral arguments about the order that state Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm’s decision to extend the mandate without legislative input amounts to tyranny. She also questioned whether Palm might next herd people into social distancing camps akin to World War II Japanese internment camps. “There is a constitutional problem with the Legislature giving away this much power to an unelected Cabinet secretary,” Bradley said. “The people never consented to a single individual having that much power.”

Wyoming

Cheyenne: Plans for in-person high school graduation ceremonies are tentatively back on in the state’s biggest city. The school district in Cheyenne has switched to distance learning for the remainder of the school year and was considering alternatives to traditional graduation ceremonies due to the coronavirus. Now, each of the city’s four high schools could have graduation ceremonies June 12 and 13 at Frontier Park Arena, where the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo is held each July. “It will be very similar to the ceremonies we’ve had in the past. We probably will not have nearly as many people,” Superintendent Boyd Brown told the school board Monday. Frontier Days organizers are meanwhile looking at the ceremonies as a trial run ahead of their event, Brown said. Health officials say the 19,000-seat arena could accommodate about 5,000 people while following social-distancing regulations, Brown said.

From Paste BN Network and wire reports