Pastor’s plea, Miami memorial, nursing home strike: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: Doctors and health officials on Monday pleaded with people to take precautions during Thanksgiving, such as skipping large indoor gatherings, as the state and nation experience an unchecked spread in COVID-19. “Please do everything you can possibly do to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. We don’t want this to be the last ever Thanksgiving for someone in your family like your parents or grandparents,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said. He said Thanksgiving and how it is handled will determine what December and Christmas look like: “We are not going to get a do-over on this.” The state is seeing the highest number of daily new cases since the pandemic began and an increase in hospitalizations, he said. As of Monday, about 1,400 people were in state hospitals with COVID-19, slightly below the summer peak of about 1,700. Harris said the state’s overall mortality rate from COVID-19 is about 1.5%. He said while that may sound low, it is about 15 times the mortality rate of the flu, and the risk increases dramatically with age. He said the mortality rate for people over age 75 is about 20%.

Alaska

Juneau: A judge has ruled that the federal government was correct in allowing a tribe to organize an out-of-season hunt because of the coronavirus pandemic. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration sued to block future hunts, arguing that permitting a special moose and deer hunt this summer was overreach by federal authorities, CoastAlaska reports. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason denied a preliminary injunction that would have prevented special hunts in the future. The Organized Village of Kake petitioned the Federal Subsistence Board for permission to hunt five deer and two moose out of season and distribute the meat within the community. The federally recognized tribe on Kupreanof Island, south of Juneau, said it was alarmed by the low supply and high price of fresh meat after the outbreak of COVID-19. The hunt was approved in June, but Alaska filed a lawsuit alleging federal officials illegally preempted the state’s rights to manage wildlife.

Arizona

Phoenix: Health officials in Pima County want residents to observe a 10 p.m. curfew to discourage people from going to parties, bars and other social settings that are risky for the spread of the coronavirus. Aaron Pacheco, a spokesman for the Pima County Health Department, said Monday that a voluntary curfew was pursued because the agency doesn’t have the power to order a curfew, so it’s doing all it can to lessen the risk. “This is the extent of our capacity to do so – to ask kindly,” Pacheco said. Pima County isn’t allowed to make its curfew mandatory because an executive order issued early in the pandemic by Gov. Doug Ducey bars local officials from taking steps beyond what he has required. The voluntary curfew will run from Monday through Dec. 31. It was announced a day after the county had its highest daily total virus infections since the pandemic began.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The state’s known coronavirus cases again topped 2,000 in a single day, and hospitalizations remained at a record level Tuesday, state officials said. Arkansas recorded 2,122 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 deaths. Hospitalizations rose to a new high of 988, increasing by 14 from Monday’s record level. Arkansas Department of Health Secretary Dr. Jose Romero urged residents to celebrate Thanksgiving safely by wearing a mask around people from outside their households. “We don’t want to see these numbers increase after the holidays… because that is a very grave possibility today,” he said. A weekly report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, released Tuesday by the state health department, said Arkansas remained in the red zone based on the number of new cases last week. Meanwhile, the Southeastern Conference announced Monday that Arkansas’ football game against Missouri, which had been set for this weekend, would be postponed because of COVID-19 issues within the Razorbacks program.

California

San Diego: A judge on Monday denied a request to temporarily restore indoor service at restaurants and gyms in San Diego County that were forced to move operations outside this month to slow the spread of the coronavirus. San Diego Superior Court Judge Kenneth Medel said in his ruling that there is scientific evidence to support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s sweeping public health orders to restrict business activity during the pandemic. Business owners in California’s second-most populous county sought to restore indoor operations at 25% capacity for restaurants and 10% for gyms, levels that were in place before a surge in infections earlier this month. Two restaurants and two gyms sued on behalf of their industries, asking that the state’s four-tier system of pandemic restrictions be declared illegal. San Diego, like nearly all the state’s counties, was moved into the most restrictive tier and forced to move many operations outside. The judge scheduled another hearing next month.

Colorado

Denver: As the state experiences its highest hospitalization rate of COVID-19 patients, Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order authorizing the state health department to order hospitals and emergency departments to transfer and cease admitting new patients in order to deal with the influx of coronavirus cases. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, as of Sunday the state had more than 1,500 confirmed COVID-19 hospitalizations. On Friday, Polis said full hospital capacity was reached in Mesa County on the state’s western slope and nearing the same fate in Weld County in northeast Colorado with only three intensive care beds available. The order allows for those hospitals that have reached capacity to transfer patients to another facility without obtaining their consent. It also says health care providers who comply with the order and transfer patients are “immune from civil or criminal liability for any action taken.”

Connecticut

Hartford: Teachers’ unions on Monday said all of the state’s public schools should switch to full-time remote learning until at least mid-January unless statewide coronavirus safety protocols are established and strictly enforced. A coalition of unions cited surging COVID-19 infections in the state. They said seven of Connecticut’s eight counties have virus levels that require remote learning or a hybrid of in-person and remote learning under state guidance, but many schools continue to hold in-person classes full time. “The (federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says schools are not the safest place during the pandemic, and in-person learning is a high-risk activity,” said Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association. “The state must take steps now to strengthen safety or else move to all distance learning as we brace for this second wave of the virus.”

Delaware

Newark: There are now two lawsuits seeking tuition and fee refunds from the University of Delaware for the pandemic-marred spring semester. A new lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of a woman who was a student at the university in the spring semester. It claims the school breached its contract with students by not offering adequate tuition and fee refunds after ending in-person classes and services in response to the pandemic last spring. Similar to a lawsuit filed in August, the new complaint also seeks class-action status to more broadly represent spring 2020 semester students who paid tuition and fees they feel should have been reimbursed. The lawsuit argues students paid a higher price to the university for in-person education and campus educational and lifestyle amenities. Because that was limited or no longer offered for part of the spring semester, those students are owed a refund, the litigation says.

District of Columbia

Washington: Mayor Muriel Bowser announced several new COVID-19 restrictions Monday afternoon as coronavirus cases continue to increase throughout D.C., WUSA-TV reports. Starting Wednesday, the new Phase 2 adjustments will tighten the limitations on gatherings, exercise classes and live entertainment. The limit for outdoor gatherings has been reduced from 50 to 25 people. Indoor gatherings are now limited to 10 people – both inside homes and in public. Restaurants will still be allowed to stay open until midnight, but alcohol sales and consumption will end at 10 p.m. The maximum number of people inside houses of worship will be reduced from 100 to 50 people, or to 50% capacity, whichever is less. All indoor group exercise classes and outdoor group classes with 25 or more people will be suspended. And the district’s live entertainment pilot will be temporarily suspended.

Florida

Miami: At a park that has been turned into a memorial for COVID-19 victims, families and officials gathered Tuesday to honor people who have died as they pleaded with others to avoid Thanksgiving dinners with those outside their home. U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson and other local officials spoke about the holidays approaching as the number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations creeps up in Florida after stabilizing in September and October following a summer surge. Hundreds of white corrugated plastic sheets shaped like tombstones, some with names and messages, were staked on the lawn in rows simulating a cemetery. Hospitalizations continued to rise in Florida on Tuesday, with 3,787 patients with the virus, up from 3,748 Monday. Numbers of confirmed cases also have been rising in the past few weeks, and officials have not adopted additional restrictions to prevent the virus from spreading as they did in March and in July.

Georgia

Atlanta: Although White House officials are pushing the state to do more to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday that the responsibility rests with individual Georgians, as he implored them to take precautions over Thanksgiving. The holiday comes at a perilous moment for the state. Although the virus is spreading more slowly in Georgia than in 40 other states, according to figures kept by the Associated Press, the number of infections is still rising rapidly and approaching the peak Georgia saw in late July. The Republican governor repeated the same guidance he’s been giving Georgians since summer: that they should wear masks, keep their distance from others, wash their hands and follow Kemp’s rules, including bans on large gatherings. The governor said he wasn’t planning any other measures, such as a statewide mask mandate or renewed restrictions on businesses. The seven-day rolling average of daily COVID-19 cases has been rising for nine weeks and is up more than 75% since the state began reporting rapid antigen numbers at the beginning of the month, standing just under 3,500 cases a day Tuesday.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The number of coronavirus cases among Oahu’s prison population must continue to be included in local case counts to monitor available health care resources and hospital space, Honolulu’s mayor said. Mayor Kirk Caldwell responded to critics who have said outbreaks in the island’s prisons are raising Honolulu’s coronavirus case averages, Hawaii News Now reports. At least 95 inmates tested positive for the virus recently at Waiawa Correctional Facility. The outbreak has been included in Oahu’s daily COVID-19 totals, potentially preventing the county from moving into the next tier of its recovery framework. Additional cases caused by isolated outbreaks are an element of the recovery framework with which Honolulu needs to contend, Caldwell said. “Whether you’re in prison or not, we have to protect all lives,” Caldwell said.

Idaho

Boise: The state has not included claims from jobless residents on federal unemployment programs related to the coronavirus pandemic in its weekly unemployment reports, according to reporting from Boise State Public Radio. The radio station reports that anyone who files a claim for the first time is counted as an initial claim. But Idaho residents who only qualify for federal benefits have not been counted in the state’s weekly report of continued claims, the radio station reports. “These programs have allowed people who otherwise would have been running back and trying to find whatever jobs that are available to remain unemployed but not (be) searching for work,” said Michael Farren, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “It’s probably helped avoid spreading the virus even more.”

Illinois

Chicago: Nearly 700 nursing home workers walked off the job Monday at 11 mostly Chicago-area Infinity Healthcare Management facilities, saying they won’t return until the company offers them higher wages and safer working conditions amid a pandemic that has hit nursing homes hard. Striking workers and representatives of their union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, stood outside nursing homes in Cicero, Maywood and Chicago’s Brainerd neighborhood, while recounting a list of grievances against Infinity. The workers are demanding at least a $15-an-hour wage, hazard pay for all employees and a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment. Jackie Abulebdeh, who works at Southpoint Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, said she is provided only one mask for a day’s work. The striking workers said Infinity discontinued pandemic pay for employees at the end of July and pays workers base wages well below those of other nursing homes in the Chicago area, despite receiving $12.7 million in COVID-19 funding through the federal coronavirus rescue package. The workers said they have been without a contract since June.

Indiana

Indianapolis: The state on Tuesday reported 5,702 new cases of the coronavirus and 103 deaths, the vast majority of which occurred in the past week. The additional cases and deaths bring the total tally for the virus to 306,538 cases and 5,169 deaths. The state passed the grim 5,000-death threshold over the weekend, less than four weeks after marking 4,000 COVID-19 casualties. While not all the new deaths occurred in a single day, the 103 tally is by far the greatest number reported on one day since the start of the pandemic. Last Tuesday, 58 people died with the coronavirus, the most ever on a single day. The past two days have seen 68 deaths from coronavirus, according to the state’s online coronavirus dashboard. Three days ago, the seven-day moving average for deaths hit its highest level to date, with an average of 51 deaths reported for each day. The daily number of new cases is flattening out a bit, but hospitalizations continued to climb.

Iowa

Johnston: Gov. Kim Reynolds offered no new measures Tuesday to reduce the number of coronavirus cases, even as a federal report warned of the unmitigated community spread that continues to claim lives, especially in nursing homes. Iowa reported 143 nursing homes with coronavirus outbreaks, and more than 4,500 residents of care centers are infected with the virus. Data from the state Department of Public Health shows 1,008 residents of long-term care facilities with COVID-19 have died in the past eight months. Reynolds acknowledged the increase in outbreaks and said she believes she has been aggressive in trying to prevent them but admitted that, with widespread community transmission, the virus is finding its way into nursing homes and other facilities. While Reynolds temporarily closed restaurants, bars and other businesses to slow the progression of the virus early in the pandemic, she has resisted doing so again. She also refused for months to enact any mask requirements before finally agreeing last week to a limited mask mandate.

Kansas

Topeka: Surging pandemic numbers are straining hospitals across the state just days before Thanksgiving gatherings that public health officials fear could worsen the outbreak. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment reported 95 new hospitalizations Monday. The state’s COVID-19 dashboard showed 240 coronavirus patients were in intensive care units, with 36% of ICU capacity remaining across Kansas. State health officials added 7,526 cases to the state’s pandemic tally since Friday, bringing the total to 142,059. The data showed Kansas averaged 2,760 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases a day for the seven days ending Monday, just slightly below the record average of 2,766 cases. The number of COVID-19-related deaths also rose by 46 to 1,456. Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday requested an extension of federal authority allowing the use of Kansas National Guard to combat the spread of COVID-19 in the state. The letter requests extension of 100% of funding for up to 500 National Guard members through the end of March.

Kentucky

Louisville: The state’s health care system could be at risk – and lives at stake – from rising pressures of new coronavirus hospitalizations if conditions do not improve, Gov. Andy Beshear warned Monday, defending the new mandates he issued last week to fight the pandemic. “What happens if we doubled in two weeks on a system that is already facing these problems? The answer is not only more people die, but more people die than they have to,” he said at a virtual news briefing. The Democratic governor’s new restrictions on in-person gatherings at restaurants, schools and event venues have drawn criticism from GOP lawmakers, local business owners and private schools throughout the state. Kentucky’s Republican Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, joined a Christian school Friday in filing a federal lawsuit that seeks a statewide temporary restraining order against a new rule that suspends in-person classes in private and public schools.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: With the state seeing a new spike in coronavirus hospitalizations, Gov. John Bel Edwards on Tuesday toughened restrictions on businesses and gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving, worried the holidays would only worsen the outbreak’s spread. The Democratic governor decreased the number of customers allowed at restaurants, gyms, salons, casinos, malls and other nonessential businesses from 75% of their occupancy rate to 50%. Crowds at churches will be capped at 75% of their capacity, with distancing among people of different households required. The new rules take effect Wednesday and expire Dec. 23. The statewide mask mandate will remain in place. Most bars likely will be limited to takeout, delivery and outside seating only, under new restrictions that require parishes to have low percentages of coronavirus tests returning positive to allow indoor drinking at bars. Crowd sizes at high school football games will shrink to 25%, the same maximum that’s already been in place for college football games. Indoor gatherings for weddings and events will be limited to 75 people or a maximum of 25% occupancy, whichever is less. Outdoor gatherings have looser limits.

Maine

Portland: A surge of coronavirus cases has necessitated changes to the state’s contact tracing protocols, top public health officials said Monday. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention will no longer be able to keep in touch with individuals who test positive for the coronavirus over the course of their illness, said Dr. Nirav Shah, the agency’s executive director. There will instead be only one point of contact with infected individuals, he said. The change is a result of the aggressive spread of the virus in the state, which has experienced a fall surge similar to the one felt around the country, Shah said. Maine CDC will continue to make sure infected individuals have the tools to isolate safely and will conduct an investigation into the source of their exposure, he said. “In a pandemic there are no easy choices, just choices that are hard and harder,” Shah said.

Maryland

Annapolis: The state will expand its pandemic-related compliance efforts ahead of Thanksgiving by sending additional state troopers to every county and Baltimore, Gov. Larry Hogan said Monday. Hogan said state troopers will work with liquor boards, local law enforcement agencies and others starting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to ensure that businesses and residents follow directives meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus, including the mask-wearing mandate. He said the Maryland State Police is also ramping up its hotline that the public can dial to report violations and is now operating a new phone line to assist local compliance officers. “As COVID fatigue has set in, some individuals and business have unfortunately started to become more lax at the very worst part of the pandemic,” Hogan said before highlighting the recent arrests in the assault of two ice cream shop workers by patrons who refused to wear masks.

Massachusetts

Boston: The state is launching a public awareness campaign in several languages aimed at encouraging residents to remain vigilant against the coronavirus as the state continues to see a surge, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Monday. The television and digital ads will reinforce basic virus protections like wearing a mask, practicing good hygiene, maintaining a safe distance and getting tested. The ads stress that the way to get back to activities that everyone is missing – attending live sporting events, throwing a child’s birthday party, going out dancing with friends – hinges on how well everyone adheres to safety protocols now. The campaign includes social media messages and digital animated videos in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, simplified and traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese. Information posters will also be displayed in convenience stores. Television ads in English and Spanish will run on broadcast and digital channels through February.

Michigan

Detroit: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer released a video Tuesday urging Michiganders to protect their families and not gather for Thanksgiving. “If you are planning to spend Thanksgiving with people outside of your own household, I urge you to reconsider,” she said in the video. “This year, I’m going to host a Zoom call with my family so we can still talk about the things we are thankful for, in lieu of hosting an in-person dinner like I usually do.” In Whitmer’s video, she asks viewers to think about their last Thanksgiving and with whom they spent it. “Picture their faces – laughing with you, cheering on the Lions with you, hugging you, or even arguing with you about politics,” she said. “As hard as it will be not to see them in person this Thanksgiving, imagine how much harder it would be if their chairs are empty next year.”

Minnesota

Minneapolis: A 73-year-old man who was a prisoner in Oak Park Heights has died after recently testing positive for the coronavirus, becoming the fourth Minnesota inmate to die from virus complications. The man, who was not immediately identified, died at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, the Department of Corrections said Monday. The man tested positive for the virus while he was being treated for terminal cancer, but it’s not known where he contracted it. Since March, more than 2,750 Minnesota inmates have tested positive for the virus, including 558 who are currently ill. At least 736 corrections staff statewide have become ill; more than half are back on duty. Across the state, health officials reported 38 more COVID-19 deaths Tuesday and 6,423 new coronavirus infections, raising the totals for the pandemic to 3,303 deaths and 282,916 cases. Minnesota currently ranks fifth in the nation for new cases per capita.

Mississippi

Southaven: On at least one occasion this year, Pastor Bartholomew Orr has preached four funeral services over the course of a three-day weekend. Several times, he has led multiple funeral services on a Saturday. Time and time again, he crafts an individualized message about the deceased to their grieving family and friends, but he keeps his message about the church’s COVID-19 protocols the same. His church, Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, has averaged more than a funeral a week this year. After delivering the church’s 77th funeral service Friday – a 50% increase from 2019’s full-year total of 51 – Orr issued a plea that families stay home for the holidays. “We are encouraging people – and especially with the numbers going back up – to really practice all of the safety guidelines, to avoid big family gatherings and to know that this is a time where the most vulnerable people, sometimes just coming over to somebody’s house can affect those that are most vulnerable,” Orr said.

Missouri

O’Fallon: State prisons have seen a surge of inmate deaths connected to the coronavirus this month, prompting civil rights leaders to urge additional steps to protect prisoners and staff. Meanwhile, an IT issue is blamed for data on inmate and staff cases and deaths disappearing from the Missouri Department of Corrections website. Spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said Tuesday that the state was upgrading to a new system when officials discovered the data wasn’t exporting. Through August, the state had reported just one inmate death. But Pojmann said 26 more inmates infected with the virus have died since September, most of them this month. The Missouri NAACP and several other organizations are calling on Gov. Mike Parson to take steps to further protect inmates. State NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. compared prisons to nursing homes in that the confined populations largely become infected through contact with staff. “If you’re going into these institutions just like a nursing home, you need to wear mask,” Chapel said. “It’s only coming in from the outside, ostensibly.”

Montana

Helena: More than 100 contracted medical staff have arrived in the state to assist hospitals in responding to the spike in COVID-19 cases, Gov. Steve Bullock announced Monday. The 110 health care workers are part of an anticipated total of 200 to be deployed in the state before Thanksgiving and who will remain until the end of the year. The governor’s office requested a total of 278 medical staff, spokesperson Marissa Perry said. The workers, including registered nurses and respiratory therapists from around the country, will aid hospitals that are at or near capacity as part of a contract between the state and NuWest, which provides traveling health care workers. Nurses are being paid $88 an hour along with $1,057 for expenses each week and a $500 relocation payment, according to NuWest’s ad for nurses in Montana.

Nebraska

Omaha: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state remains near record levels, but the total has remained relatively stable over the past week. The state said 971 people were hospitalized with the virus Monday. Over the past week, that figure has gone up and down between a low of 961 last Wednesday and Friday’s record of 987. But more social distancing restrictions could still be triggered soon because more than 23% of the state’s hospital beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients. Gov. Pete Ricketts has said more restrictions will be imposed when that figure reaches 25% of the state’s hospital beds. Nebraska reported 1,860 new cases of the virus Monday to give the state 115,921 total. The state also reported 25 new deaths for a total of 934 since the pandemic began. Nebraska had the seventh-highest rate of infection in the country Monday. Over the past week, 1 out of every 135 people in the state tested positive for the virus.

Nevada

Reno: The head of the state agency promoting business growth urged companies Monday to embrace the governor’s latest move to tighten COVID-19 restrictions, saying it’s the best way to protect against future shutdowns that are likely if the coronavirus keeps spreading at unprecedented rates. State health officials said the percentage of residents testing positive for the coronavirus over the previous 14 days has doubled since mid-October, from 8.2% on Oct. 15 to record highs of 16.7% on Sunday and Monday. Gov. Steve Sisolak announced the state’s most expansive mask mandate to date Sunday and reduced the capacity at casinos, restaurants, bars and many other businesses from 50% to 25%. Nevada COVID-19 Response Director Caleb Cage and Department of Business and Industry Director Terry Reynolds said officials sympathize with business owners who may struggle to stay afloat amid new cutbacks, but they are intended to help avert a more dramatic response in the weeks ahead.

New Hampshire

Concord: Families receiving food stamps won’t get a boost from the state’s federal coronavirus relief aid. New Hampshire has allocated all but $991,120 of the $1.25 billion it received. Any funds not allocated by Dec. 31 must be returned to Washington, but that won’t happen, the head of the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery told a legislative advisory panel Monday. Whatever is left as the deadline nears will be put into the state’s unemployment trust fund, Taylor Caswell said. “The bottom line is we are squarely on track to spend these funds down to the penny,” said Caswell, commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs. Democrats on the panel wanted to use the remaining money for the food stamps program instead but were defeated 4-3. They unsuccessfully argued that shifting the balance to the food stamps program would be easy to do within the existing structure and that the unemployment system would be more likely to benefit from any future federal aid packages. “People not being able to eat, that’s a significant concern,” said Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester.

New Jersey

Atlantic City: The city’s casinos are slowly resuming live entertainment, bringing back a staple of the casino experience as they comply with government-mandated restrictions designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The A-list stars that filled arenas and ballrooms are still nowhere to be found. Instead, the casinos are offering smaller shows with lesser-known acts in rooms that can comply with occupancy and social distancing limits. Hard Rock on Tuesday announced a series of Motown-themed Christmas shows Dec. 11-30, saying its customers are getting antsy with months of coronavirus restrictions. Harrah’s offered a series of outdoor concerts over the summer featuring rock and country cover bands that were limited to 500 people, including staff members. Caesars has live music and bands every Friday and Saturday at its Wild, Wild West area, and Resorts has live entertainment those same nights at its Bar One. Tropicana offers daily comedy performances at its Kiss Kiss nightclub. Atlantic City’s nine casinos are operating at no more than 25% of capacity under virus restrictions imposed by Gov. Phil Murphy. And they have to stop serving food and drinks at 10 p.m.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The state has started offering limited saliva testing as health officials look to boost coronavirus testing capacity amid unchecked spread. The Health Department rolled out the FDA-approved testing method at one of Albuquerque’s largest testing sites Monday. The agency expects about 2,000 of the tests to be performed per day at the site once the program is underway, and it could be expanded to several other locations in the coming weeks based on the level of positivity and demand. The method – recommended for asymptomatic individuals – involves swabbing the mouth to collect a saliva sample. The tests will be self-collected, with trained personnel present to ensure samples are properly collected. For the past week, the state has been averaging close to 12,000 tests per day, but officials have said that would need to double in order to get a better handle on limiting spread. New testing sites have opened up, but Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham warned during a recent briefing that there aren’t enough medical professionals to administer tests as more New Mexicans request them. State agencies have put out the call for volunteers.

New York

Albany: The governor said he is reopening an emergency COVID-19 field hospital on Staten Island, the first such facility in the state to relaunch since the state partly tamed the pandemic over the summer. The temporary hospital on the grounds of the South Beach Psychiatric Hospital cared for 200 patients in spring, when New York City’s hospital wards were overwhelmed with seriously ill and dying coronavirus patients. Now, Cuomo said officials are concerned it might be needed again, as the virus has spread in the borough at a faster rate than in the rest of the city. Staten Island has averaged 209 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the past seven days – up 86% from two weeks ago. “The hospitals have contacted us, and they say they need emergency beds on Staten Island,” Cuomo told reporters at a briefing at his Manhattan office Monday.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Gov. Roy Cooper issued an executive order Monday with tough language on enforcing the statewide mask mandate but little action on limiting business activity that has contributed to rising coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in recent months. The newly reelected Democrat said he does not want the state to go “backward” by shutting down businesses or schools. Instead, he’s holding out hope that increased compliance with existing health guidelines will stabilize the worsening trends. “Our numbers are going up, but things are not on fire yet,” Cooper said in a news conference. The governor pleaded with North Carolinians to adjust their Thanksgiving plans to avoid traveling, warning that residents “are in danger.” His top public health official, Dr. Mandy Cohen, said the state is “on very shaky ground.” Cooper’s order Monday doesn’t tighten occupancy limits on businesses. It instead stresses increased mask-wearing, particularly at gyms and restaurants.

North Dakota

Bismarck: November has become the state’s deadliest month for complications from COVID-19, according to figures released Tuesday by the Department of Health. Officials confirmed a record high of 37 deaths in the past day, bringing the statewide death toll from the virus to 883. The have been 317 fatalities in November, surpassing the October tally of 295. The state’s death count is the 39th highest in the country and the eighth highest per capita at 112 deaths per 100,000 people, according to figures compiled Monday by the COVID Tracking Project. State health officials said fatality reports on Tuesdays are typically higher because of a lag in reporting from the weekends. The state said there were 289 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday, a decrease of 25. North Dakota ranks first in the country for new cases per capita, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers.

Ohio

Columbus: The number of people hospitalized because of the coronavirus is growing rapidly and raising the possibility that elective procedures could be postponed, hospital officials and Gov. Mike DeWine warned Monday. More than 4,300 people are currently in Ohio hospitals with COVID-19-related symptoms, a 59% increase from just two weeks ago. That figure includes more than 1,000 in intensive care units and more than 570 on ventilators, according to state Health Department data. At the Cleveland Clinic, the growing number of hospitalizations is complicated by a shortage of nearly 1,000 of its health care workers, either because they have the coronavirus or because they’re under quarantine, said Dr. Robert Wyllie, Chief of Medical Operations. In Lima in western Ohio, coronavirus patients are entering St. Rita’s Medical Center faster than other patients can be safely discharged, said Mercy Health-Lima president Rhonda Lehman. In southwestern Ohio, hospitals are approaching the point where the number of COVID-19 patients will outnumber non-coronavirus patients, said Dr. Richard Lofgren, president and CEO of the University of Cincinnati HC Health system.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma City Council on Tuesday extended a citywide mask mandate, and two other cities have adopted a mask requirement in efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the state. Oklahoma City Council members voted to extend the mask requirement from Dec. 7 to Jan. 22, while city councils in Sand Springs and Muskogee on Monday night adopted mask mandates. The Broken Arrow City Council rejected a recommendation that residents wear masks in public. There were a reported 2,736 new virus cases, 15 additional deaths and a one-day record of 1,566 people hospitalized due to the virus, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. The previous one-day high for hospitalizations was 1,505 reported Saturday. There have now been a total of 180,610 cases and 1,664 deaths reported by the health department since the pandemic began in March.

Oregon

Salem: More than 200,000 people in the state are no longer waiting on their “waiting week” of unemployment payments. The state announced Monday that it paid 246,300 people a total of $176 million in so-called waiting week benefits in its initial payment run. Many people who were on unemployment received the payments as early as Friday. Traditionally, most applicants for unemployment benefits don’t receive those benefits for the first week – the waiting week. Oregon is the last state to pay the waiting week benefits of up to $800, nine months after the federal government authorized it. Federal coronavirus relief passed by Congress and signed into law in March authorized states to pay the waiting week of unemployment, something Oregon has never previously done, as well as a $600-per-week supplemental payment to those receiving unemployment. The state initially resisted paying the waiting week, but after pressure from the state’s congressmen, Gov. Kate Brown relented and ordered the Oregon Employment Department to make the payments.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Last call for bars will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday to cut COVID-19 transmission during what is normally a night of heavy public drinking, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday. The governor also imposed new crowd size limits of 500 people indoors and 2,500 outdoors and vowed there will be heightened enforcement of mask-wearing requirements and other infection control tools. He said busy bars can lead to “an increase in the exchange of the fluids that leads to increased infection.” The order will end 8 a.m. Thursday. Wolf’s administration says infections and deaths from COVID-19 have risen sharply in recent days, raising concerns the infection could spread during holiday gatherings and could challenge the health care system’s capacity to adequately treat the sick. The governor also said there will be limits on civil liability for businesses that enforce the statewide mandate that people wear masks in public spaces. The state’s health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, also made a plea for people to stay at home, calling it an advisory rather than an order. The administration said telework is now mandatory if it’s possible.

Rhode Island

Providence: The number of patients in hospitals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 has surged to the highest level since early May, according to state Department of Health numbers released Tuesday. There were 323 people in the hospital with the coronavirus as of Sunday, the latest day for which the information was available and the highest single-day total since May 5, when there were 337. The state also reported 812 new confirmed cases of the disease and 16 virus-related fatalities. The state death toll is now 1,325. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in the state has surged over the past two weeks from almost 556 on Nov. 9 to 950 on Monday, according to AP analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project. The latest seven-day average testing positivity rate in Rhode Island is 5.92%.

South Carolina

Columbia: A three-day ticket blitz in the capital city brought 130 citations for going unmasked in public places despite the coronavirus pandemic – and the fire chief says more are coming. “I don’t mind tipping my hand,” Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins told The State. “Yes, we are going to be out there.” He spoke Sunday, the sixth day in a row that South Carolina had reported more than 1,000 infections of the virus. Monday made it seven, with 1,095 positive tests and a total of 194,902. Five deaths from COVID-19 were reported Monday, bringing the total to 3,987. Columbia passed a mask ordinance in June and beefed it up this month, including a $100 fine. Before the weekend blitz, only about 50 citations had been issued. Nearly all of last week’s citations were in Columbia’s Five Points nightlife area, though department personnel also checked other areas including hospitality districts and big-box stores, Jenkins said Sunday. “It’s not about writing tickets. It’s about getting people to look at the seriousness of what’s going on,” Jenkins said.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: On Thanksgiving Day, more than 800 empty chairs will be set up at the South Dakota Capitol, a makeshift memorial to the lives lost to the coronavirus. But the somber display is not the only event happening at the Capitol this week, with Gov. Kristi Noem already kicking off a Christmas celebration, complete with an appearance from Santa Claus and live music. The two displays illustrate the contrast between those weary of the virus and ready to celebrate and those marking the season with loss and a willingness to pull back from familiar traditions to try to slow the virus’s spread. “During difficult times, it’s important to be extra thankful for what we have, for time with family, for the tremendous blessings that we have as citizens of the United States of America,” Noem wrote in a column released ahead of the holiday. The Republican governor, along with Pierre Mayor Steve Harding, moved ahead with the Christmas celebration slated for Tuesday, welcoming the public to a lighting ceremony inside the Capitol building. The largest tree – a 26.5-foot Engelmann Spruce – will be decorated by the South Dakota Nurses Association. The event requires no limit on crowds nor any requirements for masking or social distancing, in keeping with Noem’s hands-off approach to the virus.

Tennessee

Nashville: Metro Nashville Public Schools will remain closed after Thanksgiving break, with all students learning remotely, the district announced Monday. Students will remain home starting next Monday and learn virtually through the start of Metro Schools’ winter break Dec. 17. Director Adrienne Battle had warned families it was likely students wouldn’t return to school in-person after Thanksgiving as Nashville continues to see increasing spread of the coronavirus and as the school district battles staffing challenges with hundreds of teachers in quarantine each week. Battle acknowledged the strain school closures have on many families in an email. Metro Schools will continue to work with the YMCA to provide some emergency child care opportunities, she said.

Texas

El Paso: The top elected official for El Paso County on Tuesday announced a new curfew to help combat the spread of the coronavirus, which is overrunning the border area’s hospitals and funeral homes. County Judge Ricardo Samaniego said the curfew would go into effect Wednesday and run from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., ending Monday. The curfew is not as rigid as previous ones the county has ordered during the pandemic, as it is designed to stop social and recreational activities, Samaniego said. Residents will still be able to go to essential and nonessential businesses, he said. “I will use every tool that I have such as issuing a curfew to slow the spread of this virus,” Samaniego said during a news conference Tuesday evening. He said he’s also asking businesses to help limit large crowds during holiday shopping this weekend. He also asked residents to shelter at home and limit their outings to stores and to celebrate Thanksgiving with only the members of their household and have virtual celebrations with other relatives. Samaniego said he worried many more people might die because of the worsening situation in which El Paso finds itself. If these guidelines are followed, “those individuals will have many, many more Thanksgivings … many more opportunities to be with their families,” he said. Samaniego said Gov. Greg Abbott’s office has approved the curfew.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Gov. Gary Herbert on Monday relaxed restrictions on social gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving weekend as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to surge. There were 545 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Utah on Monday, and referral center intensive care unit beds reached 91.9% occupancy statewide, according to state data. The increased number of hospitalizations has prompted doctors and public health officials to advise against attending large Thanksgiving gatherings. Herbert, a Republican, said he will not extend his previous two-week order that required people to limit social gatherings to people in their immediate household, but he urged caution. Herbert recommended masks, social distancing and smaller gatherings for the holiday. Taylor Randall, dean of the the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, also urged residents to wear masks to help boost the state’s “fragile” economy. He cited a new university study that found mask mandates lower COVID-19 infections while increasing consumer mobility and spending.

Vermont

Montpelier: Next week, when children return to school, their regular daily health checks will include questions about whether they attended Thanksgiving gatherings outside their households, Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday. Any students who attend events with more than just their immediate household will be required to take online classes for a two-week quarantine period, or to quarantine for a week and then have a negative coronavirus test, Scott said. The governor encouraged businesses to take the same approach with their employees. “From my standpoint, this is fair warning to those of you who are planning to have gatherings from outside your household for Thanksgiving,” Scott said at Tuesday’s press briefing. “If you don’t want your kids to have to transition to remote learning and quarantine for a seven-day period, maybe you ought to make other plans.” Vermont, which still boasts some of the lowest COVID-19 case numbers in the country, is witnessing a spike in cases fueled in by small gatherings, state officials say. Nearly 40% of coronavirus cases reported in the state since the pandemic began have come in November, said Michael Pieciak, the Vermont commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation, who has been monitoring the statistics during the pandemic.

Virginia

Hampton Roads: U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria wrote to congressional leadership this week, calling for COVID-19 relief for contract poultry growers. In her letter Monday, Virginia’s 2nd District congresswoman said these contract farmers slipped through the cracks in previous relief efforts. “While the CARES Act was a lifeline for many in the agriculture industry, contract poultry growers were left behind,” Luria wrote. “Including contract poultry growers in the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program will help them make ends meet during this period of economic uncertainty. We must do more to help this industry.” In a recent press release, the congresswoman’s team said large poultry companies often contract with local farmers to grow birds in-house before processing them, and from March to May alone, 2.2 million fewer chickens were placed with Virginia growers, causing them to lose about $15,000 on average. These growers were excluded from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, and many are ineligible for small-business relief programs, according to Luria.

Washington

Olympia: The state Department of Health has reported more than 6,200 new cases of the coronavirus, representing roughly three days of cases. Health officials said Monday evening that the total of 6,277 new cases reported includes a case backlog because of the surge in cases and testing over the past week. Thirty-six deaths were also reported, according to The Seattle Times. Disease transmission is skyrocketing, State Health Officer Kathy Lofy said in a news release. “We have grave concerns about what will happen in the coming weeks if people gather at Thanksgiving, or any other time in the near future, and spread COVID-19 to their friends and loved ones,” Lofy said. Increasing COVID-19 activity is leading to more cases, straining the testing sites and hospital capacity, Secretary of Health John Wiesman said in a news release. “Do not have friends and other family inside your home for social gatherings,” officials said.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice blasted a recent social media post from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a fellow Republican, about enforcement of the state’s mask mandate. Justice had said businesses facing patrons refusing to wear a mask should call the police. Morrisey posted on Facebook last week that “we will use our constitutional authority to protect your freedoms” and that the governor’s mask order cannot lead to jail time. The post came as some conservative critics of the governor claim his mask order impinges on personal liberties. “I was damn disappointed,” Justice said about Morrisey’s statement. The governor has said his order cannot come with criminal charges. “It has nothing to do with our constitutional liberties.” A federal judge on Monday declined a restaurant’s request to throw out the governor’s mask mandate. Morrisey said in a statement that “heavy-handed threats of criminal penalties are not the way forward, especially through an executive order that the Legislature has not approved.”

Wisconsin

Madison: The state set another record for COVID-19 deaths Tuesday as Gov. Tony Evers begged people not to celebrate Thanksgiving with anyone outside their households. The state Department of Health Services reported COVID-19 was a factor in another 104 deaths Monday, breaking the old daily record of 92 set Nov. 17. The disease has been factor in 3,115 deaths since the pandemic began in March. The DHS reported another 6,202 confirmed coronavirus cases Monday. The state has now seen 363,973 cases since March. The only bit of encouraging news was that infection numbers remain below last week; the seven-day average for positive tests stood at 28.7% as of Monday, down from 36.5% last week. Evers said during a news conference Tuesday that people must avoid gathering with anyone with whom they don’t live to celebrate Thanksgiving to avoid infection. “Please make the hard choices,” he said.

Wyoming

Casper: State health officials said Monday that 26 more people have died because of COVID-19, setting a new daily record for deaths for the disease in Wyoming. The previous daily record for an increase in the state’s death toll was 21, which was announced Thursday, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. The state also set a new high for daily increases in cases that day, with 1,251 new cases reported. The state’s death count lags when the deaths occurred, sometimes by a few weeks, because the state health department does not update its tally until it receives death certificates. So far, November’s death toll is more than three times as high as the previous monthly record of 37 deaths set in October. Nine of the deaths reported Monday were in Natrona County, which has had the most coronavirus-related deaths, 45, in Wyoming.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports