Lonely zoo animals, drive-by salutes, food truck helpers: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: Gov. Kay Ivey issued an emergency order Sunday temporarily suspending state restrictions imposed because of the new coronavirus if those restrictions could interfere with people’s safety while strong storms were blowing through the South. “On this Easter Sunday, Alabama faces the potential for inclement weather, and we want all Alabama families to be prepared for whatever comes our way,” the Republican said in a statement. She said shelters and community safe rooms should remain open and maintain “reasonable practices and procedures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.” “My fellow Alabamians, stay vigilant, and stay safe,” Ivey said.

Alaska

Chugiak: The fire department is deploying its emergency vehicles to help young community members trapped at home on their birthdays while sheltering from the coronavirus. The Chugiak Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company is taking requests to provide drive-by salutes for kids living in its service area of 50 square miles, The Anchorage Daily News reports. A seven-vehicle brigade of two fire engines, two paramedic trucks, a water tender, a search-and-rescue truck and a captain’s truck rolled through a neighborhood with lights flashing and sirens blaring for JJ Morton and Kaleb Worland. The two boys, who both became teenagers Saturday, live a few houses away from each other in Chugiak, 21 miles northeast of Anchorage. Kaleb and JJ were among seven kids who received birthday brigades Saturday, in an effort Beaty said took about an hour.

Arizona

Phoenix: There’s a lot less foot traffic at the Phoenix Zoo since it closed to the public last month in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, and its animals are feeling the impact, with zoo employees saying some of the animals have had definite changes in behavior from the sharp decrease in human interaction. Employee Becky Manning said the zoo is typically only closed one day per year, and the goats have made it clear that they miss the pets and attention from hundreds of people per day in the petting zoo. “Anytime we were working in the barn, we would try to come and clean, and they were just all on us, rubbing on our tools, not letting us clean,” she said. Linda Hardwick, the zoo’s communication director, said the stingrays are also used to being frequently touched and handled, and staffers are taking time to give them “extra TLC.” Jessica Hintz, a senior primate keeper, said the orangutans and other primates are missing out on watching the crowds, and because primates are so closely related to humans, staff members have to limit personal interaction with them to avoid spreading illness.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The state’s only surgical abortion clinic on Monday asked a federal judge to block a state order banning the procedure except to protect the life or health of the mother during the coronavirus pandemic. Little Rock Family Planning Services filed the motion days after officials said the facility could not perform surgical abortions outside those circumstances. State health officials accused the clinic of violating a order preventing elective surgeries during the outbreak. Other states have used similar orders to restrict or ban abortions. The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas, which represents the clinic, asked to add the request to an ongoing lawsuit that led to three of the state’s abortion restrictions being blocked last year. The state on Monday said the number of coronavirus cases has risen to nearly 1,400. Two more people have died from the virus, bringing the state’s total deaths to 29.

California

Sacramento: The coronavirus has delayed income taxes, mortgage payments and evictions in the state – but not property taxes. Friday was the deadline to pay those taxes without incurring a hefty penalty, and Gov. Gavin Newsom let the date pass without taking any action. Business groups had urged Newsom to use his executive authority to delay the deadline or at least waive all penalties for late payments. Local governments pushed back. Property tax payments are their largest source of revenue and are only collected twice a year. The governments said they need the money because other revenue sources – including taxes on retail sales and hotel rooms – have dried up since Newsom ordered everyone to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus. At least three counties – San Francisco, San Mateo and Kern – have extended the deadline until May 4. Others say they will give extensions on a case-by-case basis to people impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.

Colorado

Grand Junction: Mike and Jamie Williams, owners of a local food truck, took it upon themselves to help out semi-truck drivers coming through town, delivering vital supplies to the virus-stricken nation. Though a statewide stay-at-home order has left truckers with open roads and far less traffic than usual, it’s come at the cost of not having places to sit down and eat a meal, sleep or even go to the bathroom. That’s where Big Mike’s Pork ’N’ Wings came in, The Daily Sentinel reports. On Wednesday night the food truck served 100 barbecue meals to truckers driving through the Pilot Truck Stop in Grand Junction. On Thursday night, they followed it up again with an even bigger showing. Typically serving lunch at the Tractor Supply in Grand Junction, the food truck opened especially – and only – to truckers both nights so they didn’t have to worry about where they would eat dinner. The owners pulled a double shift Thursday to make it work.

Connecticut

Hartford: The Connecticut National Guard was setting up 136 new beds for coronavirus patients at UConn Health in Farmington in anticipation of a surge in infections, officials said Monday. The beds will supplement 82 surge capacity beds that already are in place at the health center’s hospital. The National Guard is also providing equipment for another 107 beds in case they are needed. Officials said they hope the beds will not be needed, but the hospital needs to prepare for a worst-case scenario, said Andrew Agwunobi, the chief executive officer at UConn Health. The state has reported 554 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. As of late Sunday, more than 12,000 state residents had tested positive for the virus.

Delaware

Dover: The amount of visitors allowed into the state’s parks and wildlife areas at one time will be limited to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, a state agency announced. Parks remain open, but Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control police will block additional cars from entering the spaces at times when administrators observe crowding that would prevent people from following state and federal social distancing guidelines, the department said in a statement Thursday. Officials may also close certain areas if “lack of responsible social distancing” becomes an issue, the agency added. “As the days have gotten nicer and the stay-at-home period endures, we have been increasingly concerned to see the behavior of some visitors to our state parks and wildlife areas, with full parking lots and increasingly crowded trails,” Secretary Shawn Garvin said in the statement.

District of Columbia

Washington: D.C.’s only halfway house for men is closing at the end of April, according to officials. WUSA-TV reports the move to shut down Hope Village comes after several controversies and a class-action lawsuit over how it cares for residents during the pandemic. The Southeast halfway house has been around since 1978. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the current contract with the halfway house expires April 30. Attorney Jonathan Smith with the Washington Lawyers Committee said many of the 200 men who live in the facility are eligible for home confinement and said he feels that’s where they should go to protect themselves and the community. For weeks people have been protesting conditions inside the halfway house after videos from some of the residents surfaced on social media, showing beds too close together and a lack of social distancing protocols.

Florida

Davie: The town has placed its police chief on administrative leave after he was accused by officers of saying a sheriff’s deputy died of COVID-19 because he was a “homosexual who attended homosexual sexual events.” The Fort Lauderdale suburb of Davie announced late Saturday that Chief Dale Engle will be on leave while the allegations made by the Fraternal Order of Police union are investigated. According to the Miami Herald, Engle met with officers four days after the coronavirus death of Broward County Sheriff’s Deputy Shannon Bennett, 39. The officers expressed their concerns about catching the disease as Bennett had done. The union said in a letter to Richard Lemack, administrator for the town of 100,000 residents, that Engle “allegedly yelled about a ‘backstory’ which proclaimed that Deputy Bennett contracted and died from the virus because he was a ‘homosexual who attended homosexual sexual events.’ ”

Georgia

Atlanta: Two hundred hospital beds will be set up in a large convention center as an alternative treatment site for patients with mild to moderate cases of the new coronavirus, Gov. Brian Kemp said Sunday. The state has a contract with a private company, PAE, to prepare the site inside the Georgia World Congress Center, Kemp said in a news release. He said the company will work with the Georgia National Guard, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the Department of Community Health, and the Department of Public Health. The first parts of the temporary site should be available in about a week, and the site will be used for patients who do not need to be on ventilators. Kemp said projections show Georgia could hit its peak of the virus in late April. “We are working around the clock to prepare for future needs and ensure the health and well-being of our state,” said Kemp, a Republican.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The state was not fully meeting the large demand for affordable child care before the coronavirus outbreak, but many providers are now struggling with a severe decrease in business and unsure if they will reopen after the health emergency passes. Hawaii asked the federal government to allow parents to use subsidies at more than one child care provider since Democratic Gov. David Ige’s stay-at-home order took effect March 25, Hawaii Public Radio reports. A 2017 study by the University of Hawaii’s Center on the Family found that demand for child care in the state greatly exceeded supply. Although 64% of children of working parents need care, providers regulated by the state Department of Human Service could only serve 25% of them. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, the federal government allocated about $11.3 million for child care subsidies to the state. But it is not yet clear who will receive the money.

Idaho

Boise: The state has issued more than 60,000 unemployment payments totaling nearly $18 million to some 30,000 workers who have lost jobs due to the coronavirus, officials said Monday. The Idaho Department of Labor also said it is adjusting its phone schedule to better help those trying to make unemployment claims. Nearly 78,000 people have filed claims since mid-March, though many have had trouble getting through on the phone. The agency said applying online is best, though applicants should be wary of fake websites and make sure they are on a labor.idaho.gov site. For those calling by phone, the agency said it will accept incoming calls between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. and will reserve 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. for processing claims. The department said it has also reassigned workers to help process claims and hired an additional 12 claims specialists, with more to be hired later.

Illinois

Springfield: The U.S. District Court for the central district of Illinois emptied its closets in the fight against COVID-19. Officials said courts throughout the district donated nearly 500 protective masks to health care providers aiding those affected by the illness caused by the coronavirus. The lot included 175 N95 masks thought to be optimal in blocking transmission of the virus. Masks are among the personal protective equipment so in demand worldwide during the pandemic. “We extend our gratitude to the healthcare providers and essential workers who are keeping our communities safe,” Chief Judge Sara Darrow said in a statement. “We hope our donation is one small way we can help the greater cause of defeating this deadly virus.”

Indiana

Delphi: A northern Indiana company is making plastic clips to protect medical workers’ ears from being irritated by the elastic straps on face masks protecting them during the coronavirus pandemic. Hometown Shirts and Graphix temporarily closed its door after Gov. Eric Holcomb issued stay-at-home orders that extend through at least April 20. But the Delphi company’s owners, Tricia and Mark Mendel, have turned their downtime into an effort make plastic clips to hold face masks’ elastic straps at the back of a wearer’s head, rather than around the ears, where long-term use can rub the backs of ears raw. Since early April, Hometown Shirts and Graphix and the Mendels’ son Nick’s company, Ikonik Graphix, have laser-cut and donated more than 3,000 clips to medical staff at Indiana hospitals and others, including nursing homes and grocery stores.

Iowa

Iowa City: University experts working to develop models to help the state’s public health officials predict and manage the coronavirus pandemic are racing against time. The Iowa Department of Public Health and the University of Iowa College of Public Health didn’t reach a formal agreement to work together to create Iowa-specific pandemic models until April 7, a month after the state’s first coronavirus cases were confirmed. The contract obtained by the Associated Press calls for the college to produce predictive models within two weeks of receiving the department’s patient data, or on another mutually agreed upon schedule. The goal is to help Gov. Kim Reynolds and her aides predict the severity of the outbreak and make decisions about specific mitigation strategies. But the number of cases is expected to peak later this month, and it’s unclear whether any model will be completed before then.

Kansas

Mission: A coronavirus outbreak at a Kansas City area rehabilitation facility has now claimed 12 lives and sickened nearly 100 other residents and staff members. Health officials in Wyandotte County said Sunday that the Riverbend Post Acute Rehabilitation of Kansas City has 90 residents who tested positive and 20 staff. Five of the residents are currently in the hospital. The facility said in a statement that about 90% of patients are responding positively to care and that it is making palliative and supportive care available to those residents whose “overall course has not been as encouraging despite the efforts of our clinical team.” Statewide, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 grew Sunday by 69, to 1,337. Fifty-six have died. Meanwhile, Kansas State University announced Monday that summer classes will move online with significantly reduced fees in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Kentucky

Louisville: Kentucky Derby merchandise with the original race date of May 2 will go on sale this week, with 20% of proceeds going to funds set up to help people who have been financially affected by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. Merchandise will be sold online from April 15 through May 3, the Kentucky Derby Museum said in a statement. The sale will include hundreds of Derby 146 items, including apparel, accessories, glassware and party supplies. The public health crisis caused by the coronavirus forced Churchill Downs to postpone Kentucky Derby 146 to Labor Day weekend. “This moment in time represents a historically significant point in our lives,” Kentucky Derby Museum CEO Patrick Armstrong said. “So how can we take this merchandise and turn it into a win-win for our community and the museum?” He said 20% of proceeds will be donated to Gov. Andy Beshear’s Team Kentucky fund and to Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s One Louisville: COVID-19 Response Fund. The museum will use the rest to help fund its mission to educate Kentucky students about the importance of the Derby.

Louisiana

Oakdale: Prisoner rights advocates accused the federal Bureau of Prisons of “slow walking” the release of inmates at a Louisiana lockup where the coronavirus has killed six prisoners and infected dozens of others. The American Civil Liberties Union urged a federal judge Monday to release hundreds of vulnerable inmates at FCC Oakdale to home confinement, calling the rural facility a tinderbox “ready to explode.” Jail officials deemed several dozen prisoners “potentially eligible” for release. But the ACLU described the government’s plan as “far too little, far too late.” As of Sunday night, 38 inmates and 17 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19 at the prison. There have been six deaths there since March 21. “The prison has apparently succeeded in releasing no one except to hospitals and mortuaries,” the nonprofit argued in new court filings.

Maine

Portland: A rehabilitation center is the site of dozens of cases of coronavirus, including patients and staff, public health officials in the state said. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said 41 residents and 14 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at Augusta Center for Health and Rehabilitation in the state’s capital city as of Sunday. One resident died, the agency said. Maine has had three outbreaks of the virus in long-term care facilities. The agency said it is in regular contact with administrators at Augusta Center, and elevated protective measures are in place there. “This week, Maine CDC will, working with state licensing boards, reiterate in an email to all physicians and nurses licensed in Maine the actions that can be taken in long-term care settings to protect residents and staff,” the agency said in a statement.

Maryland

Baltimore: State officials on Sunday released ZIP code-level data on the spread of COVID-19 across Maryland, as the number of confirmed cases grew by the hundreds. The data released Sunday shows more cases in a northwest Baltimore ZIP code area than any other in the state, The Baltimore Sun reports. “It’s clearly spreading,” said Joshua Sharfstein, a former city health commissioner. “This is a beeping warning light that there is community transmission right now in Baltimore.” The data also showed hot spots in the Silver Spring area, the Prince George’s County suburbs of Washington and the Frederick area, according to the newspaper.

Massachusetts

Boston: Actor John Krasinski and retired Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz have given a major boost to some tireless health care workers on the front lines in the fight against the new coronavirus. The pair announced during Krasinski’s “Some Good News” YouTube show Sunday that workers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston would be getting free Red Sox tickets. “I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart how much I love and respect you for what you’re doing,” Ortiz said via video, before announcing that the team would donate four tickets to Beth Israel and its employees “for life.” Also on the show, some hospital employees were brought to Fenway Park in “the most sanitized Duck Boat in America” where they were thanked via video by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Gov. Charlie Baker and first lady Lauren Baker, and members of the team. The hospital workers then threw out a ceremonial first pitch for the yet-to-start 2020 season.

Michigan

Lansing: The state’s unemployment website and other online services were down Monday, the first day self-employed workers and independent contractors could start filing claims for benefits under a federal aid package enacted because of the coronavirus pandemic. Caleb Buhs, spokesman for the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget, said state networks and applications were experiencing “performance issues” causing some online services to be temporarily unavailable. “Teams are working diligently to restore service to 100%,” he said. “There is not currently a timeline for restoration.” Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency has been deluged by people seeking benefits. More than 800,000 filed initial claims over three weeks, the second-most in the nation. The unemployment website also crashed for a couple of hours nearly two weeks ago.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: Twenty-nine more Minnesotans have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the state’s total of confirmed cases to 1,650, the Minnesota Department of Health reports. But the department reported no new deaths Monday, so the state’s coronavirus-related death toll stood at 70. It’s the first time since March 25 that the state has recorded no new deaths. As of Monday, 157 people were hospitalized, including 74 in intensive care. Those numbers were unchanged from Sunday. Health officials have previously said that the case figures that the department releases on Mondays tend to show less change than during the rest of the week because fewer tests are conducted on weekends. They also caution that the state’s total of actual cases is likely much higher because most patients don’t qualify for testing.

Mississippi

Jackson: The coronavirus pandemic is prompting the Mississippi attorney general and the state public defender to seek a temporary change in rules governing the criminal justice system. The goal is to require more frequent judicial review of conditions for pretrial detainees – people being held in county jails as they wait to go before a grand jury or to trial. Many are held for months because they cannot afford to post bail. The state’s top prosecutor and the public defender are adversaries, by design of the justice system. Their current alliance is prompted by concern that the highly contagious virus could spread swiftly inside detention centers, harming those who might be medically vulnerable and rapidly overwhelming jails’ health care capabilities. Coronavirus cases were reported last week at a federal prison in Yazoo City. In some jails, inmates sleep in “open bay” settings, with multiple beds in a single large room.

Missouri

Clayton: St. Louis County will build a temporary morgue because of the increase in deaths due to the coronavirus. County spokesman Doug Moore told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday that the facility is expected to open by the end of the week. County Executive Sam Page discussed construction of the temporary morgue during a news conference Monday and said his staff is working with faith leaders about how to handle bodies with dignity. The county’s permanent morgue is a one-story building in Berkeley, with a capacity of 20 bodies. State law requires the county medical examiner to take charge of the bodies and investigate facts concerning the medical cause of some deaths, including those from a disease that is thought to be hazardous or contagious. As of Sunday, 42 people in St. Louis County had died from infections caused by COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

Montana

Helena: A Flathead County resident is Montana’s seventh coronavirus death as the state’s total cases neared 400 on Monday. The Flathead City-County Health Department said the individual who died Sunday was over the age of 65 and had underlying health conditions. Out of respect for the family, no further information would be released, health officer Hillary Hanson said. On Monday, the state Department of Public Health and Human Services reported Montana has 394 cases, an increase of 29 since Friday. Twenty-one people out of 47 who had been hospitalized remain in the hospital. Gallatin County has 138 cases, just over a third of the state’s total. Sixty-two of the county’s cases were confirmed among people ages 20-39.

Nebraska

Omaha: Police handed out 20 citations for trespassing in city parks over the weekend, just days after the mayor ordered all city parks closed amid complaints they were too crowded. The tickets were issued Saturday and Sunday, with the largest share handed out in northeastern Omaha’s Hummel Park, police said. Two people also were cited on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge that links Omaha to Council Bluffs, Iowa, over the Missouri River. Mayor Jean Stothert noted that the worst offenders were youth sports coaches and parents with children. Her order also came a day after a gathering of about 100 people in Benson Park for a barbecue ended in a fatal shooting. The citations came as more COVID-19 cases were reported in the state, including the first cases in Dakota County in northeastern Nebraska.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Local gun stores that have remained open while other businesses were ordered closed due to the coronavirus pandemic have reported a spike in sales in recent weeks, especially from first-time gun owners, a newspaper finds. The FBI processed more than 22,200 firearm background checks from Nevadans in March through the bureau’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, more than double the average number of background checks conducted monthly on Nevadans last year, the Las Vegas Sun reports. The spike in gun sales has not correlated with increases in violent crime, police Officer Aden OcampoGomez told the newspaper. Violent crimes including domestic violence and aggravated assault have gone down since mid-March, OcampoGomez said, along with property crime. However, shooting reports went up 35% in the second half of the month compared with the first half, OcampoGomez said.

New Hampshire

Concord: Democratic leaders of the Legislature went to court Monday to stop Republican Gov. Chris Sununu from spending federal COVID-19 relief funds without their permission. House Speaker Steve Shurtleff, Senate President Donna Soucy and the top Democrats on the Legislature’s joint fiscal committee filed a motion seeking an emergency order to halt Sununu’s newly created Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery. They argue only the committee has the power to act on the $1.25 billion the state is expected to begin receiving later this month. Rep. Mary Jane Wallner said the committee she leads is the fastest way to distribute money to families, communities, businesses and nonprofits “effectively, equitably and constitutionally.” Sununu’s spokesman said the governor’s office will continue to follow the 2002 law granting the governor authority to take immediate action during a statewide crisis.

New Jersey

Trenton: Transit systems in the state must cut their capacity in half, and all their passengers must wear face coverings, Gov. Phil Murphy said over the weekend. An executive order that took effect at 8 p.m. Monday also requires face coverings for customers picking up takeout from restaurants and bars, the governor said. Face coverings are not required for curbside pickup or delivery. Restaurants and bars must provide face coverings for workers. The order requires New Jersey Transit and all private carriers to cut the capacity on all trains, buses, light-rail vehicles and para-transit vehicles to 50% of their maximum, Murphy said. Transit companies must supply workers with gloves and face coverings, he said. Many essential workers get to work by public transit, “and we need to protect them during that trip,” the governor said.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: The Republican Party is urging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to allow nonessential small businesses to reopen with some requirements for social distancing. The first-term Democratic governor and state health officials have suspended a variety of nonessential business through at least April 30 in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus and ensure health care facilities are not overwhelmed by a surge of patients. The state Republican Party says the precautions are too drastic and put small, local businesses in jeopardy of financial ruin. In his weekly podcast, Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce called the pandemic “a very difficult time for the free market, for capitalism, for hope and opportunity.” Lujan Grisham has said she is working on a plan to reopen the state economy while putting the highest priority on public health and safety.

New York

New York: The state’s coronavirus death toll topped 10,000 only about a month after it recorded its first fatality, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday. New York state tallied 671 new deaths Sunday. It was the first time in a week the daily toll dipped below 700. Still, the governor noted people are still dying at a “horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow.” Hospitals are still getting 2,000 new patients a day, Cuomo said. New York has now reported 10,056 deaths since early March, with more than half of them in the past week. “This virus is very good at what it does. It is a killer,” Cuomo said during a state Capitol news briefing. As a hopeful sign, Cuomo said the number of people hospitalized with the virus has flattened to just under 19,000. “The worst can be over, and it is over unless we do something reckless,” Cuomo said. “And you can turn those numbers on two or three days of reckless behavior.”

North Carolina

Raleigh: The state attorney general’s office has received more than a thousand coronavirus-related price gouging complaints. Among them: a Facebook marketplace seller asking $100 for a roll of toilet paper. Of the approximately 1,200 complaints made since a state of emergency was declared and the price gouging law went into effect, 54% involve grocery items, TV station WTVD reports. Consumers also reported being charged too much for hand sanitizer, cleaning products and face masks. Attorney General Josh Stein’s office said it is investigating nine North Carolina-based sellers on Amazon that are accused of raising prices on coronavirus-related products by more than 40%, the station reports. “At a time when North Carolinians are trying to take care of themselves and their families in the face of an unprecedented crisis, some sellers are instead focused on unfairly taking people’s money,” Stein said in a statement. Offenders face a penalty of up to $5,000 per violation.

North Dakota

Bismarck: The number of people testing positive for the coronavirus continues to rise in the state. Health officials said Monday that 23 additional people had tested positive for COVID-19 since Sunday, bringing the state total to 331. The number of deaths officially attributed to the coronavirus in North Dakota is eight, though none were immediately reported Monday. Officials said 431 people had been screened since Sunday, bringing the total tested in North Dakota to 10,781. They said 10,450 of those tests have come back negative. There were 40 coronavirus patients who were hospitalized on Monday, up one since the day before.

Ohio

Columbus: The number of coronavirus infections in the state’s prisons topped 160 over the weekend, and 12 of 28 institutions are now under full quarantines, according to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. A hundred staff members have tested positive, with more than half of those at Marion Correctional Institution, the prisons agency said Sunday. One Marion prison guard died of COVID-19. Inmate infections hit 67, with the majority of those at Pickaway Correctional Institution in central Ohio. During the epidemic, the state is limiting inmates to two meals a day – a hot brunch and an evening meal – to reduce movement in facilities and contact between individuals, The Lima News reports. Gov. Mike DeWine has announced just over 200 inmates are being considered for early release, including pregnant prisoners and women with children with them behind bars.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The number of state residents with coronavirus has surpassed 2,000, and the number of deaths due to COVID-19 now stands at 99, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported Monday. There are now at least 2,069 cases, up from 1,970 reported Sunday, while the number of deaths rose by three. The department reports 80 of the deaths were people 65 or older, and 14 are in the 50-to-64 age group. The Oklahoma State Department of Health has forecast the peak of the virus to be about April 21, with more than 900 people hospitalized and more than 450 in intensive care. The forecast says the department expects about 9,300 total cases by May 1, with 469 deaths due to COVID-19.

Oregon

Portland: A homeowner who rents a room to a woman who has been volunteering at a homeless shelter during the coronavirus outbreak is suing the woman for potentially increasing her exposure to the virus. Carole Lee, 77, has filed a $100,000 lawsuit against tenant Jeane Gaiennie. Lee also wants Gaiennie to be required to leave her home until the state declares the virus health emergency is over. Lee’s lawsuit was first reported by KGW. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Multnomah County Circuit Court, says Gaiennie has volunteered at one or more Portland homeless shelters and helped with a Union Gospel Mission search-and-rescue team. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports Lee told her tenant she felt imperiled, according to the lawsuit, but Gaiennie refused to stop helping out. Lee doesn’t feel safe in her home, according to the lawsuit. Gaiennie said her volunteerism is not new. “This is who I am,” she told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The top government official in the state’s second-most populous county said Monday that he wants the authority from the state to conduct the June 2 primary election entirely by mail. Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said holding an in-person election in the midst of the coronavirus crisis would be a “disaster.” He wants Gov. Tom Wolf to expand the state’s emergency declaration to allow Allegheny County to mail ballots to every registered voter and avoid the legal requirement that it open hundreds of polling places staffed by thousands of poll workers. “I’m very concerned that we can actually operate this and actually function, getting this many people to work the election and in voting places,” Fitzgerald said. Officials in a pair of heavily populated suburban Philadelphia counties, Montgomery and Chester, are also backing the idea of an all-mail election, while Philadelphia is making preparations for one.

Rhode Island

Providence: Goldman Sachs is providing $10 million in loans to small businesses and nonprofits in the state that are struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced Monday. The loans of up to $250,000 are available to businesses that don’t have a solid relationship with a bank or lender or that can’t apply for a Small Business Administration loan. Applications can be made through Rhode Island Commerce, the state’s economic development agency, she said. The loans can be partially or wholly forgiven for businesses that maintain or rehire their workforce and can be used for payroll, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. Raimondo said her decisions during the pandemic that have forced restrictions or even the shutdown of many businesses “weigh heavily” on her, but her goal is to be one the first states in the country to get back to work.

South Carolina

Columbia: Health officials reported 113 new coronavirus cases Sunday and said the virus had caused two more deaths in the state. A statement from the South Carolina health department said the total number of people confirmed to have COVID-19 in the state rose to at least 3,319. The death toll was 82. Officials said the two latest victims of the disease were an elderly resident of Charleston County and a middle-aged resident of Greenville County. Both had underlying health conditions, officials said. Also Sunday, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a new state of emergency in South Carolina, as his previous order doing so had reached its 15-day expiration. McMaster’s new order keeps in place his earlier executive decisions to shutter dine-in restaurant services and nonessential businesses, shift public schools to online learning, and activate the state’s National Guard.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem continued to resist calls for a stay-at-home order amid an outbreak in the city Monday, while announcing that the state will run a comprehensive trial for the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat and potentially prevent COVID-19. The Republican governor said the trial was a way to “go on offense” against the coronavirus, pushing forward a treatment that has been advanced by President Donald Trump but also has drawn skepticism from doctors who say it could have severe side effects. Noem explained that the state’s three largest health care providers would conduct a test with 2,000 people. They will also administer the drug to health care workers as a preventative measure. Allison Suttle, the chief medical officer for Sanford Health, which will be conducting the trial, said the side effects of the treatment could include nausea or fatigue but did not list anything more severe.

Tennessee

Johnson City: Leaders of an East Tennessee State University project are asking local residents to document their experiences of living through the coronavirus pandemic. The university says the submissions will be housed at the school’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, which includes the Archives of Appalachia. Archives director Jeremy Smith says people are invited to share diaries, writings, photographs, videos, social media posts, business correspondences and other items about living through COVID-19 times. “We want to hear from our community how they spent their days, how their lives, families, and businesses were affected and how they experienced loss and hardship, as well as how they stood in solidarity and the lessons they learned,” Smith said in a news release. Files can be submitted online via email, or they can mailed to the Archives of Appalachia. More information is available on the Archives website.

Texas

Austin: A federal appeals court on Friday partially rescinded a lower-court order that had largely blocked the enforcement of an abortion ban in the state during the coronavirus pandemic. By a 2-1 vote, the three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld enforcement of an executive order by Gov. Greg Abbott that includes abortion among nonessential medical procedures banned during the state of emergency. However, the appeals court allowed the procedure to go ahead if delays would place the pregnancy beyond the 22-week state cutoff for abortions. The ruling was agreed to by Judges Jennifer Walker Elrod, an appointee of President George W. Bush, and Kyle Duncan, an appointee of President Donald Trump. Judge James L. Dennis, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, dissented and opposed any stay of the lower-court order.

Utah

Salt Lake City: A Utah-based health care organization will send two virus response teams of medical workers to New York hospitals suffering from staffing shortages because of the COVID-19 outbreak. Intermountain Healthcare announced Saturday that the 50-member teams will be sent for two weeks, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. The Utah workers will be assigned to New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Northwell Health Inc. in the New York City area. “We just feel we need to go help,” said physician Dixie Harris, a pulmonary specialist among those departing for New York starting Tuesday. “It’s an inner calling. When you go to medical school, when you go to nursing school, you feel this need to go where you are needed.” The New York health care providers will try to support Utah as the state faces its own expected surge of coronavirus patients, likely in the next two months, Intermountain said.

Vermont

Montpelier: The Vermont Department of Labor had a system outage Sunday that caused a lot of claimants to get a message saying their Social Security number was not found, Commissioner Michael Harrington said. “My understanding is everything should be functional now,” he said Monday. “People can still file their claims online and over the phone for the rest of the week.” A new alphabetized intake system has been put in place in response to the rising number of unemployment claims and inquiries. To reduce the volume of calls and online claims, the system designates certain days of the week for people to contact the department based on the first letter of their last name. The state had received more than 71,600 unemployment claims since March 15, the Labor Department said last week.

Virginia

Richmond: State regulators have received more than 150 complaints about insufficient precautions being taken against coronavirus at workplaces. The Department of Labor and Industry has contacted the employer in most of the 165 complaints received as of Thursday and requested a written response detailing steps taken to protect its workers, The Roanoke Times reports. Jennifer Rose, director of the agency’s Virginia Occupational Safety and Health program, told the newspaper an employer’s failure to respond or inadequate response could result in a referral to local law enforcement officials, an on-site inspection or other enforcement options. A detailed breakdown of the complaints, including what regions of the state they came from, wasn’t immediately available. Some residents have also raised concerns with local governments or other state agencies, the newspaper reports.

Washington

Seattle: The state will release nearly 1,000 inmates serving time for nonviolent offenses to create more space in its prisons after a coronavirus outbreak spread in one of its largest facilities, officials said Monday. The decision came after the state Supreme Court responded to an emergency motion filed by a group of offenders. The court ordered Gov. Jay Inslee and corrections Secretary Stephen Sinclair to submit a plan by noon Monday. “Today, the Washington Department of Corrections takes its next steps in mitigating risk to the incarcerated population sentenced to our custody,” Sinclair said. Inslee said the plan also addresses public safety concerns. At least 14 corrections employees and eight inmates in Washington have tested positive for the virus. Tests were pending for an additional 50 inmates, and more than 900 were under quarantine orders. The state’s largest outbreak is occurring at Monroe Correctional Complex, where five workers and seven offenders have COVID-19.

West Virginia

Charleston: An undisclosed number of residents at a West Virginia University dormitory complex have been ordered to self-quarantine after someone living there tested positive for the new coronavirus, the university said. The Monongalia County health department notified the university of the positive test Sunday. The individual has been isolated, and residents of the Evansdale Residential Complex in Morgantown must quarantine until they are tested starting Monday and the test results are known, WVU said in a statement Sunday night. Employees of the complex, commonly known as the Towers, also must be tested. WVU spokesman John Bolt said Monday that students who weren’t leaving for spring break or were unable to remain away from campus were allowed to apply to stay in university housing. He said the overall number of students currently in the housing is fewer than 100.

Wisconsin

Madison: The Legislature will pass a coronavirus response bill with bipartisan support this week in first-of-their-kind virtual sessions that lawmakers will attend remotely, Republican leaders said Monday. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he hadn’t reviewed the final version of the bill, which is intended to complement more than $2 billion in federal aid coming to the state, but he’s optimistic bipartisan agreement could be reached. “Hopefully, this will not be a one-shot answer to the crisis here in Wisconsin but an opportunity to establish a dialogue,” Evers said on a conference call with reporters. Evers said he was particularly interested in getting aid to struggling Wisconsin farmers and businesses. Evers had objected to an earlier version that would have given the Legislature’s GOP-controlled budget committee the power to make any cuts in spending it wanted.

Wyoming

Casper: A Johnson County man has become the state’s first person to die of the coronavirus. For almost two weeks, Wyoming was the only U.S. state without known deaths from the virus causing the COVID-19 illness. The man’s death was announced Monday by the Wyoming Department of Health. The man had health conditions that put him at higher risk of complications from the virus, and he’d been hospitalized in Buffalo, health officials said. He’d previously tested positive for the coronavirus. The man died late last week, and his death certificate on Monday officially confirmed coronavirus was the cause, department spokeswoman Kim Deti said. “This is a sad development we hoped we wouldn’t see in Wyoming, and we want this person’s family to know they have our sympathy,” State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist said.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports