Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, National Cherry Blossom Festival, giant pumpkin: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: The coronavirus pandemic appears to be worsening again in Alabama after weeks of improvement as residents grow weary of preventive measures that slowed the spread of the disease after a summertime peak, health officials said. Donald Williamson, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association, said he has noticed fewer people wearing masks and trying to stay away from each other in public over the last couple weeks, and such changes seem to be showing up in troublesome statistics. “I think it’s clear that we all have COVID fatigue,” Williamson said Tuesday. The virus has been spreading at a quickened pace since early October, figures show, and around 840 people have been hospitalized a day over the past week, compared to around 750 a day in late September.

Alaska

Fairbanks: An outbreak of coronavirus has infected 33 inmates at a prison in Fairbanks, causing the facility to go into quarantine for 14 days, state officials said. Thirty-two of the cases at the Fairbanks Correctional Center are men and one is a woman, the Alaska Department of Corrections said in a statement. All of those infected were housed in the general population, the department said. Other inmates are being tested for coronavirus, with results expected by Monday, the department said. The inmates with coronavirus are being isolated in a separate unit of the prison. The facility serves northern Alaska and has male and female inmates, some of whom are serving sentences and others of whom are awaiting trial. The Department of Corrections “has been proactive in preventing the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in our facilities even before the first positive case was identified in Alaska,” said Nancy Dahlstrom, the department’s commissioner.

Arizona

Pinetop: The White Mountain Apache Tribe said its casino would temporarily suspend operations after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. The Hon-Dah Resort Casino temporarily suspended gaming operations at 10 p.m. Sunday while its hotel was scheduled to close Monday after checkout time, according to a news release from the tribe. Management planned to work with health officials to determine when to safely resume operations, the news release said. All casino employees would undergo COVID-19 testing, according to the release. No customers or guests have been identified as being positive for COVID-19, however, one of the two positive staff members was in contact with employees who serve the public, the release said. “We are acting swiftly to protect the health, safety and welfare of our employees and our customers,” Brent Kurth, the casino’s general manager, said in the release. “At Hon-Dah, we put our people and our community’s needs first.” The announcement came nearly two months after the casino began to reopen as COVID-19 cases for the White Mountain Apache Tribe began to decline. Now, the tribe is experiencing a slight uptick in its COVID-19 cases, totaling more than 2,500 and 41 known deaths as of Monday.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Three state lawmakers have tested positive for the coronavirus, legislative leaders said Tuesday, and the Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he’s scaling back his public events and meetings after being exposed to someone with the virus. Senate President Jim Hendren said the Legislature was postponing its budget hearings after two House members and one senator tested positive. Hendren said legislative leaders will work with the Health Department to determine who must be quarantined and tested because of potential exposure. Hutchinson told reporters he was limiting his events after learning someone at a meeting he held Friday tested positive for the virus. Hutchinson said he has tested negative twice since learning of his exposure. Hutchinson went forward with a tour of the state Monday to campaign for a highway tax measure, even after learning of his exposure. He defended the move, saying he received the negative results before the campaign events and that he followed masking and social distancing guidelines. Hutchinson said he will be tested regularly over the next week.

California

Sacramento: The state will let fans back in outdoor stadiums for pro sporting events in counties with low coronavirus infection rates but isn’t ready to allow Disneyland and other major theme parks to reopen, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state health secretary said. San Francisco and neighboring Alameda and Santa Clara are the only counties that meet the threshold for pro sports. However, immediately after the announcement officials in Santa Clara, home to the San Francisco 49ers, issued a statement saying they weren’t prepared to allow even a limited number of fans into Levi’s Stadium. Major theme parks, on the other hand, strongly objected to the state’s restrictions, saying they could safely operate even with thousands of people in attendance. As many as 14,000 people could attend Levi’s Stadium events under the state’s guidance, setting up the chance of devastating “super spreader” events, said Dr. Jeff Smith, Santa Clara County’s executive officer. Under the state rules, pro sports teams could have limited capacity at outdoor stadiums if they are in a county in the lowest two levels of the state’s four-tiered model for reopening. Only fans who live within a 120-mile radius may buy tickets. No county in Southern California has reached those tiers, excluding attendance at games for the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers.

Colorado

Denver: State health officials are weighing in on how to safely navigate the ski season amid a pandemic as eager skiers and snowboarders who have been cooped up for the greater part of a year prepare to hit the slopes in a matter of weeks. The Department of Public Health & Environment released its final guidance Monday after gathering feedback from resorts and county health officials. They list now-common safety measures for skiers to follow, including physical distancing, wearing masks and gathering in small groups. “Outdoor activities like skiing and snowboarding can be lower-risk if done with proper precautions, both on and off the slopes,” said Jill Hunsaker Ryan, executive director of the state health department. “We have to proceed carefully and be willing to evolve if necessary.” Resorts are encouraged to sell lift tickets online or by phone, to ask guests if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or might have been exposed, to limit ski school groups to no more than 10 students, to load lifts and gondolas in a way that keeps guests in different groups socially distanced and to consider using reservations to limit the number of visitors. The guidance also establishes standards for ski areas to allow travelers to isolate and quarantine if they test positive for the coronavirus, to ensure that employee housing is safe and to have a plan to shelter guests and staff if extreme weather rolls through.

Connecticut

Hartford: The state is making $50 million in federal coronavirus relief funds available to small businesses that have been impacted financially by the coronavirus pandemic, providing one-time grants of $5,000 to 10,000 employers. Half the $50 million will be allocated to businesses located in economically distressed communities in Connecticut, both urban and rural. The grants will be targeted to businesses with no more than $1.5 million in annualized payroll expenses or fewer than 20 employees. They must be able to demonstrate a 20% or more revenue loss as of Sept. 20, compared to Sept. 20, 2019. This is the second large-scale effort by the state to help small businesses. During the early days of the pandemic, the state created an emergency loan program from scratch, which ultimately funded 2,123 one-year, no-interest loans, averaging $19,705 apiece.

Delaware

Georgetown: In the spring, Ed Givens, 64, bounced back to good health as a COVID-19 survivor after he became critically ill, fighting for his life on a ventilator at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford. Last Saturday, in the annual fall harvest tradition hosted by Givens and wife Cindy, he picked this year’s great pumpkin. Only the largest of this year’s bunch was a 609-pounder that pales in comparison to mammoth gourds Givens grew in the pumpkin patch at his Gravel Hill Road residence, including a state record 1,436 pounder in 2015. The pumpkin harvest was laced with a celebration, a pumpkin-themed gathering of upward of 75 people that featured Dogfish pumpkin ale – and sincere thanks to those who pulled and prayed for Givens when during his 14-day hospital stay. “Granted, it is no giant,” Givens said of his pumpkin. “But the most important thing is, I am dedicating today’s event to everyone that’s here, for all the prayers and the support that they had given me when I had the virus.”

District of Columbia

Washington: Organizers of the National Cherry Blossom Festival said the 2021 parade, scheduled for next spring, is canceled, WUSA-TV reported. The festival, scheduled for Mar. 20-Apr. 11, will still take place but with changes due to ongoing restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “The health and safety of our Festival staff and the attendees, sponsors, and other stakeholders remain the Festival’s top priority,” said Diana Mayhew, president and CEO of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. A full schedule of programming for the 2021 Festival is being developed, with more details and a special reveal of the official 2021 artwork planned for next month, event organizers said in an official release. Festival organizers said they are working with the city, mayor’s office, the National Park Service, and other officials, partners, and stakeholders to plan and provide a variety of programs that will engage the community and embrace springtime in the District. In March, festival organizers canceled the 2020 parade and several other events due to the District’s ongoing state of emergency amid the pandemic. For more information regarding the 2021 National Cherry Blossom Festival and events, visit nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.

Florida

Miami: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has risen to 90 among students and teachers in Miami-Dade County’s public schools since classrooms reopened for face-to-face learning, according to the district’s dashboard. Some parents and teachers worry that the number is significantly higher, saying that the district has not been transparent enough about the severity of the issue as the school system enters the third week of brick-and-mortar classes, the Miami Herald reported. “We’ve been kept in the dark,” Jennifer Desa, whose son attends Air Base K-8 Center in Homestead, told the newspaper. She said parents received robocalls from the school informing them of positive cases last Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. But the school still wasn’t listed on the COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday morning. On Friday, the dashboard reported 29 staff members and 19 students had tested positive for the coronavirus since students returned to face-to-face learning the week of Oct. 5. By Tuesday morning the numbers had climbed to 54 employees and 36 students, according to the dashboard. United Teachers of Dade, the district’s teachers union, tweeted its concerns on Monday, asking for answers from the school system. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said the decision to close schools isn’t up to him, but he expressed firm opposition to the idea during a visit to a Jacksonville school.

Georgia

Atlanta: A former vice president of a medical device packaging company has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for sabotaging his former employer’s electronic shipping records, which prosecutors said delayed the delivery of personal protective equipment to health care providers. Christopher Dobbins, 41, received his last paycheck from Stradis Healthcare on March 26, and three days later used a fake user account he had created while working there to access the company’s computer systems, prosecutors in Atlanta said. He then created a second fake user account and used that to edit 115,581 records and delete 2,371 records before deactivating both fake accounts and logging out, prosecutors said. That caused delays of 24 to 72 hours in shipments of personal protective equipment that the company would usually be able to deliver on the same day, according to court filings. The company packages and distributes protective equipment including masks, gloves and gowns. Dobbins, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Duluth, was sentenced to serve a year and a day in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $221,200. He had pleaded guilty in July to a charge of reckless damage to a protected computer.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The city reserved hundreds of rooms at two hotels so Oahu has more space for people to go into coronavirus quarantine. Officials booked 221 rooms from Oct. 15 to Dec. 30 at the Park Shore Hotel in Waikiki to isolate those who have been exposed to the virus or are required to quarantine after travel. The Park Shore rooms can be used in phases of 80, 150 or all 221 with five days’ notice to the hotel, a city statement said. Honolulu also partnered with the Department of Health to establish a second temporary quarantine center at the Waikiki Beachside, where 46 units were reserved. The units with on-site parking and laundry will include health services, meals and light housekeeping provided by the health department. “How we control the spread is by isolation and quarantine,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell said. About 8,000 people landed in Hawaii on Thursday – the first day travelers could come to the islands without quarantining for two weeks if they could produce a negative coronavirus test. As tourism comes back, Caldwell said he expects the number of infections to grow. The hotel rooms are expected to be paid from the city’s share of federal coronavirus recovery funds.

Idaho

Boise: The state is seeing its largest coronavirus spike since the pandemic began, with new cases increasing by 46.5% over the past two weeks. That trend has some health care experts urging Gov. Brad Little to take additional action to slow the spread. “As a health system, we’re all very concerned,” said Dr. Bart Hill, the vice president and chief quality officer of St. Luke’s Health System, the largest health system in the state. Idaho is sixth in the nation for new cases per capita, with a positivity rate of just over 15% – one of the highest in the nation. Still, Little has declined to take additional statewide steps like requiring masks to slow the virus. “Idaho is an expansive state, and communities and their needs vary greatly across the state,” Little’s spokeswoman, Marissa Morrison, wrote in an email to the Associated Press on Tuesday. “Governor Little remains committed to working closely with public health districts and mayors, and he supports the decisions of local officials in slowing the spread of COVID-19 in communities experiencing high virus activity.” Little has repeatedly said that the responsibility to slow the coronavirus falls on individuals, urging people to wear masks, practice social distancing and practice good hygiene.

Illinois

Chicago: The city added five states to its travel quarantine order as rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations prompted Mayor Lori Lightfoot to announce she’s thinking about reimposing strict guidelines on businesses that were put in place earlier this year. On Tuesday, city officials announced that starting Friday, travelers from Colorado, Ohio, Delaware, West Virginia and Texas will be subject to a two-week quarantine requirement. The city did not remove any states from its quarantine order, as it has in past weeks. The sobering news about an increase in the number of positive tests and a rise in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Illinois also has officials warning about a second wave of cases. Lightfoot was worried enough about people letting their guard down about the virus that she asked city residents to stop holding events such as dinner parties and card games.

Indiana

Lebanon: Four residents have died and 37 other residents and employees have tested positive in a coronavirus outbreak at Signature Healthcare at Parkwood in Lebanon, prompting Boone County health officials to warn a surge in cases across the state poses a growing risk to vulnerable Hoosiers such as those in nursing homes. The outbreak was revealed in a statement Tuesday from the the Boone County Health Department. It said the department is monitoring the situation and “a strike team from the Indiana Department of Health has been notified and is currently working with Parkwood to provide support, testing, and mitigation efforts.” Before the outbreak, the nursing home had reported a total 34 residents had tested positive and five had died from the virus as of Oct. 7, according to data on the Indiana State Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard. Twenty-three workers also had tested positive as of Oct. 7. The nursing home is owned by Jackson County Schneck Memorial Hospital and managed by Louisville-based Signature Healthcare Co. It has a two-star (below-average) rating on the federal Nursing Home Compare website.

Iowa

Des Moines: The state unemployment rate for September dropped to 4.7%, continuing a five-month trend of hiring after the state’s economy was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, a state agency reported Tuesday. Iowa Workforce Development reported the unemployment rate was down from 6% in August. The rate has declined every month since April, when unemployment peaked in Iowa. There were an estimated 76,600 unemployed Iowa residents in September. That is nearly 28,000 more than a year ago but down by more than 110,000 from April. Iowa’s unemployment rate was fifth-lowest in the nation. The U.S. unemployment rate in September was 7.9%.

Kansas

Topeka: A man who prosecutors said threatened to kidnap and kill Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple because he was upset with the city’s mask ordinance was charged Tuesday with three counts of criminal threat. Meredith Dowty, 59, of Wichita is accused of sending text messages to a city employee threatening to kill Whipple because of his role in the passage of a mask mandate to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Dowty’s bond was continued at $50,000 and his next court date was set for Nov. 5. “He said he was going to kidnap me and slash my throat and he needed my address because I needed to see the hangman,” Whipple said Saturday after the threats were revealed. On Monday, Gov. Laura Kelly said the anger over restrictions imposed to protect public health was getting out of hand.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Kentucky has restarted preparations to expand hospital capacity as it struggles to overcome another surge in the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Andy Beshear said. Referring to the daily numbers as “grim,” the governor reported 1,312 new COVID-19 cases statewide – the fourth-highest one-day total since the pandemic began. The state also reported 16 more virus-related deaths. With hospitalizations rising and more virus patients in intensive care, the Bluegrass State is again making “surge preparations,” as it did during the early days of the pandemic, he said. Hotels or state parks could potentially be used to house people who need to quarantine or isolate. Beshear said he was “pleading” with Kentuckians to wear masks in public and follow other health guidelines, saying “other people’s lives, our economy and the education of our kids depend on it.” Beshear has promised stricter enforcement of his statewide mask mandate to try to contain the virus’ spread, but he again urged people Tuesday to take the initiative themselves, saying it’s a testament to “living by our values and by our faith – loving our neighbor as ourselves.”

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: Republican Louisiana lawmakers voted Tuesday to give themselves more authority to curb Gov. John Bel Edwards’ coronavirus restrictions and emergency powers, under a deal brokered between House and Senate GOP leaders that ended a stalemate on the major issue of the special session. After days of negotiations behind closed doors, the agreement was included in a bill by Covington Republican Rep. Mark Wright. The final language won Senate support Tuesday in a 23-13 vote, followed by House backing in a 54-30 vote. The votes largely were along party lines, with most Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed. “It’s no longer a situation where you have to have the governor running the entire emergency response,” House Republican leader Blake Miguez said. “This is to allow the Legislature to get involved in the process.” The measure heads next to the governor’s desk, where Edwards could choose to veto it. He has repeatedly said he doesn’t support any attempts to lessen his emergency authority. The House doesn’t have enough Republican members to override a veto.

Maine

Brooks: A coronavirus outbreak centered on a church has grown to more than 40 cases and could spread significantly, public health authorities in the state said. The outbreak began at Brooks Pentecostal Church in Waldo County, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Nirav Shah said. The outbreak has sickened people ages 2 to 80, he said. The outbreak appears to stem from a fellowship event earlier this month in which masks were available but not routinely used, Shah said. Seven of the 42 cases are located at a school associated with the church, he said. Maine CDC investigators have found coronavirus cases linked to the outbreak at an assisted living facility and four schools in the Waldo County area, Shah said. Shah stressed that those facilities are not considered the sources of outbreaks themselves. The growing outbreak is evidence that people need to continue following safety recommendations, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills said. That means observing social distancing and wearing masks, she said.

Maryland

Hagerstown: Washington County health officials urged local residents to continue to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as the county has seen a growing number of confirmed cases. A news conference the county government held Tuesday came at a time when certain metrics public health officials monitor have increased recently and as the holiday and flu season approaches – all topics County Health Officer Earl Stoner touched on in cautioning the public to “respect the virus and take this threat seriously.” Meritus Medical Center recorded its highest number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations to date at 18 on Tuesday, according to a release from the county’s COVID-19 Joint Information Center. That’s up from the 11 people who were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday.

Massachusetts

Boston: Family members of veterans who died during a coronavirus outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home testified Tuesday before lawmakers investigating the outbreak that took the lives of nearly 80 veterans. Susan Kenney told the Special Joint Legislative Oversight Committee she couldn’t get any information from the home’s administration after she found out about the outbreak. “When I went to bed that night, I heard veterans were dying. I didn’t know how many. I spoke to my father’s case worker twice that day and there was no mention of it, which I thought was odd. I called the command center and didn’t get an answer for more than 30 hours,” Kenney said. So she drove to the Soldiers’ Home with the message “Is my father alive?” written on the windows of her car. Her father, 78-year-old Air Force veteran Charles Lowell, died of the virus on April 15. In all, 76 veterans who contracted the virus at the home died, one of the deadliest outbreaks at a long-term care facility in the nation. The home’s former superintendent and chief medical officer face criminal neglect charges. The 17-member oversight committee will be holding a virtual hearing Thursday.

Michigan

Ann Arbor: Students at the University of Michigan were ordered Tuesday to stay in place for two weeks after a surge of coronavirus cases driven by social gatherings on and off campus. The surge is “overwhelming the ability” of local health officials to confront the pandemic, Washtenaw County health officer Jimena Loveluck said. More than 1,000 students have been infected since the start of the fall term, despite limits on gatherings and classes that are mostly held online. Cases related to U-M represent 61% of total county cases, compared to just 2% in August, Loveluck said. Undergraduate students can attend in-person classes and also leave their residence for exercise, work, food, medical appointments, voting and religious services, she said. The order lasts until 7 a.m. on Nov. 3, Election Day. A similar order was made in September at Grand Valley State University in Ottawa County. In response to the order, university President Mark Schlissel said even more undergraduate classes will shift to remote instruction. Students who want to leave campus housing for the balance of the term could receive a refund or credit.

Minnesota

St. Cloud: A Stearns County resident died from COVID-19, according to data released Tuesday from the Minnesota Department of Health. The resident, who was between 55-59 years old, was one of seven new deaths reported Tuesday. The state’s death toll is now 2,246. The tri-county area saw an increase of 86 confirmed cases Tuesday. Stearns County had 64 new cases, Benton County had 14 and Sherburne County had eight. It marks the 13th straight day the state has seen more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases.

Mississippi

Hattiesburg: Southern Mississippi interim head football coach Scotty Walden has tested positive for the coronavirus. Walden received the positive test Tuesday morning, and his status for Saturday’s game at Liberty is unknown. Walden left the Duff Athletic Center, which houses Southern Mississippi football players, staff, coaches from all of the other sports, as well as administrative staff, to self-isolate at home after receiving the positive test. “I am fine and have mild to no symptoms,” Walden said. “I am quarantining back home until it is safe to rejoin the team.” The Golden Eagles had to postpone last week’s game at Texas-El Paso after 20-plus players had to quarantine because of positive tests and contact tracing.

Missouri

Independence: The City Council voted against a resolution to urge Jackson County to remove coronavirus restrictions, lest the city forge its own reopening path. Councilmembers Mike Huff and Mike Steinmeyer, who had proposed the resolution, emphasized that their main focus was to support small businesses and their employees and to jump-start a more robust dialogue with the county about less restrictive but safe recovery policies in Independence. They received no support from fellow councilmembers, though, even after a majority voted to remove the threat of litigation against the county from the resolution. A handful of citizens, two of them doctors who serve on citizen advisory boards, spoke against the resolution before the council voted, saying it could increase spread of COVID-19 and cause more workers to become infected. Huff and Steinmeyer said their resolution got blown out of proportion by some with “misinformation,” as they advocate still wearing masks and didn’t aim to throw out caution.

Montana

Helena: An emergency room nurse urged Montana residents to take politics out of the fight against the coronavirus Tuesday, as the number of cases in the state reached 24,000, the death toll surpassed 250 and hospitals are caring for 360 patients. Health care workers come from a variety of political, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds, Charlotte Skinner said. “But we’ve always found a common ground to stand on. And that common ground is called science, evidence-based practice and a patient-first mentality,” she said. “I’m asking you to stop segregating yourselves into maskers and anti-maskers and to stand with us on the common ground of science and evidence, which is clearly telling us that masking works,” Skinner said. Montana reported 706 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday and a total of 252 deaths. Of the 360 people who are hospitalized, 64 are in intensive care and 39 are on ventilators, the state health department said. Montana has the fifth-highest rate of newly confirmed infections per capita, though the rate of deaths is among the lowest in the U.S., according to data Tuesday from Johns Hopkins University.

Nebraska

Lincoln: Nebraska regained its status last month as the state with the nation’s lowest unemployment rate at 3.5%, according to federal data released Tuesday. Nebraska’s rate has remained low compared to other states despite the coronavirus pandemic, which resulted in widespread business closures and layoffs. Nebraska’s seasonally adjusted unemployment is less than half the national rate of 7.9%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. South Dakota and Vermont had the second- and third-lowest rates at 4.1% and 4.2% respectively. Hawaii had the highest rate nationwide, at 15.1%. The unemployment rate was slightly higher in the Omaha area, which fell to 3.8% from 4.6% in August. It was also lower in Grand Island, which had 4.1% unemployment in September compared to 4.9% in August. Lincoln’s unemployment was lower than the statewide percentage, with 3.2% last month compared to 3.8% in August.

Nevada

Carson City: Nevada’s rate of coronavirus infections is steadily rising again but state officials are reluctant to blame relaxed guidelines and say there is no reason yet to consider stricter measures. “We’re not at that point now,” Gov. Steve Sisolak said Tuesday. “I don’t want to get to that point … I don’t want to see that happen, so we are working to loosen things up more and get people back to what their new normal is.” Sisolak and state health officials pointed to national and worldwide trends rather than the easing of state guidelines as the cause of the spikes and said adherence to prevention measures could curb the spread of the virus and prevent reimplementing restrictions. Nevada’s rate of infections has been increasing since Sisolak, a Democrat, relaxed restrictions on the size of public gatherings on Oct. 1. The White House Coronavirus Task Force has since redesignated the state as a “red zone,” after the number of new cases per week per 100,000 residents surpassed 100. In the state’s largest counties, the task force report recommended, “both public and private gatherings should be as small as possible and optimally, not extend beyond immediate family.”

New Hampshire

Concord: College students can vote in New Hampshire even if they are living elsewhere during the coronavirus pandemic, provided they have previously established residency in the state, the attorney general’s office said Wednesday. The New Hampshire Republican Party had argued that college students attending classes remotely during the pandemic shouldn’t be allowed to vote in their college towns if they don’t have a current address in those communities. A party attorney recently asked the state to instruct local officials that they must confirm a current residential address before allowing students to register to vote or receive absentee ballots. But in a letter Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Nicholas Chong Yen said once a student lawfully establishes a domicile in New Hampshire, the student doesn’t lose that status because of a temporary absence.

New Jersey

Blackwood: Gov. Phil Murphy abruptly left an event after announcing he was going into quarantine after he just found out a person he was in contact with over the weekend had tested positive for COVID-19. Murphy, a Democrat, was speaking at a workforce development event his office organized with Democratic Rep. Donald Norcross at Camden County College when he said he had just learned a contact had tested positive. The governor said he has no symptoms and last tested negative on Monday. He planned to get tested again on Wednesday. “I will now unfortunately have to take myself off the field,” he said. “I can’t ask President Trump not to come to Bedminster and not do a fundraiser and sit here myself.” Murphy was referring to President Donald Trump’s fundraiser at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club early this month, which occurred just hours before the president said he tested positive for the virus. Murphy earlier called the event irresponsible. Murphy didn’t say who the contact was or what the context of their meeting was.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham unveiled more requirements for businesses after a string of record-breaking daily case counts prompted renewed restrictions just last week. Starting Friday, restaurants, breweries, retail stores, gyms and other businesses will be required to close for two weeks if they have more than four separate incidents of COVID-19 among employees within a 14-day period. Those businesses that have had at least two outbreaks will be listed on the state’s new watch list. Restaurants that want to continue offering limited indoor dining must also complete specific training and keep a log of customers for at least three weeks. Retail stores must close by 10 p.m., and state-operated museums and historical sites will be closed until further notice. Lujan Grisham said the restrictions are not meant to punish businesses but rather curb what has become one of the highest rates of spread in the U.S. New Mexico on Tuesday reported an additional 599 cases, bringing the total to nearly 37,900 since the pandemic began. Another seven deaths were reported, and hospitalizations have increased nearly 90% over the last two weeks. The Republican Party of New Mexico called the latest requirements another attack on businesses, saying the Democratic governor’s policies during the pandemic have led to a collapsed economy, tens of thousands of job losses and hundreds of permanently shuttered restaurants.

New York

Cortland: An upstate New York college campus that had temporarily switched to online classes because of the coronavirus pandemic is extending it for another two weeks, officials said Tuesday. The State University of New York at Cortland said remote learning would now be in effect through Nov. 3 at the campus south of Syracuse. The initial switch from in-person classes had been announced on Oct. 5. The state had set a threshold of 100 coronavirus cases as a trigger for remote learning for at least two weeks. SUNY Cortland hit that mark to necessitate the initial suspension, and had 166 new cases since Oct. 10, resulting in the need for the extension. “In recent days we have begun to see a slight decline in new and active cases,” SUNY Cortland President Erik Bitterbaum said in a statement. “With an extension of study-in-place and the continued diligence of our students, faculty, staff, state and local health officials, and the SUNY system, we are optimistic that we will be able to contain the spread of the virus.”

North Carolina

Charlotte: State health officials in Mecklenburg County said Tuesday night they are investigating at least 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 connected to an event at a church, according to WBTV. The county urged all people who attended convocation events at the United House of Prayer for All People on Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 to get tested, The Charlotte Observer reported Monday. At the time, the county linked at least nine cases of COVID-19 to the weekend event. County Deputy Health Director Raynard Washington said the number has nearly tripled. Washington said the church made an effort to ensure masks were worn and that those attending practiced social distancing, but he said people didn’t always comply. The news of the 50 confirmed cases was revealed during a Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, WBTV said. Washington said in a statement that church planners made “significant efforts to ensure mask wearing and social distancing among the hundreds of attendees.” But he said attendees didn’t always comply with the recommendations. There were both indoor and outdoor events.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Coronavirus cases are rising so fast in North Dakota that it’s taking officials up to three days to notify people after they test positive, and as a result the state has also fallen behind on tracing their close contacts who might have been exposed. Republican Gov. Doug Burgum and the North Dakota Department of Health announced late Tuesday that they’re shifting 50 National Guard members who had been working in contract tracing to simply notifying people who test positive. And public health officials will no longer notify close contacts of people who tested positive; instead those individuals will be instructed to self-notify their close contacts and direct them to the department’s website. North Dakota has the country’s worst per-capita spread rate, with 1,224 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The state’s worsening numbers have prompted sharp questions over how Burgum has handled the virus. Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney has called for a mask mandate statewide.

Ohio

Columbus: Spiking coronavirus cases in the state could endanger in-person learning for schoolchildren, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine warned Tuesday in his latest effort to encourage people to take steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19. At least 16 school districts have scaled back to either hybrid concepts – in-person and remote learning – or fully remote models because of high rates of spread in the community, DeWine said. At least 50 districts are now fully online, with nearly 300,000 students unable to attend classes in-person, the governor said. Less than two hours after DeWine’s warning, Ohio’s largest district, Columbus City Schools, announced it would stick with remote learning until at least mid-January, postponing most of its plans to start bringing students back to school in person in a blended learning model. DeWine said all Ohioans should be concerned so many children are learning remotely. “While many kids can do well under these circumstances, many cannot,” the governor said. “Some of our poorest children who thrive in an in-person learning environment do not do nearly as well online.”

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City students returned to classrooms on the largest scale since March on Tuesday, but some teachers object to the pivot to in-person learning. Pre-K and kindergarten students are back in face-to-face classes two days a week in Oklahoma City Public Schools, and first-through-12th graders are expected to follow on Nov. 9. The district’s hybrid A/B schedule groups children into a Tuesday-Thursday or Wednesday-Friday class schedule with three days of at-home virtual learning. Administrators said the youngest students had the greatest difficulty learning in a virtual format since school started Aug. 31. Despite excitement from district leaders, teachers gave mixed reviews of the Return to Campus Plan. A survey of 460 district teachers found about 60% were not comfortable having students back in school buildings, according to a survey released last week from the American Federation of Teachers-Oklahoma City. The survey was open for four days and received responses from 18% of AFT-OKC members, much lower than the union’s other surveys, President Torie Shoecraft said in an email to The Oklahoman.

Oregon

Salem: Health officials said Oregon has surpassed 40,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. The Oregon Health Authority on Tuesday reported 346 new confirmed and presumptive cases, bringing the state’s case total to 40,135. The death toll is 633. When Gov. Kate Brown first declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19 in Oregon in early March, there were 14 cases in the state. Since then, cases have risen, many surrounding holiday celebrations, social gatherings and workplace outbreaks. “Our main message – besides the usual to keep distance, restrict gatherings etc. – is that we are still seeing social gatherings as a driver of the community spread,” Tim Heider, a spokesperson for the Oregon Health Authority, told the Associated Press. “We’re really asking people to think hard about their holiday celebrations this year, especially as we move indoors for the fall and winter.” Oregon’s most recent overall positive testing rate is 6.4%. “Oregon still has a rate of positivity that’s below the national rate,” Heider said. “But, it’s higher than we need to see consistently in order to consider opening schools.”

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The state House narrowly failed Tuesday to override last week’s veto by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolfe of a bill that would have let restaurants reopen at full capacity in some circumstances. The override required two-thirds approval to be sent to the Senate, but it failed on a vote of 133-69. It would have allowed taverns and restaurants to operate at half-capacity, or more, if they met state and federal social distancing standards or erected appropriate barriers. Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, warned the legislation would put patrons and restaurant workers at risk. Dermody said the higher capacity limits would not have required federal or state approval if barriers were erected, “and they don’t even define physical barriers in this bill.” Republican backers said they read the bill differently – that restaurants would still have to follow guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state Health Department to go beyond half-capacity. They said the bill was needed to save financially distressed enterprises and aid their desperate employees. The Republican-majority Legislature has repeatedly attempted to modify or reverse some of the efforts led by Wolf to control or cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, but so far none of their veto override attempts has succeeded. In a veto message issued last week, Wolf called the bill “another meaningless attempt to change a necessary tool for fighting the pandemic.”

Rhode Island

Bristol: Roger Williams University has closed one building and moved some classes online in response to a cluster of positive coronavirus tests, but said in a message to students that some of the positive tests could be tied to research on the virus rather than actual infections. The school had 23 new cases over a period of a few days last week, the most since it reopened, The Providence Journal reported. Twenty of the new cases were tied to the Marine and Natural Sciences building. Some courses taught in that building are going to remote instruction and while others are being taught in different buildings, the university said. There is research underway in the building related to identifying, containing and stopping the spread of COVID-19, chief of staff Brian Williams said. The lab materials used in this research mimic the virus, but aren’t the virus itself, and can trigger a positive test, Williams said. Some of the people who tested positive were retested, and came back negative. They are still in quarantine. Of the 23 new cases, 18 were students and five were faculty, he said.

South Carolina

Charleston: Federal authorities in South Carolina said two men face criminal charges in the theft of masks and other personal protective equipment during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Attorneys Office in South Carolina released an indictment this week against Frank Smail, 49, of Colleton County, and Mike Pellegrini, 58, of North Charleston. Prosecutors accuse them of conspiring to steal boxes of respirator masks, surgical masks and rubber goggles from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in North Charleston. The Post and Courier reported that the thefts are alleged to have happened when masks and goggles were in short supply nationwide in March and April. The materials were stolen from a federal facility that trains personnel from 90 federal agencies. Smail and Pellegrini worked at the center. According to the indictment, Pellegrini helped advised Smail on the best time to steal the equipment. The exact value of the goods was not spelled out in the charges. “The large number of boxes stolen would have required a vehicle to transport and numerous trips to load the boxes,” the indictment said. Officials at the federal training center told prosecutors they did not realize the masks and goggles had been stolen until after two people at the facility tested positive for the coronavirus in late March.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: The number of people hospitalized by COVID-19 reached a record 332 in South Dakota on Wednesday. Health officials also reported three more deaths from the virus, along with 582 more cases. The state has ranked second in the country for new cases per capita in the last two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers. There were 1,086 new cases per 100,000 people, meaning that one in every 92 people in the state has been infected in the last two weeks alone.The surge in cases has prompted the Department of Health to scale up its staff for contact tracing, activating National Guard members to work as contact tracing investigators. Health officials are relying on schools, tribes and some health care providers to assist contact tracing efforts, said Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon. She said the National Guard is also ready to set up 100-bed field hospitals, though they are not needed at this time. The Department of Health reported that about 37% of general-care hospital beds and 33% of Intensive Care Units are available. The state’s two largest hospital systems have adjusted some of their elective procedures to free up space and staff to handle the influx of patients.

Tennessee

Memphis: Three employees of a tax service have been charged with filing more than $1 million in false claims for coronavirus-related federal loans, federal prosecutors said. Brandy Scaife, Janisha Jones and Sharika Carpenter have been indicted on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud, the U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis said in a news release. All three were employees of Better Days Tax Service in Memphis, prosecutors said. From April through June, they used false information on more than 400 applications seeking U.S. Small Business Administration loans made available to businesses that suffered losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, prosecutors alleged. The loans added up to about $1.1 million, prosecutors said. Each defendant faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted. Carpenter’s attorney, Arthur Horne, said Tuesday that he was gathering information about the case but his client plans to fight the charges. Attorneys for Scaife and Jones could not be immediately reached.

Texas

Austin: Area health officials fear that extended family gatherings for Thanksgiving could be at risk if residents hold Halloween parties and go trick-or-treating. As Travis County residents start to consider social plans for the holidays, starting with Halloween, interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott warned county leaders Tuesday that the area experienced an uptick in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the past two weeks. Escott blamed the increase on residents scaling back on wearing masks while in groups and a lack of social distancing practices. Health officials Tuesday night reported the seven-day moving average for new hospitalizations was back up to 19, compared with last week’s rate of 14. Austin Public Health uses the seven-day moving average of new hospital admissions as a key indicator for determining its risk-based guidelines for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Travis County remains in Stage 3 of risk-based guidelines, which allow for social gatherings of no more than 10 for people at higher risk for severe COVID-19 symptoms. Although Austin Public Health officials said traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating, trunk-or-treat events and crowded costume parties indoors are not recommended, residents had some hope of gathering with family and friends outside if cases drop. However, with new cases of the virus back up, conversations have shifted to whether gatherings need to be further restricted again. Escott on Tuesday said thoughts about gathering for Halloween should now be abandoned if residents want to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving. Instead, Escott said parents should consider such at-home activities as piñatas and Easter-style candy hunts in the backyard. “For now, Halloween doesn’t look too bad, but Thanksgiving is going to be ugly if we don’t change our behaviors now,” Escott said. “I really want things to be better for Thanksgiving.”

Utah

St. George: The state reported 96,643 total positive confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, an increase of 1,081 over the previous day. There were 291 people actively hospitalized with the disease, and two hospitals in the state, the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City and Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George, reported that all of their intensive care unit beds were full. At LDS Hospital and Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, non-COVID patients were being transported to other facilities to make room for an expected increase in coronavirus patients. In a call with media organized with representatives from Intermountain Healthcare, which operates 22 hospitals across Utah and Idaho, including Dixie Regional Medical Center, doctors and nurses made an urgent plea for residents to take more precautions and help prevent the disease from spreading further. “This is a real disease. You may not be in our ICUs, you may not know anyone who has been really sick with it, but there are thousands of people who have been hospitalized with it,” Dr. Mark Ott, Intermountain’s medical director, urging residents to take mask-wearing, social distancing and other recommendations more seriously. “It doesn’t have to be this way. COVID-19 is a preventable illness and none of you or your family members or your friends need to get this,” he said.

Vermont

Montpelier: An additional $76 million in federal relief is available to Vermont businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. State officials announced the expansion of the state’s economic recovery grants on Tuesday during Gov. Phil Scott’s biweekly virus briefing. Scott said the pandemic has taken a “tremendous toll” on the hospitality industry, which employs about 30,000 Vermonters and generates billions of dollars in revenue, according to the Brattleboro Reformer. “It’s critical we do what we can to help our hardest-hit employers, so they can survive this pandemic. Because the fact is we’re going to need them to have a strong recovery. We also know what we’ve done so far isn’t enough,” Scott said. Businesses can receive up to $300,000 in grants, which includes the new grant and others combined. Businesses that collect room and meal taxes or sales and use taxes can apply through the Tax Department and others cn apply through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, officials said. In this latest round sole proprietorships and new businesses without a full year of revenue to compare to 2020 earnings might receive funds, said Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein.

Virginia

Eastville: Virginia U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine attended a roundtable discussion focused on COVID-19’s impact on the Eastern Shore on Monday. Kaine was joined by leaders from the Eastern Shore Rural Health System, the Eastern Shore Community Services Board, the Eastern Shore Health District, and Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital to discuss what the federal government can do to help the community address the pandemic.

Washington

Seattle: Gov. Jay Inslee will now require colleges and universities to provide quarantine facilities for all students if they are exposed to COVID-19. The governor on Tuesday issued more restrictions for higher education campuses as the University of Washington struggles to contain an outbreak among its fraternities and sororities. There have been outbreaks in Whitman County, home of Washington State University, as well. “We do have fair expectations that students will step up to the plate and take some responsibility for this,” Inslee said. Also Tuesday, state health officials warned of a “fall surge” in coronavirus infections, noting that western Washington counties are hitting near or above previous peaks in the rate of infections. The new higher education guidelines now require the colleges to provide isolation and quarantine facilities for Greek system houses, communal off-campus homes, and students and workers who live on campus if they don’t have a place to go. Colleges without dorms or residential facilities must create a plan on how to address student and staff needs for isolation and quarantine in the event that they are exposed. Inslee said the schools can charge students on a sliding scale to offset the costs of housing them during a quarantine, though it’s unknown how it would work for employees who are infected while living on campus as part of their employment.

West Virginia

Cross Lanes: West Virginia residents turned out in droves to cast their ballots on the first day of early in-person voting Wednesday, less than two weeks before the November election. Voters were required to wear masks inside polling places because of the coronavirus pandemic, except for people with certain medical conditions. Active cases of the coronavirus in West Virginia have increased 25% in October as state officials push for more testing. There have been at least 434 virus-related deaths in the state since the start of the pandemic. Long lines were reported in several polling places throughout the state. In Charleston, the line at a downtown polling place office wrapped around a city block. Early voting was available at nearly 100 locations in all 55 counties. Most locations were scheduled to be open on weekdays by 9 a.m. The early voting period runs through Oct. 31.

Wisconsin

Oshkosh: Two of Wisconsin’s largest annual music festivals are shutting down following COVID-related cancellations this summer. The company that puts on the 25-year-old Country USA and the 9-year-old Rock USA in Oshkosh said this week it plans to file for bankruptcy. The events have featured such headliners as Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Ozzy Osbourne in recent years. Neenah-based Hypervibe canceled this year’s festivals in June. Ticket-holders told WLUK-TV they have been trying to get their money back. Drew Rodgersof Berlin filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all ticket-holders, but said he isn’t optimistic. In a note posted to both events’ Facebook pages Monday, Hypervibe said the cancellations were too much for the company to absorb. “We are heartbroken by the events which have caused this horrible situation,” the post said. “We also care about our loyal patrons, for without them, there wouldn’t have been so many years of these great events. We are trying to do right by our loyal supporters and get you a refund, to the extent possible, quickly and equitably.” In recent years, Country USA and Rock USA each averaged crowds of more than 25,000 people each day. Hypervibe said it plans to send letters or emails to ticket-holders with instructions on how to fill out bankruptcy claims.

Wyoming

Cheyenne: Some Cheyenne-Laramie County health officials have advanced an effort for a mandatory mask order as the number of coronavirus cases keeps rising across the state. The County Board of Health on Tuesday unanimously passed a motion directing Dr. Stan Hartman, Laramie County health officer, to issue a mask requirement countywide, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported. Teton County is the only county with a mask mandate. There is no statewide requirement. The board has scheduled a special meeting next Tuesday to receive an update on where the order stands. Before the vote, Cheyenne-Laramie County Health Department Executive Director Kathy Emmons reported that 5.9% of all COVID-19 tests in Laramie County came back positive over the past two weeks, above a 5% threshold that’s considered key by many health officials. She said she would prefer to see that figure at around 2%. Laramie County Commissioner Linda Heath told the board that local law enforcement had yet to enforce the requirements for visitors to wear masks in the county courthouse. But any further considerations of the policy should be made in coordination with city and town councils. For the mandate to take effect, both Hartman and Dr. Alexia Harrist, the state health officer, must sign the order.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 50 Pages