Winery testing, ‘Gretch the Grinch,’ disinfectant cubes: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Birmingham: Part of the holiday season will be missing in some cities this year as officials cancel Christmas parades because of the coronavirus pandemic. The cities of Birmingham and Anniston called off their parades in recent days as caseloads and hospitalizations increase across the state. The cities of Bessemer, Gadsden and Madison were among those that previously called off their Christmas parades, citing safety concerns related to the virus. Some places are still planning events like tree lightings that residents can watch online, and other places are creating alternative events. Hartselle plans a contest in which residents can compete for prizes by decorating their homes. Tuscaloosa announced a “reverse” parade in which people can stay in their cars and drive past decorated floats in a park, but organizers canceled it, citing low participation.

Alaska

Anchorage: Bars and restaurants in the city will be closed for indoor service, employers must allow people to work from home if possible, and many businesses will be limited to 25% capacity for the month of December as the state’s largest city tries to stem the increase in coronavirus cases, Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson said Wednesday. The new rules go into effect Tuesday and don’t end until Jan. 1, she said during a teleconference. “Today, we find ourselves in a situation that nobody wants to be in. There are no easy answers, but we must act because continuing on this path is the worst of all bad options,” she said. The director of the Anchorage Health Department, Heather Harris, said the agency “has been waving red flags for weeks as we have experienced record-breaking case counts.”

Arizona

Phoenix: With their annual Thanksgiving meal for disadvantaged students canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak, alumni from one local community college held a drive-thru food distribution Tuesday so people could cook their own holiday dinner. The vehicles of 100 students who signed up beforehand lined up in the Phoenix College parking lot. Masked staff and volunteers placed a bag with turkey, mashed potatoes, pie and other fixings in the back of each vehicle. It’s an example of how traditional meals for the disadvantaged have had to be reimagined this year to prevent spread of the virus even as the ranks of the needy have grown. “A lot of the students are focused on trying to figure out what they are going to eat” for Thanksgiving, said Monique Briones, a nursing student helping distribute food. She also signed up for her own family to receive food for a holiday meal donated by the Phoenix College Alumni Association. Briones is living with her boyfriend, their five children and his parents during the pandemic.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state hit another record high Wednesday, crossing the 1,000 mark for the first time since the pandemic began. The state saw an increase of 40 virus hospitalizations to bring the current number to 1,028, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. That tops Tuesday’s record high of 988 hospitalizations. Arkansas reported 1,965 new cases and 20 more deaths. One in every 243 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. “While we express our thanks across the state in smaller groups than normal years, I am more grateful than ever for the dedication of our health care workers,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “The new hospitalizations today adds to the burden, and let’s all go the extra mile to protect each other.” On Tuesday, the state’s largest school district said it would temporarily switch to virtual learning after the Thanksgiving break because so many teachers were quarantined because of the virus. The 22,000-student Springdale School District said classes will be remote until Dec. 7 because of a shortage of available substitute teachers.

California

Los Angeles: The state reported a record number of coronavirus cases Wednesday as Los Angeles restaurants prepared to close for three weeks and as firefighters in Silicon Valley were being enlisted to enforce public health rules to try to halt the spread of infections. Cases of COVID-19 have been climbing at an alarming rate for weeks and hit a new high of 18,350 recorded Tuesday, surpassing a previous record of more than 15,000 cases announced Saturday, state officials said. The seven-day average of positive tests has gone from 5.3% to 6.5% in the past week. “We are really, really concerned,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, COVID-19 testing officer for Santa Clara County. “All of the metrics that we have been following, that have done well in previous months, are now going up very steeply. Our positivity rate in our county is rising and especially in our most affected communities.” Nearly all of the state is now under a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew and subject to the strictest regulations for businesses to operate, including a ban on indoor dining and limited capacity in stores. But Los Angeles has gone even further. As cases spiked in the past week, it ordered restaurants to stop serving meals after Wednesday night and has been mulling another stay-home order.

Colorado

Denver: Gov. Jared Polis warned Tuesday that some restaurant owners who defy or ignore strict state health orders to stem spread of the coronavirus could lose their licenses to operate. Colorado’s restaurant sector has been hit hard during the pandemic, with many forced to close and thousands of workers laid off. In recent days, restaurants in counties designated “red” by the state in a color-coded scheme that gauges increasing COVID-19 infection cases have been forced to halt indoor dining. “Every business in the state of Colorado needs to follow our laws and, whether you agree with it or not, in red counties, not having indoor dining is the law of Colorado,” Polis said. “Any type of business that violates a health order, whether it’s hepatitis, salmonella or COVID … could lose their license to operate.” The Democratic governor’s comments came after several Loveland businesses in Larimer County signed a letter stating that they will continue operating at full indoor capacity even though the county was placed in the “red” restriction category Tuesday. Polis said government financial aid for the restaurant sector is coming – possibly in the form of sales tax breaks – when the Legislature convenes in a special session next week.

Connecticut

Hartford: A small number of flagrant violations and concerns about the holiday shopping season prompted Gov. Ned Lamont to impose a steep, new $10,000 fine on businesses that break the state’s coronavirus rules. The new fine was to replace the current $500 maximum penalty beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, the Democratic governor announced Tuesday evening. A small number of restaurants have been cited for essentially operating as bars, which have been ordered closed during the pandemic. The governor said the harsher fine was the result of concerns by municipal leaders, public health officials and people in the business community. He also cited concerns about keeping workers and customers safe during Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season. The state has an array of rules on businesses during the pandemic. Restaurants, for example, are limited to 50% capacity, with a maximum of eight people per table, and must stop inside dining service at 9:30 p.m. Local health directors or other municipal officials can issue the fines with the support of police.

Delaware

Dover: State officials are inviting residents to get outside Friday as an alternative to going shopping, especially amid rising coronavirus case numbers. Officials are waiving state park and Brandywine Zoo entry fees on Black Friday as part of the nationwide #OptOutside movement. State parks will open at 8 a.m., with the exception of Fort Delaware State Park, which is closed for the season. The Brandywine Zoo and its new Madagascar Exhibit featuring rare lemurs and radiated tortoises will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are required by calling, and members can reserve time at the zoo online. Visitors who are kindergarten age or older must bring face coverings with them to enter a park and wear them when they cannot maintain social distancing from other visitors.

District of Columbia

Washington: As a second wave of the pandemic meets a second blood shortage nationwide, the Red Cross in the D.C. region reported a “grave” scarcity of convalescent plasma, WUSA-TV reports. The critical liquid part of the blood in COVID-19 survivors can be harnessed and used to treat coronavirus patients in intensive care. Blood plasma from coronavirus survivors contains antibodies, which may help trigger immune responses in people severely stricken by the virus. The Red Cross is now testing all blood, platelet and plasma donations for coronavirus antibodies, so if donors didn’t know they once had the virus, their plasma can help patients in dire need of treatment. “The need for convalescent plasma supersedes all the needs that we have right now,” Red Cross spokesperson Regina Boothe Bratton said. The Red Cross is imploring people looking for ways to help over the holidays to visit the organization's blood donation website and schedule an appointment. The organization said it generally experiences a blood shortage between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, but COVID-19 has compounded the problem.

Florida

Tampa: A popular waterfront festival has been postponed amid a surge in confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the state. The annual parade Gasparilla Pirate Fest that attracts about 200,000 people to Tampa’s downtown waterfront is typically held every January but is now planned for mid-April amid continuing health care concerns. Organizers said they consulted with city leaders and health care providers and decided to postpone the festival until next spring to restrict events that attract large crowds. Meanwhile, the Miami Herald said Miami Beach hotels were experiencing last-minute bookings for the Thanksgiving holiday week that may get them near full occupancy for the first time since they were forced to shut down to curb the spread of coronavirus in March. Other events in the state that attract large crowds in the winter such as Art Basel have already been scrapped. The prestigious December art fair draws collectors, socialites and celebrities from around the world.

Georgia

Atlanta: As the ravages of the coronavirus forced millions of people out of work, shuttered businesses and shrank the value of retirement accounts, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged to a three-year low. But for Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., the crisis last March signaled something else: a stock buying opportunity. And for the second time in less than two months, Perdue’s timing was impeccable. He avoided a sharp loss and reaped a stunning gain by selling and then buying the same stock: Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based financial technology company on whose board of directors he once served. On Jan. 23, as word spread through Congress that the coronavirus posed a major economic and public health threat, Perdue sold off $1 million to $5 million in Cardlytics stock at $86 a share before it plunged, according to congressional disclosures. Weeks later, in March, after the company’s stock plunged further following an unexpected leadership shake-up and lower-than-forecast earnings, Perdue bought the stock back for $30 a share, investing between $200,000 and $500,000. Those shares have now quadrupled in value, closing at $121 a share Tuesday.

Hawaii

Lihue: The first coronavirus death on the island of Kauai has been reported. Mayor Derek Kawakami announced in a statement Monday that an elderly resident with no travel history died. COVID-19 has killed 232 others in Hawaii. “It is heartbreaking to report this news especially as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches this week,” Kawakami said. “As a community, we share in this painful loss together and we extend our sincere prayers, love and aloha to the family and loved ones of this individual.” Another Kauai resident died in Arizona earlier this year, The Garden Island reports. Kawakami said Tuesday that he wants to reinstate a requirement that all travelers arriving in his jurisdiction quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they have obtained a negative coronavirus test. Kauai had no cases of community spread of the coronavirus for several months starting in July. But it’s had six cases of community spread since Oct. 15, when the state began allowing travelers to bypass the two-week quarantine if they tested negative for the disease 72 hours before arriving. Kawakami asked Gov. David Ige for permission to temporarily opt out of the pre-travel testing program.

Idaho

Boise: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has proposed using millions of dollars in coronavirus relief aid to have additional safety technology including “walk-through disinfectant cubes” installed at the state Capitol in Boise. McGeachin, a Republican, promoted the “very high-tech equipment” manufactured by Xtreme Manufacturing in Las Vegas to reporters Tuesday while criticizing Republican Gov. Brad Little’s coronavirus response, the Idaho Press reports. “A person can walk through a cube and be disinfected from head to toe, including on the bottom of their feet,” she said. But the technology has been widely disputed. The National Institutes of Health published a study in June that found “walk-through sanitation gates” were ineffective and potentially dangerous, noting that the practice violates World Health Organization standards. “Fumigation is meant for inanimate objects and surfaces, and it should never be used on people,” the study said. The proposal calls for spending about $17 million, including $80,000 for two walk-through disinfectant cubes, three mobile units for emergency overflow and staffing for the units.

Illinois

LaSalle: State officials are investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a veterans nursing home in rural Illinois that has infected nearly 200 residents and staff and killed 27 veterans. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs are attempting to determine what caused the outbreak at the state-run LaSalle Veterans Home in LaSalle, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. The department on Tuesday requested an independent probe into the facility, which was the focus of a state Senate committee virtual hearing on the outbreak. “The tragedy of what has unfolded at the veterans’ home cannot be understated,” said state Sen. Sue Rezin, who represents the district where the home is located. The current outbreak was identified in late October when a staff member and a resident tested positive for the virus. Since the beginning of November, two-thirds of residents and employees have tested positive, according to the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. State officials have increased staff testing at the facility, and the governor said an infection control team was sent to the home.

Indiana

West Lafayette: Purdue University plans to reward its faculty and staff with a $750 bonus for their “heroic work” keeping the West Lafayette campus open amid the coronavirus pandemic, school officials announced Wednesday. The university said more than 15,000 faculty, staff and graduate student staff hired before Sept. 1 will get the money in their checks in December. Part-time staff will get a prorated amount. Purdue President Mitch Daniels said staff in executive-level positions will not get the $750 bonus. Daniels congratulated faculty and staff in a campuswide letter sent Wednesday morning for getting through the in-person portion of the fall semester. He called the bonus an “appreciation award” for their work that kept the campus open during the pandemic. “I admit I was far from certain that even a collection of can-do problem-solvers like ours could pull off that achievement,” Daniels wrote in the letter. “Well, we’re here, and only because of the collective effort we could only imagine in August.”

Iowa

Des Moines: The state reported its highest single-day increase in COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, topping the mark set one week prior. The Iowa of Department of Public Health reported another 47 deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. In total, 2,271 people with COVID-19 have died in Iowa, according to the state’s Coronavirus.Iowa.gov website. Another 3,365 coronavirus cases were added to the state’s tally Wednesday. The increases come as Iowa hospitals struggle with the coronavirus surge. On Tuesday, Dr. Tammy Chance, the chairperson of the Iowa Hospital Association, warned that the Iowa hospital region that includes the state’s most populous area has at times in the last week been down to two or three intensive care unit beds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of beds and staffing shortages have forced some Iowa hospitals to transfer patients to other facilities, said Kirk Morris, the president of the association. Other doctors said their regions were experiencing similar shortages.

Kansas

Great Bend: Resistance to masks appears to be weakening as the coronavirus surges, straining the capacity of the state’s hospitals. Gov. Laura Kelly’s latest effort to require face coverings took effect Wednesday, although Kansas law still allows the state’s 105 counties to opt out. Most counties did so the first time Kelly tried to require masks in July. But with the average new case numbers more than nine times higher now than then, there appears to be less pushback. The governor told reporters Tuesday that adoption of mask orders by counties had so far been “pretty good,” The Wichita Eagle reports. “I think it’s because people are so much more aware of how serious this is, how widespread it is,” Kelly said. “And it is no longer an urban issue. I mean, it’s clearly from border to border.” In Barton County, commissioners voted Tuesday to unanimously adopt a countywide mask mandate that went into effect immediately. The commission had rejected mandates twice before, instead appealing to the public to do the right thing. Enforcement is an oft-cited concern. “I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history when it goes down and says we did nothing,” Barton County Commissioner Jennifer Schartz said.

Kentucky

Louisville: Payments that are part of a federal program to aid those unemployed because of the ongoing pandemic will end this weekend under federal rules, affecting roughly 4,700 Kentuckians, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet said Tuesday. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor notified the state agency that the number of people receiving extended benefit unemployment insurance as a percentage of the labor force had fallen below the qualifying threshold for the state to continue dispersing funds under the program. As a result, the state will be barred from such payments for a minimum of 13 weeks. Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary October unemployment rate was 7.4%, the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet announced last week. The preliminary October jobless rate was up nearly 2 percentage points from September. Gov. Andy Beshear said there was no recourse to reverse the federal agency’s decision and acknowledged that Kentucky families are hurting financially because of the pandemic. After Saturday, no new applications will be accepted, and claimants who have yet to exhaust all benefits will not receive the balance of their funds.

Louisiana

Shreveport: Caddo Parish is weighing whether to pay $500 to families who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Legislation was introduced Nov. 19 by Caddo Parish Commissioner Stormy Gage-Watts at a parish council meeting that would pay $500 to 500 eligible families. Families would have to apply and meet income requirements, give proof of income, and provide a statement of how the pandemic has affected their family’s finances. The money, which would be available on a first-come basis, would come from money already set aside for emergency disaster assistance. “Just a couple of years ago, we were able to be able to provide allocations for tornado victims, so we did that through a special fund, which is an emergency ordinance, and this is the same thing. It’s no different,” Gage-Watts told KTBS. The station said there will be a public hearing on the issue Dec. 3.

Maine

Guilford: A local medical supplies manufacturer has been awarded more than $11 million from the federal government to produce millions of additional testing swabs. Puritan Medical Products of Guilford received the money through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Monday. The company will increase its production of swabs by 3 million per month, Collins said. Puritan has played a major role in the nation’s efforts to conduct enough testing to help corral the coronavirus pandemic. The White House announced in June that the federal government was providing more than $75 million for Puritan to double its production to 40 million swabs per month. The company’s total production of flock tip swabs and foam swabs is at least 90 million per month now, Collins said.

Maryland

Annapolis: “Answer the call” and “download the COVID Alert app” have joined the growing list of pandemic precautions as the Maryland Health Department battles a pandemic surge this holiday season. Dr. Katherine Feldman, director of the Maryland Department of Health’s contact tracing unit, told Capital News Service it was important for Marylanders to enable the MD COVID Alert exposure notification app, answer calls from contact tracers, wear a mask, socially distance and continue to take other protective measures to “reduce transmission and have all of us stay safe and healthy.” MD COVID Alert is a passive system that users enable on their iPhone or download to their Android phone in order to receive notifications when they have come in close proximity to another user who may have tested positive for the coronavirus. The state Department of Health launched the system Nov. 10 and reported over 1 million Marylanders, about 17% of the state’s population, downloaded the app within the first week. Gov. Larry Hogan said at a press conference last week that while the number of state contact tracers has been “ramped up,” there are other challenges to address. “Our problem is that so many people refuse to give the information,” he said.

Massachusetts

Boston: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is doing its part to control the spread of COVID-19 by handing out free face coverings at several subway stations and trolley stops. The service that launched Monday is backed by athletic footwear company New Balance, which donated 100,000 masks to the MBTA. MBTA commuters have been required to wear face coverings since early May. Transit police can fine people not wearing a mask up to $300. “Wearing a face covering is one of the most effective ways to combat the virus,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said in a statement. “We ask that riders do their part by wearing face coverings while within the MBTA system and distancing while on public transit.” The masks will be offered during peak morning and evening commute times at the Charles/MGH, Downtown Crossing, Forest Hills, Hynes Convention Center, Maverick, Orient Heights, Park Street and Quincy Center stations.

Michigan

Trenton: Restaurant owner Jeremy Syrocki hit frustration overload with the latest restaurant restrictions shutting down indoor dining for the second time this year, and he’s using an inflatable Grinch to show how he feels. New rules from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services came in an announcement Nov. 15 by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and took effect last Wednesday. Syrocki decided to take a stand and do something about it. While shopping for portable patio heaters, he spotted an inflatable of the main character in the Dr. Seuss classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The Grinch reminded Syrocki of Whitmer, he said. The 10-foot-high creature now stands on Truago’s patio in downtown Trenton – one of Syrocki’s three downriver restaurants. The inflatable has a sign hanging from its neck that reads “Gretch the Grinch.” Syrocki also added red lipstick to the Grinch. In a Facebook post the morning after the Grinch went up, Syrocki wrote that the stunt is about getting the attention of the governor. He said he voted for Whitmer but now believes he shouldn’t have.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: A surge in COVID-19 cases has led to critical staffing shortages at some nursing homes and assisted living facilities, forcing the state to send the National Guard to help out and ask all state employees to consider volunteering in facilities. New data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows 90% of the state’s nursing homes and 58% of assisted living facilities have active virus outbreaks. The data includes more than 70 senior care homes that didn’t have any coronavirus-infected residents one month ago, the Star Tribune reports. Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said Tuesday that 47 long-term care facilities are in “a crisis staffing situation” and are receiving active support from the state, including help from federal health nurses. Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has taken the unusual step of emailing all state employees and asking them to consider volunteering for two-week stints in long-term care facilities, particularly in greater Minnesota. The email, which was sent to the heads of all state agencies, says no prior experience is required, and the state would cover travel and temporary housing costs.

Mississippi

Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that he is expanding his mask mandate to cover half of the state’s 82 counties. Reeves had previously placed under the mandate 22 counties with the highest number of new cases of coronavirus. “It’s clear we are in the middle of our second surge,” Reeves said during a briefing at which he announced he was adding 19 counties to that list. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor and dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s School of Medicine, had called on the governor Monday to reinstitute a statewide mask mandate. She said last week that no intensive care unit beds were available at the hospital, Mississippi’s only level-one trauma center. “I think we have reasonable evidence to believe that the county-by-county approach is not working,” she said Monday. Meanwhile, Mississippi’s top health official said this week that he is exhausted trying to convince people in the state to take the coronavirus seriously and follow public health guidelines. “It’s just going nowhere,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s state health officer, said Monday during a meeting with members of the state Senate. “We have chosen, very clearly, to prioritize social events over disease transmission.”

Missouri

Kansas City: The state’s two largest metropolitan areas are cracking down on restaurants that violate rules designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Kansas City’s liquor control authorities found two dozen bars and restaurants in violation of the city’s new COVID-19 restrictions after a weekend sweep of 185 establishments. The city’s Department of Regulated Industries, which governs liquor licenses, used to rely primarily on complaints to enforce restrictions. But as the latest set of rules issued by Mayor Quinton Lucas took effect Friday – limiting bars and restaurants to 50% capacity and a closing time of 10 p.m. – the city became more proactive. Meanwhile, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health sent certified letters to three dozen bars and businesses ordering them to cease indoor service or face lawsuits or criminal charges. Eleven of those establishments had already received a second notice from the county, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Many of the restaurants were among the same establishments that are suing the county seeking to block its suspension of indoor dining.

Montana

Helena: Schools will receive nearly $13 million in additional coronavirus relief funds before Dec. 30, Gov. Steve Bullock announced Wednesday. Public and private schools were allowed to request additional funding in October after Bullock directed $75 million in July from the state’s coronavirus relief funds to K-12 schools. More than 180 schools were approved for additional funding. The new funding includes about $5.7 million in unspent funding from the original $75 million allocated to schools and about $7.2 million in newly allocated funds. Federal coronavirus relief funds must be spent by the end of December, and Bullock called on Congress to pass additional school financing relief for 2021. “While this additional funding will serve our schools with continued needs through the end of this year, our schools head into the new year empty handed,” Bullock, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Nebraska

Omaha: A meatpacking plant has been accused in a lawsuit of failing to take adequate precautions to protect workers from the coronavirus. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the federal lawsuit Monday against Noah’s Ark Processors in Hastings, Nebraska. The suit said the plant has made no effort to spread workers out to limit the spread of the virus, and it fails to promptly replace workers’ masks when they become soiled with blood and sweat. The plaintiffs include several former workers at the plant. “Noah’s Ark has shown a shocking indifference to its employees and the community by failing to take common-sense steps to protect them from the spread of COVID-19,” ACLU attorney Spencer Amdur said. Company officials declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday. The meatpacking industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic because workers stand shoulder-to-shoulder as they toil inside the plants and often crowd together in locker rooms and on breaks. The ACLU lawsuit said managers at Noah’s ark pressured people to continue working even when they were sick and showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Nevada

Reno: The coronavirus is spreading so fast in the state that one person is diagnosed with it every minute, and someone is dying from it every two hours, state health officials said Wednesday. Nearly half of the state’s 142,239 total cases since the start of the pandemic in March have occurred since September – fully one-fourth of those in the month of November and 10% in just the past seven days, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. “We have COVID-19 exploding in our community. It is spreading rapidly,” Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick told reporters in Reno. “We have exponential growth going on.” While the majority of the state’s cases and 2,071 total deaths have been reported in Clark County – the most populous county that includes Las Vegas – the Reno-Sparks area in Washoe County has been hit the hardest in recent weeks.

New Hampshire

Concord: State legislators are working on a bill to offer price protections for adult vaccines, such as those pending for COVID-19. Rep. Jerry Knirk, a Democrat from Freedom, told WMUR-TV that by expanding a New Hampshire nonprofit association that pools insurance company money to buy vaccine doses in bulk, the savings to the state and patients could be immense. The process is already done in New Hampshire for pediatric vaccines, he said. The bill would expand the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, which purchases vaccines for children under 19, to all adults. “In the pediatric program, we purchase about $38 million worth of vaccines for about $28 million,” Knirk said. “The savings is roughly about 26%. For the adults, it is estimated it should be very similar in terms of the degree of savings.” The federal government is expected to pay for a COVID-19 vaccination, but the bill could come in handy if gaps in funding arise next year or if suddenly states find themselves in the position of trying to obtain more vaccine.

New Jersey

Trenton: With COVID-19 cases rising at an “alarming rate,” Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday abandoned the formula to determine which out-of-state travelers should quarantine once they reach New Jersey. Instead, Murphy said anyone coming into the Garden State from beyond the four-state region of Connecticut, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania should isolate for 14 days. “Given the increased risk of spreading COVID-19 for both residents who travel outside the state and for visitors into the state, New Jersey continues to strongly discourage all non-essential interstate travel at this time,” Murphy said in a statement. His announcement came on one of the busiest traveling days of the year. About 50 million people were expected to travel in the United States for Thanksgiving, according to AAA. That would be a decline from past years, but federal and state officials, including Murphy, have urged people to stay home this year and keep their celebrations to immediate family members and fewer than 10 people to avoid spreading the virus.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: State lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill that will deliver a one-time $1,200 check to all types of unemployed workers and up to $50,000 for certain businesses. The bill also provides smaller stimulus checks to immigrants without legal status in the country and dependents, as well as additional funds for food banks, virus testing and contact tracing efforts. Republican lawmakers were unsuccessful in their efforts to provide aid for low-income essential workers. Democrats said federal guidelines would prevent such spending, and they promised to find ways during the regular session in January to address the issue. Most of the proposed spending will be made possible by federal relief funding previously assigned to New Mexico, including about $319 million in unspent funds that were expected to expire soon. An additional $10 million in state general funds was allocated for the testing and tracing efforts.

New York

New York: City Winery, an upscale chain, is trying a novel approach to indoor dining during a pandemic: Two nights a week, all patrons and staffers at its Manhattan location have to take a rapid virus test on-site and get an all-clear before coming in. Other nights unfold without testing but with precautions including temperature checks and spaced-out tables. Costing diners $50 per person on top of their tabs, it’s an elite experiment – complete with a free glass of sparkling wine – and health experts caution that a test isn’t a failsafe. So does City Winery CEO Michael Dorf, but he thinks the idea is worth trying as restaurants try to get through a year of shutdowns and social distancing. With winter looming over New York eateries’ outdoor-dining lifeline, “how do we get people to dine inside, feel comfortable, feel as safe as possible so that they can spend money in our restaurant, and our staff can feel comfortable?” asked Dorf, who said City Winery’s business is down 85% compared to 2019. A hotel with a rooftop lounge and restaurant in Queens’ hip Long Island City neighborhood briefly tried a similar testing program this summer. But it’s not clear how many other restaurants might follow suit.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Some of the state’s colleges plan to require students to show a negative coronavirus test in order to return to campus after their winter break. At the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors meeting last week, President Peter Hans said schools will do reentry testing or require students to show a negative test before they can return for the spring semester. None of the universities in the UNC System required students or employees to be tested for the virus before coming to campus in the fall. While many offered ongoing surveillance testing throughout the semester, it was mostly voluntary. UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and East Carolina University each had to send students home, close dorms and move classes online because of spikes in coronavirus cases in August. Now, each is requiring students to get tested for the coronavirus at the start of the spring semester.

North Dakota

Fargo: The head of the largest hospital in the city is pleading for people to wear masks, warning that not following COVID-19 safety measures could have other consequences aside from spreading the coronavirus during the holiday season. Sanford Fargo President and CEO Bryan Nermoe said the failure of people to follow COVID-19 protocols could force some patients who need treatment for ailments other than the virus to be put on waiting lists or sent to facilities hundreds of miles away. In Fargo alone, the city’s three hospitals were down to four staffed intensive care unit beds and 19 staffed inpatient beds, according to state data compiled Tuesday. That included no ICU beds and 17 regular beds at Sanford, which recently opened 14 new patient rooms at its main facility in southwest Fargo. Nermoe is asking people to keep front-line caregivers in mind when deciding whether to wear masks, wash hands, maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings. “On behalf of them, mask up,” Nermoe said. “Do it for them because they are really going above and beyond, 24/7, 365, of really trying to meet the needs of people in our region.”

Ohio

Columbus: Seven of the state’s biggest counties on Wednesday urged residents to stay home and follow guidelines on social gatherings and wearing masks. The counties said in a joint statement that they want people only to leave home for work, school, medical appointments or buying essential items such as groceries. “Cases and hospital admissions are at the highest levels we have seen during this pandemic, by far. These county health advisories reflect the urgent need for all of us to protect ourselves and our families to stop the spread of this virus,” said Denise Driehaus, president of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. The counties are Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Summit, Montgomery, Lucas and Mahoning. Cases in Ohio continue to spike. The state’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks from 5,049 new cases per day Nov. 10 to 8,495 new cases per day Tuesday, according to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by the COVID Tracking Project.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma State Department of Health announced Wednesday that public schools will be allowed to offer in-school quarantines for students exposed to the coronavirus. Schools in Mustang became the first in the state to adopt the policy, the department said. “In the past, if a student had tested positive for COVID-19, any students who interacted with the case – up to the entire class – would have been required to move to distance learning for 14 days,” said Dr. Jared Taylor, Interim State Epidemiologist. “An in-school quarantine option is the best way to keep our kids in school and prevent them from falling behind.” Mustang Superintendent Charles Bradley said in a statement that the policy allows the suburban Oklahoma City district to avoid moving entirely to online teaching. Students who are quarantined will be allowed to go to school to take part in virtual classes but kept out of individual classrooms in buildings such as gyms or an auditorium, where they would be socially distanced and must wear masks. The policy will be in effect from Nov. 30 through Dec. 23.

Oregon

Salem: Bars and restaurants can reopen for limited outdoor service next week, but many restrictions will remain in place until a vaccine against the coronavirus is widely available, Gov. Kate Brown said on Wednesday. She pleaded with Oregonians to stay safe during the holidays and protect others by not ignoring safety protocols, like wearing masks and limiting personal contacts. Meanwhile, the rate of infections continue to skyrocket. A total of 8,687 new daily cases occurred last week, a 34% increase over the previous record-high week. Weekly hospitalizations rose to a record 366, a 26% increase. The revamped restrictions take effect when the current two-week “freeze” expires Dec. 3. Currently, only takeout restaurant service is allowed. The restaurant industry pushed hard against the restrictions, as several eateries closed for good, and others were at risk of doing so. Asked if at a virtual news conference if she was bending to industry pressure, Brown said: “I’m in the business, frankly, of saving lives and also preserving livelihoods.”

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Cellphones across the state received an alert Wednesday afternoon notifying them of a growing COVID-19 emergency. The alert was shared on the day Pennsylvania surpassed 10,000 coronavirus deaths. More than 6,700 new cases were announced Wednesday, and 3,897 hospitalizations were reported. Of those people hospitalized, 895 were in intensive care units. “In PA, COVID-19 rates are rising & hospitals could soon be at capacity. Stay home if possible,” the phone alert said. “If you must go out, maintain social distance, wear a mask, wash your hands for 20 seconds. Stay up to date on the spread of COVID in your community so you can protect your loved ones with the COVID Alert PA app.” The alert was sent by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency through the national Wireless Emergency Alert system. Wednesday was the first time Pennsylvania used that system to share a message about COVID-19, and it reached phones about a half-hour before bars and restaurants were required to stop serving alcohol on what is typically the biggest drinking night of the year.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state will provide an additional $100 million in relief to businesses and residents expected to suffer during a two-week period of new restrictions starting Monday meant to control the current spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Wednesday. Half of the federal stimulus money will be available for businesses that must close or will be severely limited during that period, the Democratic governor said at a news conference. Raimondo said she wants businesses to use the money to continue to pay employees during the two-week pause. “The program that we have developed is meant to ensure that companies who are being put out of business or severely limited by the pause can get a check in their bank account quickly to help make up for the lost revenue of these two weeks,” she said. The other $50 million will go to provide an additional $400 to Rhode Islanders already collecting unemployment insurance benefits. She also reminded state residents who are in the U.S. illegally that they can apply for $400 debit cards through Dorcas International, a nonprofit that provides services to immigrants and refugees.

South Carolina

Columbia: University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen said Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Caslen said he tested positive Tuesday evening and is isolating at home, according to a news release, which added that he is asymptomatic. The test was administered through the university, which offers saliva-based and nasal swab testing to students, faculty and staff. “My diagnosis reinforces the need for everyone to get COVID tested regularly to protect yourself and your loved ones,” Caslen said in a statement. He had announced earlier this week that the university would institute monthly mandatory testing for students, faculty and staff who work on campus or are enrolled in at least one face-to-face or hybrid class. Those living, learning or working on the Columbia campus will also have to show proof of testing before returning to school in the spring. After reports of large crowds of students at Columbia bars, Caslen visited some establishments on Halloween night to see the conditions himself, WACH-TV reports. He also stopped by a neighborhood where thousands of students had gathered at an outdoor party earlier in the fall.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: The head of one of the largest regional health systems in the Midwest was replaced Tuesday, less than a week after telling employees he had recovered from COVID-19 and was not wearing a mask around the office. Sanford Health said in a release that it has “mutually agreed to part ways” with longtime CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft, who took over in 1996 and helped expand the organization from a community hospital into what is billed as the nation’s largest rural nonprofit health system. Krabbenhoft left the executive position after telling employees in an email that he believes he’s now immune to COVID-19 for “at least seven months and perhaps years to come” and isn’t a threat to transmit it to anyone. He said wearing a mask would be merely for show. Other Sanford executives tried to distance themselves from the comments. Sanford Health, based in Sioux Falls, has 46 hospitals and more than 200 clinics concentrated in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. It employs about 50,000 people. The Dakotas have for weeks had the country’s worst spread rates of the coronavirus, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Tennessee

Nashville: Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines will be optional in the state’s K-12 public schools, once they become available. The Republican said at a news conference that vaccines will be very important for Tennessee to “ultimately really be able to handle” the virus. But he said he doesn’t foresee COVID-19 mandates for school districts in Tennessee. “Vaccines are a choice, and people have the choice and will have the choice in this state as to whether or not they should take that vaccine,” Lee said. “That will be our strategy, and that is what we think will happen all across the state.” The comment comes as the state and the country look toward initial, limited doses of vaccine that could arrive in the next few weeks, amid a surge in the coronavirus that is increasingly straining hospital systems. In Tennessee, the first doses, likely through Pfizer, could arrive around Dec. 15, with the initial Moderna vaccines expected a week later, said state Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey.

Texas

Houston: The value of oil fields in West Texas has plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the demand for crude to go down. Eli Huffman, a land broker and attorney at Houston-based Lone Star Production Co., said he has seen land prices fall below $1,000 an acre for property that used to be worth more than $10,000 an acre. “When (oil) prices are too low, no one is buying land,” Huffman said. “Everybody is risk-averse at the moment.” The average price of U.S. shale acreage has fallen by more than 70% in two years – from $17,000 per acre in 2018 to $5,000 per acre in 2020, according to Norwegian energy research firm Rystad. Despite that, the prices of some shale plays has held up, the Houston Chronicle reports. The Permian-Delaware basin is still valued at $30,000 per acre, and the Midland basin is valued at $17,000 an acre, Rystad said. But prices for devalued oil and gas lands will not be able to bounce back as quickly if the pandemic worsens and lockdowns keep pressure on demand for petroleum.

Utah

St. George: Dixie State University said testing will be encouraged but not mandatory despite state health orders mandating college students get tested weekly for the coronavirus. “The truth is we don’t have enough tests to even test everyone,” said Jordon Sharp, vice president of marketing and communication at Dixie State. “Now, if that changes, then then we’ll see what happens.” Republican Gov. Gary Herbert issued health orders earlier this month requiring that college students get weekly COVID-19 tests starting no later than Jan. 1, KUER-FM reports. Sharp said the university received 2,000 kits, which it hoped to administer to students before Thanksgiving break, but that it is unlikely to happen because there are not enough tests to give to its 12,000 students. “There’s just really no process in place because we don’t have enough tests,” Sharp said. “So we’ll begin testing any student that would like (one).” Herbert said the goal is to screen 250,000 students a week at all the colleges and universities in the state, but the institutions are waiting for more equipment from the federal government.

Vermont

Montpelier: A school district in Orange County is concerned about families not complying with quarantine rules after a cluster of coronavirus cases turned up in the district that serves Randolph, Braintree and Brookfield. The Orange Southwest School District has moved to remote learning but is encountering apathy from some people contacted during contact tracing, WCAX-TV reports. Superintendent Layne Millington estimates about a third of the families that were called discounted concerns about possible exposure or exposing others to the virus that causes COVID-19. “ ‘Didn’t care’ is probably a good expression for a lot of them,” Millington told WCAX-TV. “And then we had at least one family that had positive cases that said they were going to be noncompliant with the quarantine.” Gov. Phil Scott has said the state can impose penalties for people unwilling to comply with contact tracing requirements, but he’s reluctant to do that. “We don’t want to use our limited resources in public safety to go after people,” he said. “We’re asking people to tell the truth to protect others. I don’t think it’s tattling on anyone.”

Virginia

Verona: Recent accounts from inmates at Middle River Regional Jail have shed light on the growing threat of COVID-19, as inmates now find themselves bunking with the pandemic. Four nurses, 25 officers and 15 inmates had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday. A number of people are still quarantining at home, waiting for their test results, according to a press release from MRRJ. While officers and nurses have the option to avoid the crowd, the inmates don’t get that luxury. MRRJ conducted a spot test only on two housing units and people who showed symptoms. Kandi Harner, 32, tested positive and was told of the results Tuesday. She had been working a laundry job in the jail and said she was sent back to her pod after she suffered from nausea, a sore chest and an excruciating headache. Her pod consists of 35 women, 10 of whom tested positive. Harner said none of the 10 women were removed from the pod. “They still haven’t done anything for us or changed anything, short of giving us a mask,” Harner said by phone from the jail Tuesday. “This morning they tried to send me to work again, but I refused to go because I’m feeling so bad.”

Washington

Seattle: A new report shows people infected with the coronavirus in the state’s most populous county in recent weeks have been mostly exposed in homes, during social activities and gatherings, and in workplaces. Instead of a few “hot spots,” the report shows the risk of exposure is now widespread throughout King County as cases have increased in the past two months. Public Health – Seattle & King County released the report on outbreaks and exposure settings Wednesday showing where people most frequently reported being exposed. Cases related to social activities and out-of-state travel have increased over the course of the pandemic, while cases associated with long-term care and other health care facilities have decreased in the county, according to the report. It also noted differences in potential sources of exposure by race and ethnicity, geography and age. In many communities of color, for example, particularly in south King County, workplaces are more frequently reported as possible exposure sites, the report said, whereas in the north Seattle and suburban Shoreline area, the most common exposure settings are social gatherings.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice blasted critics of his mask mandate Wednesday, saying he would not follow the lead of other Republican governors rejecting the advice of public health experts. “I don’t want to be South Dakota,” Justice said at a news conference. He then played a news clip from the state, where Gov. Kristi Noem has refused to issue a mask mandate, reporting that South Dakota has the most deaths per capita linked to COVID-19 in the world. There are 13 states currently without a statewide mask mandate in effect, all led by Republican governors. “I know that we are a strong-willed people in West Virginia, and we have our rights, and no one is trying to infringe on your rights in any way,” Justice said, a reference to some conservatives in the state who criticize his pandemic executive orders. Justice has vocally defended mask-wearing and recently tightened a mandate to wear one indoors when in public at all times, as cases have skyrocketed in rural enclaves. He has resisted more stringent lockdown measures and championed for schools to stay open where outbreaks are less severe.

Wisconsin

Madison: The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the state continued to tick downward Wednesday, a rare bit of good news for health officials as they struggle to contain the deadly disease. The state Department of Health Services reported 5,469 confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday. The number of confirmed cases has now declined for five days, an encouraging sign after the state saw a record-high 7,989 cases Nov. 18. What’s more, the seven-day average of positive tests was 28.3% as of Tuesday, continuing a downward trend from a record-high 36.6% on Nov. 11. But the disease is still running rampant across the state. According to DHS, the total number of confirmed infections stood at 369,442 as of Wednesday. The disease was a factor in 63 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 3,178, according to the department. Wisconsin remains sixth in the nation in per-capita infections, according to Johns Hopkins University. And any progress against the disease appears fleeting. Health officials are bracing for another surge in infections and deaths stemming from Thanksgiving gatherings.

Wyoming

Casper: Officials in northern Wyoming have voted to remove Dr. Ed Zimmerman from his position as Washakie County health officer, a decision Zimmerman believes is in response to his implementing a mask mandate. Washakie County Commission Chair Fred Frandson said Tuesday that Zimmerman’s departure was not a result of the local mask mandate but said he could not discuss why he was removed because the county does not publicly discuss personnel matters, The Casper Star-Tribune reports. Zimmerman said there were several health officials who were worried they could lose their jobs by implementing mask mandates. “It had to do with the health order in some way,” Zimmerman said of losing his job. Zimmerman said he met with the county’s three commissioners Nov. 17 to discuss the forthcoming mandate and said the commissioners “were really, really not happy with me” about the decision. Zimmerman said he then received a call on Monday from Frandson informing him that his contract was terminated and that all his duties would end immediately.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winery testing, ‘Gretch the Grinch’: News from around our 50 states