12/21/2020

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 17,790,376 total cases and 316,844 deaths. One American is dying from COVID-19 every 33 seconds.The CDC data closes out the day before reporting.
• The U.S. is now averaging 2,613 new coronavirus deaths per day – more than triple the seven-day average from two months ago. In the week ending Dec. 19, 16 states hit a record number of new deaths. California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas have all recorded more than 1,000 deaths in the past week.
• The total number of COVID-19 cases across the U.S. has increased by 13.6 percent in the past week. Georgia, Arkansas, and South Carolina have all set weekly records for newly diagnosed cases. Tennessee is identifying new COVID-19 cases at the highest per capita rate in the country.
• Nearly a third of hospitals across the country have more than 80 percent of their ICU beds filled. There are 115,351 people hospitalized across the country with COVID-19 according to the COVID Tracking Project.
• Hospitals and ICUs across the country are reaching their breaking point. Statewide, California reported 2.1 percent availability of ICU beds on Friday. California’s Secretary of Health and Human Services said many hospitals in the state may also soon run out of room for patients who need to be admitted but do not require intensive care. Just 8 percent of ICU and inpatient beds were available across Arizona on Sunday, and ICUs in Utah have hit 99.4 percent capacity.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he has asked the DoD for 10 teams of 20 health care workers to assist the state’s hard-hit health care facilities.
• Multiple governors and state officials – including authorities from Alabama, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington – said they will be allocated 20 to 40 percent fewer vaccine doses than expected in their second shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from the federal government.
• Vaccinations in New Jersey nursing homes will begin a week late, Dec. 28, instead of today, after state officials missed the deadline for federal approval by one day.
• West Virginia is leading the nation in COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration, having doled out nearly 91 percent of its available doses. Gov. Jim Justice (R) said his state is ready to roll out the Moderna vaccine.
• The head of Oklahoma’s largest teachers union praised Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Monday for moving school personnel to phase two of the state’s vaccine distribution plan.
• Dozens of protesters trying to force their way into Oregon’s State Capitol building on Monday were met by officers in riot gear, as lawmakers gathered for a one-day special session amid growing tension over coronavirus restrictions in the state.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) extended a state of emergency declaration related to the COVID-19 pandemic for an additional 60 days.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed an EO to limit public gatherings to no more than 10 people. The governor urged Tennesseans to limit holiday gatherings to only those living in their household.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) announced the end of several restrictions implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In-person classes can resume at high schools and colleges, indoor venues such as movie theaters can reopen with capacity limits and other safety precautions, and outdoor group fitness activities can also resume. The new guidelines will remain in place until Jan. 15.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced an update in the metrics used to inform local school district decisions for in-person learning.
• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced the launch of WI Exposure Notification, a new mobile app to assist in notifying people who have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. The app will go live for Wisconsinites next week.
• Pennsylvania’s health department unveiled a new digital case investigation tool, the Connect & Protect Form, to allow for more efficient COVID-19 contact tracing efforts. The state already has a contact tracing app available.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed an EO that suspends and modifies tax deadlines and collection efforts for tax bills that become due and payable on Jan. 1; suspends municipal assessor certification program requirement; and allows caterer liquor permittees to sell and provide closed or sealed containers of alcoholic beverages.
• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said Monday that he's "basically begging" Massachusetts residents not to travel for Christmas.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) signed an emergency proclamation reducing the state's mandatory self-quarantine period for travelers entering the state and traveling between counties from 14 to 10 days.
• Louisiana Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser (D) tested positive for COVID-19.
• South Carolina first lady Peggy McMaster and Tennessee first lady Maria Lee have both tested positive for COVID-19.

12/18/2020

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 16,756,581 total cases and 306,427 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Most sources are now reporting that the U.S. has passed 17 million cases. 
• Wednesday was the deadliest day of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. to date, with over 3,360 fatalities reported across the country. The U.S. also set a single-day record for newly reported cases, tallying more than 245,000. Three times as many people in the UU.S. are dying each day now than three months ago, and the number of new cases is six times what it was then.
• Hospitals and ICUs across the country are under major strain. There are currently 113,069 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country, according to the COVID Tracking Project, marking the 11th consecutive day that the nation has hit a record high of current hospitalizations. Roughly 23 percent of all hospital inpatients have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
• In New York City, public hospitals have canceled elective surgeries in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases. In Boston, pediatric wards are being consolidated to fit all the adults battling the coronavirus. And in Philadelphia, hospitals are once again barring family visitors due to transmission worries.
• California reported 53,711 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, a roughly 50 percent jump from the state’s recent averages. Patients are overwhelming hospitals and ICU wards across the state, particularly in the hard-hit San Joaquin Valley. The state has bought 5,000 extra body bags and set up 60 refrigerated storage units around the state to help local coroners accommodate bodies that won’t fit in morgues.
• Nurses in some hard-hit Southern California communities are planning a strike in response to alleged conditions including: “aggressive rationing” of PPE and dirty PPE, insufficient testing for staff and patients, full shifts without a break, and not enough housekeepers, leading to poor sanitation.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) launched “Vaccinate All 58,” the state’s campaign to distribute COVID-19 vaccines equitably across California’s 58 counties.
• Two trays of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines that were sent to Alabama were not released to hospitals due to deviations in the recommended temperature during shipment, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
• Several major cities, including New York, Baltimore, and Hartford, temporarily shut down COVID-19 testing sites due to major snowfall and heavy winds. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said the storm delayed the delivery of vaccine doses to some hospitals by several hours.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced updated COVID-19 micro-cluster focus zones in the state. Niagara County's Yellow Precautionary Zone will be expanded. New Yellow Precautionary Zones will be added for Batavia, Genesee County, and for Rome and Utica, Oneida County.
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced he would require Marylanders to limit travel to essential purposes only over the holidays. The state’s department of health also issued a new advisory that lowers the state’s limits on social gatherings from 25 to 10 people.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Wednesday eased several COVID-19 restrictions across the state following a four-week “pause.” Outdoor social gatherings with a maximum of 15 people between three households and indoor gatherings with a maximum of 10 people between two households are now permitted; gyms and fitness centers can open at 25 percent capacity; youth and adult sports will resume on Jan. 4; and elementary schools will be permitted to reopen on Jan. 18. Indoor dining is still banned, though outdoor dining may resume at 50 percent capacity. Bars, restaurants, and breweries will continue to be closed for indoor dining through Jan. 11.
• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) has announced several adjustments to the state's emergency health disaster proclamation. Bars and restaurants can resume their normal hours of operation; the 15-person limitation for indoor gatherings and the 30-person limitation for outdoor gatherings will be lifted, but social distancing will still be required; and spectator limitations at high school, youth and adult sports events will be slightly expanded to allow a member of a participant's household to attend. The state’s limited mask mandate will remain in place.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) amended an EO that requires individuals to wear a mask. The amendment clarifies that individuals who are completely alone in a room do not need to wear a mask.
• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) on Thursday announced changes to Utah's school quarantine guidelines and an end to the 10 PM curfew for selling alcohol at bars and restaurants.
• New Mexico’s emergency public health order was amended to accommodate slightly increased capacity inside essential retail spaces, such as grocery stores and certain other large “big box” retailers.
• Rhode Island’s Department of Education announced a staggered return of students in January 2021.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), and Gov. Walz joined together in a social media video to encourage everyone across the region to remain safe heading into the holiday season.
• State health officials in Oregon said they had been told that they were scheduled to get only 25,350 doses next week — significantly fewer than the 40,950 the state received this week. Multiple other states reported similar issues.
• Useful state data:
  • Use Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 U.S. map as a resource for media, policymakers, and communities to view a collection of critical public health data in one online destination and better understand and track the COVID-19 pandemic in populations both large and small across the country. NPR's map can also be used to monitor you state's heat wave.
  • NASHP has developed a COVID-19 State Action Center which serves as a state-level policy dashboard. Governing is also keeping a running tally of coronavirus news and impacts at the intersection of the health and economic crises in the states and localities.
  • This site from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides state-level information on cases/deaths, social distancing measures, health policy actions, and more.
  • This series of maps shows how states are responding to COVID-19.

Previous Updates

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 16,113,148 total cases and 298,266 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Most sources are now reporting that the U.S. has passed 300,000 deaths. 
• Sunday marked the 41st straight day that the U.S. has reported over 100,000 new COVID-19 infections.
• ICUs filled to capacity across California this weekend, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continued to rise at alarming rates.
• The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Wyoming dropped below 200 on Friday for the first time since Nov. 16.
• Nearly 3 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were expected to arrive at 145 facilities across the country on Monday, marking the beginning of a huge logistical effort to stop the rampant spread of the virus. The vaccine will arrive at nearly 500 additional sites on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse at New York’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is reportedly the first person to receive the vaccination in the U.S.
• Twenty million Americans should be able to get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December, and another 30 million by the end of January, according to HHS Sec. Alex Azar.
• Puerto Rico received half the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses it expected and had to scramble to adjust its distribution plan. The delay caused last-minute changes to the National Guard’s plans to deliver vaccine to the handful of locations on the island that have the ultracold medical freezers required for storing it, along with backup generators to keep them working on an island with a notoriously unstable power grid.
• California, Nevada, Oregon, And Washington’s Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup completed their concurrent and thorough review of the federal process and has confirmed the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is safe and efficacious. Washington, Oregon, and Nevada joined California’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup in October, which has worked concurrently and independently to review the FDA’s actions related to COVID-19 vaccinations. They will continue to evaluate other COVID-19 vaccines after they are routed through FDA authorization for emergency use. The panel is made up of nationally acclaimed scientists with expertise in immunization and public health.
• Alabama’s medical licensing board voted Saturday to grant temporary credentials to doctors from elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada to alleviate a shortage of critical-care physicians. The credentials will expire in 180 days or when Gov. Kay Ivey (R) lifts Alabama’s state of emergency, whichever happens first.
• Gov. Ivey extended her statewide mask mandate until Jan. 22 but said there are no other changes and no new restrictions on businesses.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced that he is extending the restrictions in place under the state’s current "Pause" status through Jan. 15.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) extended a mask mandate to several new counties and limited indoor social gatherings to groups of no more than 10 people. Outdoor social gatherings are limited to no more than 50 people.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced a number of new public health guidelines which began on Monday. Restaurants and bars can reopen at 50 percent capacity, though service must stop at 11 PM and establishments must close before midnight; venues, event spaces, and theaters can also reopen at 50 percent capacity; professional services can operate with up to 50 percent of employees working in-person; and indoor social gatherings cannot have more than eight people from a maximum of two households.
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed an EO that simplifies and strengthens the enforcement of the state’s face covering requirement. Moving forward, owners and operators of all indoor public spaces – regardless of the type of entity or size – must not allow those who refuse to wear a face-covering to enter or remain in their venue. Previous orders had required enforcement in some but not all public settings.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced new metrics by which micro-cluster focus zones across the state will be determined. As a result of the new guidelines, Gov. Cuomo suspended indoor dining in New York City on Monday. Gyms and salons will now be allowed to remain open with restrictions in orange zones.
• New Mexico’s Department of Health and Public Education Department announced a delay in the return to in-person learning after the winter break.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended an EO that increases the Medicaid home health workforce and eliminates cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for Medicaid enrollees.
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) announced on Monday that the state will require all college students to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.
• Gov. Justice became one of the first top elected officials in the country to receive a coronavirus vaccination on Monday evening, though the state’s rollout will prioritize giving the highly sought-after vaccines to health care workers and people in long-term care centers. The 69-year-old Republican governor said he wanted to demonstrate confidence in the vaccine’s safety.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed an EO requiring COVID-19 testing in certain adult care homes, to enhance efforts to keep COVID-19 from entering and spreading through nursing homes.
• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced that the DOD will deploy approximately 45 U.S. Army medical personnel to assist the state’s efforts to combat COVID-19 in Wisconsin.
• Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public and Behavioral Health is expanding the capabilities of the COVID Trace app by launching Exposure Notification Express through a partnership with Apple and Google.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 15,271,571 total cases and 288,762 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• The National Governors Association, in collaboration with the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and the COVID Collaborative, released a report on Supporting an Equitable Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines: Key Themes, Strategies, and Challenges Across State and Territorial COVID-19 Vaccination Plans. The paper provides a qualitative analysis of all publicly available state and territorial COVID-19 vaccination plans to support identification of key issues and sharing of promising practices.
• The National Academy for State Health Policy has released a new blog analyzing state COVID-19 vaccine distribution plans and a chart of each state's phased approach to vaccinating priority populations.
• More than a third of Americans are living in areas where hospitals are running critically short of ICU beds. Hospitals across the country are operating near or above capacity as they cope with a growing flood of COVID-19 cases. Nearly a third of U.S. hospitals have more than 80 percent of their ICU beds filled.
• On Wednesday, the U.S. set a new record for daily death toll, with 3,053 in just 24 hours. Just as the U.S. surpassed 280,000 deaths from coronavirus on Saturday, Dec. 5, the country is likely to pass 290,000 deaths later today.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) directed the state’s department of health to begin implementing a "surge and flex" protocol and mandated all hospitals begin expanding their bed capacity by 25 percent to further prepare hospitals for an expected COVID-19 surge.
• Gov. Cuomo also issued a call to all retired doctors and nurses, urging them to return to service if they are able.
• New Mexico on Thursday suspended all nonessential surgeries and activated “crisis care” standards, a move that allows hospitals to ration care amid a surge in COVID-19 cases that has overwhelmed the state’s capacities. Elective surgeries will be banned until Jan. 4, and health care providers will be permitted to implement a statewide plan to stretch the state’s medical resources.
• Pennsylvania announced statewide restrictions that ban indoor dining and close gyms, theaters, and casinos for three weeks. Indoor gatherings will be limited to 10 people.
• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced the state will revert to Step 1 of Phase 3 of its reopening plan, requiring indoor performance venues and certain "high-contact indoor recreational businesses" to shut down. Retail shops, arcades, museums, offices, and places of worship will be allowed to operate at 40 percent capacity; outdoor gatherings are limited to 50 people; anyone planning to host a gathering of 25 people or more outside will be required to notify their local health board; and dining will be caped to 90 minutes of service for groups no larger than six people.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced a new EO that imposes an expanded mask mandate, smaller limits on social gatherings, and a new nightly curfew from midnight to 5 AM.
• Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Thursday announced several new restrictions on social gatherings and businesses. Public gatherings such as weddings and funerals are limited to 50 percent capacity unless the local health department grants an exception; attendance at youth indoor sporting events is limited to four spectators per participant or 50 percent of the building’s capacity; bars and restaurants close at 11 PM each night except for drive-thru or takeout services; and dining tables must be spaced 6 feet apart and that bars. Places of worship are excluded from restrictions.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced that the state will begin a modified stay-at-home order. The order, which takes effect on Friday and will remain in place until Jan. 8, requires people to stay at home between the hours of 10 PM and 5 AM.
• North Dakota Gov. Doug Burghum (R) announced the extension of a statewide mask mandate until Jan. 18 and occupancy restrictions on restaurants, bars, and event venues until Jan. 8.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced a three-week extension of statewide restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and the extension of 26 proclamations related to the pandemic.
• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced she is extending until Dec. 16 a COVID-19 emergency proclamation that imposed some mask requirements and put limitations on gatherings.
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills’s (D) administration announced it will extend the requirement for certain businesses statewide to close by 9 PM through Jan. 3.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended a statewide mask order for an additional 30 days and an EO that allows for the operation of alternate care sites in response to COVID-19.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced the statewide launch of CA Notify, a new digital tool that will help reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed an EO that authorizes licensed pharmacists to administer any coronavirus vaccine that has been authorized by the FDA under certain conditions and caps the amount that providers may charge to administer COVID-19 vaccines, to ensure that no one is required to pay out-of-pocket costs for the vaccine.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO that automatically enrolls residents who choose to receive a COVID-19 vaccine into the state’s existing vaccine registry.
• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) said the state’s teachers and school administrators will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines as a part of phase one, directly after health care workers. Herbert said he expects teachers will be able to be vaccinated by the end of December or early January.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has tested positive for COVID-19.
• New Hampshire state Rep. Dick Hinch (R) has died of COVID-19 one week after being sworn in as House speaker.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 14,636,914 total cases and 281,253 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. is reporting an average of nearly 2,200 COVID-19 deaths per day. The national seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths per day is currently 2,171. That figure has increased by 139 percent in the past month.
• The U.S. has reported over 100,000 new cases of COVID-19 every day for more than a month straight.
• Hospitalizations continue to surge to unprecedented levels, with over 101,000 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country ­– a new national record. In the past two months, hospitalizations have more than tripled.
• Officials have reported that the number of people hospitalized in Nevada with COVID-19 has more than doubled over the last month.
• On Monday afternoon, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced that hospitals in his state will stop offering elective surgeries that can be safely postponed beginning Friday in order to free up necessary staffing and beds.
• The Navajo Nation begins a three-week emergency lockdown on Monday, during which residents are required to remain at home 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Essential businesses, including grocery stores, gas stations, laundromats, and restaurants providing drive-thru or curbside service, may remain open on weekdays between 7 AM and 7 PM. Off-reservation travel is not permitted, and, on weekends, a full lockdown will be in place. The lockdown rules will remain in effect until Dec. 28.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday announced new criteria for rolling back the state’s reopening and reintroducing shutdown restrictions by region. Under the new plan, the state health department will use hospitalization rates as thresholds for shutdowns and restricting indoor dining, which the governor said could be barred in New York City as soon as Monday.
• Gov. Cuomo also announced his state is partnering with Prescryptive Health to expand COVID-19 testing capacity. The partnership will help increase testing capacity in areas where testing access is limited, offering 150 new rapid testing locations statewide.
• New York City began reopening public schools today because of the determined public health benefits of keeping schools operating, particularly for young students, and the real-world experience of over two months of in-person classes in the city’s school system.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said on Monday that her administration would extend the closures of high schools, universities, and businesses such as casinos and movie theaters for 12 days, as well as a shutdown of indoor dining and organized sports, as officials monitor the number of available hospital beds across the state.
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) announced a new statewide indoor face mask order and new restrictions on social gatherings and businesses. Gatherings without required distancing are limited to 10 people; bars and restaurants must close at 10 PM; patrons seated at bars, restaurants, theaters, concert halls, and large events will be limited to groups of 6; and group workout classes at gyms are limited to 10 people.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced a new stay-at-home advisory, strongly advising all Delawareans to avoid gathering indoors with anyone outside of their household from Dec. 14 through Jan. 11. Gov. Carney will also institute a mask mandate statewide, requiring people to wear a face covering any time they are indoors with someone outside of their immediate household.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said on Monday that he will extend the state’s current curfew order. Infections and hospitalizations across the state continue to rise at a rapid pace. As a result, the Cleveland Clinic and several other hospitals have postponed elective surgeries that require an overnight stay.
• The Arizona legislature has closed after former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, spent two days with maskless GOP lawmakers. Public health officials in Michigan have ordered several state lawmakers to begin quarantining on Monday, after they were also in recent, close contact with Mr. Giuliani. Georgia state senators who attended a seven-hour hearing last week with him were similarly urged to self-quarantine.
• School districts across the country are adjusting their education plans. New York City is reopening some of its public schools Monday despite a worsening coronavirus outbreak. The Los Angeles public school district, the second-largest in the U.S., will revert to online learning for the rest of the semester. Three other large districts — in Birmingham, Alabama, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wichita, Kansas — closed over the past week.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended an EO that expands the health care workforce for hospitals and other inpatient treatment facilities.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced that the state’s department of health and human services will launch an outreach campaign to Latinx and immigrant communities facing disproportionately high COVID-19 positivity rates. The campaign, which communicates in Spanish and 16 other languages, aims to empower community members to protect their own health and that of their family members.
• Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Nevada announced that requests to extend the federal authorization of their state National Guard’s support to ongoing state responses to the COVID-19 public health emergency have been approved. The federal government will provide the states with a 75 percent cost-share for this period.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 13,822,249 total cases and 272,525 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. It is estimated that total cases surpassed 14 million today. 
• Hospitals are confronting new and alarming levels of strain amid a surge of coronavirus patients, with over 100,000 hospitalized nationwide Tuesday. Indiana, Nevada, and South Dakota are reporting more than 500 currently hospitalized per million people. Twenty-eight percent of hospitals have more than 80 percent of their ICU beds filled.
• Minnesota is now averaging 96.7 new cases a day for every 100,000 people, the second-worst rate in the nation behind South Dakota.
• New York City's seven-day average daily positive test rate rose above 5 percent, to 5.19, for the first time since May 28.
• Daily new COVID-19 cases in Delaware are up 50 percent from two weeks ago.
• Florida has become the third state to report over one million confirmed COVID-19 cases. California and Texas each surpassed one million cases in November.
• More than 1.3 million children in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
• November marked the worst month on record for cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the U.S. More than 4.2 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with COVID-19, equivalent to one in every 76 Americans testing positive, and 36,745 people died from the disease.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he will be implementing strict stay-at-home orders by region, which will be triggered when the intensive care units in a region’s hospitals fill to more than 85 percent of capacity. Residents would be required to stay home except for essential tasks and outdoor exercise. Most businesses would have to shut down, including in-person dining, salons, and sports events. Schools that have been allowed to reopen can continue to operate, and religious services could be held outdoors under the order.
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced steps Tuesday to address a looming shortage of hospital beds and a grave shortage of doctors and nurses across the state. Gov. Hogan asked hospitals to submit a “patient surge” plan, which includes a detailed strategy for increasing hospital bed and staffing capacities, to the state health department by Dec. 8. The department is working with the Maryland Hospital Association to recruit medical personnel and support staff at the state’s hospitals, asking universities to award academic credit to students willing to work at hospitals during the pandemic and to let graduating students receive early licensing, and urging counties to redeploy school nurses to help at testing and vaccination facilities.
• Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez ordered a new, partial lockdown on Thursday that will force most businesses to close on Sundays and ban weekend alcohol sales from Dec. 7 to Jan. 7. Only pharmacies, supermarkets, gas stations, hardware stores and food delivery and pickup will be allowed on Sundays.
• New Hampshire’s state legislature will begin its new legislative session outdoors. With 400 members, New Hampshire’s House of Representatives is the largest in the country. But its chamber only has room for about 130 people if proper social distancing protocols are being followed.
• Families and community organizations in Los Angeles and Oakland sued California this week, saying that it has failed during the pandemic to provide low-income Black and Latino students the free and equal education that the State Constitution guarantees.
• The Washington State Department of Health, in conjunction with the University of Washington, launched an app that seeks to notify users if they have been exposed to COVID-19. The app is voluntary and data-secure and is seen as a complementary tool for testing and contact tracing.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced this week that he and First Gentleman Marlon Reis have tested positive for COVID-19.

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 13,295,605 total cases and 266,051 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• In the month of November alone, the U.S. recorded more than 4.1 million cases of COVID-19 and 25,500 deaths.
• There are more than 93,000 people hospitalized across the country – a new all-time high, twice as many as there were on Nov. 1, and triple the number on Oct. 1.
• As daily COVID-19 deaths rise to levels not seen since early in the pandemic, nine states have hit a grim marker: more than one COVID-19 death for every 1,000 residents.
• Rhode Island is set to open two field hospitals for non-critically ill COVID-19 patients to lessen strain on existing hospitals.
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) said hospitals across the state will reduce elective surgeries to ensure there is room for coronavirus patients. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has jumped 29 percent in the past week.
• In Kansas City, Kansas, hospital and nursing officials said they fear there will not be enough nurses to staff new hospital beds in the metro area if COVID-19 cases continue unchecked.
• On Sunday, California became the first state to report over 100,00 cases in a week. The state’s ICUs could be overloaded by the middle of December, and its hospitals could be dangerously close to full by Christmas, according to current projections.
• Los Angeles County, the most populous in the country, entered a new shutdown Monday. The stay-at-home order bans nearly all public gatherings and prohibits people in different households from getting together, even in private. While it’s less severe than the statewide shutdown in March, Los Angeles’s order is the strictest in California.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) urged hospitals to form plans in case of staff shortages, develop emergency field protocols, and prepare to add 50 percent of bed capacity as his state topped 3,500 hospitalizations over the weekend, a level not seen since May.
• New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Sunday that he would begin to allow the city’s youngest students and those with special needs to return to classrooms beginning next week, abandoning a previous plan that forced the entire school system to close 10 days ago. The move, which will be accompanied by ramped-up testing, only impacts a fraction of the more than 1 million public school students in New York City, home to by far the largest school system in the nation. About two-thirds of families opted for full-time virtual learning.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced the formation of a back-to-school working group that will assist the governor and the state in planning for the safe return of students to the classroom in January 2021.
• Schools in Florida will remain open for in-person learning next spring, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said during a Monday press conference. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are rising across the state.
• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) declared a new public health emergency as his state’s hospitals are operating at or very near full capacity and health care providers are struggling to keep up with the demand for care. Gov. Evers also issued a new face mask order: Wisconsin residents ages five and older are required to wear a face covering when they are indoors or in an enclosed space with anyone outside their household or living unit.
• Several other governors extended COVID-19 emergency-related orders. Gov. Polis signed an EO extending the state’s disaster declaration; Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) formally extended his State of Emergency declaration another 30 days; Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed two EOs extending his state’s public health emergency and COVID-19 restrictions; Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) extended her State of Civil Emergency through Dec. 23; and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO extending his state’s Public Health Emergency.
• Gov. Murphy said Monday that New Jersey will limit all outdoor gatherings to 25 people beginning Dec. 7 to stem an ongoing surge of cases — and an expected spike after the Thanksgiving holiday. New Jersey will also suspend all indoor youth and adult sports, including practices and competitions, starting Saturday through Jan. 2. In New Jersey, hospitalizations have increased 60 percent in the last two weeks, and deaths have increased by 78 percent.
• Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced that an aggressive surge of COVID-19 cases across all regions of the state has made it necessary to reimpose Phase 2 mitigation measures.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced the state will transition to a tiered county-by-county COVID-19 risk system on Dec. 2, enabling local communities to shed burdensome restrictions as soon as public health data shows successful containment of viral spread.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced Nevadans must always wear face coverings – whether indoors or outdoors – when around individuals outside of their household.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) tightened mask-wearing requirements and enforcement as cases continue to rise rapidly across his state.
• A petition pleading Missouri Gov. Mike Parsons (R) to implement a mask mandate has gathered about 3,500 signatures as of Monday morning, as the state’s average number of daily deaths hovers just below the record and infections continue to be reported at alarming levels.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 12,498,734 total cases and 259,005 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Just four states are showing downward trends in new cases of COVID-19: South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Tennessee.
• Wisconsin reported more than 100 deaths on Tuesday, the largest number of deaths reported in a single day across the state.
• On Wednesday, California and Texas set nationwide records for new infections in a single day. California tallied 18,350 and Texas hit nearly 16,100.
• In El Paso, Texas, a new curfew means most nonessential businesses are allowed to operate at up to 50 percent capacity. Restaurants in the county must stop serving in-person customers by 9 PM, though takeout and delivery can continue after that. Bars and similar establishments will remain closed.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) said Tuesday that "it's clear" the state is in the middle of another surge of COVID-19.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said his state is coming up with a winter COVID-19 plan that aims to expand hospital capacity, keep schools open, and begin a distribution effort for the coming COVID-19 vaccine.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced today that the state is leaving what was formerly known at the Tri-State Travel Advisory. He said travelers and residents returning from any U.S. state or territory beyond the immediate region (New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) should self-quarantine at their home, hotel, or other temporary lodging for 14 days.
• The Oklahoma State Department of Health announced today an optional short-term policy change for schools with students who have been exposed to COVID-19.
• Doctors and other health care workers at a chain of urgent care clinics in Washington state went on strike this week, saying that they are required to work excessively long hours without adequate protective gear.
• A recent surge in positive cases forced the Navajo Nation to go on lockdown until Dec. 6. School is fully online, and most businesses are closed as the Navajo Nation works to reduce the spread of the virus. Essential businesses must close by 3 PM each day.
• The White House coronavirus task force is recommending a significant increase in testing as well as additional, accelerated mitigation measures in its weekly reports to states.
• HHS Sec. Alex Azar has said states will have the final say on how to prioritize who gets the first doses of any coronavirus vaccines.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 12,175,921 total cases and 255,958 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. The U.S. has surpassed 12 million cases of COVID-19. 
• The U.S. has added more than 1 million new cases in less than a week and reported more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases daily for the last 20 days.
• Nine states — Arizona, California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Vermont — are reporting more than twice as many new cases a day as they did two weeks ago.
• Forty-five states are seeing sustained increases in new cases, and 17 states added more cases in the seven-day period that ended Sunday than in any other week of the pandemic.
• In Los Angeles County, California, which has been averaging more than 3,500 cases a day lately, officials said on Sunday that barring indoor restaurant dining was no longer sufficient and that outdoor dining would have to shut down as well. COVID-19 cases in California have nearly tripled since the beginning of November.
• A team of 36 National Guard troops has been deployed to "provide mortuary affairs support” in El Paso County, according to the Texas Division of Emergency Management.
• Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine warned in a news release that the state's hospitals could run out of ICU beds within a week.
• A major hospital group in Arizona, Banner Health, began banning most visitors from its facilities Sunday night because of the worsening spread of COVID-19.
• In North Dakota — which ranks first in the country in new COVID-19 cases per capita — health officials are rolling out free rapid COVID-19 testing for teachers, staff, and school administrators. The pilot project is designed to slow the virus’ spread by identifying and quickly isolating people who may be asymptomatic.
• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said his state is launching television and digital ads in several languages to encourage residents to wear masks, keep their distance from others, and get tested.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) has ordered a three-week "statewide pause" that begins Tuesday. Residents will be required to wear face masks at private and public gatherings. Public gatherings will be limited to 50 people or to 25 percent capacity, whichever number is lower, and private gatherings will be limited to 10 people from no more than two households. Bars and restaurants will only be able to operate at 25 percent capacity with no more than four people per table; gyms and fitness studios may operate with no more than 25 percent capacity; and retail establishments can continue operating at 50 percent capacity.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on Monday announced new restrictions in parts of his state where COVID-19 cases are rising, including New York City. Parts of Upper Manhattan, including Washington Heights, will now be a yellow zone under the state’s tiered, color-coded restriction system. Gatherings will be limited to 25 people, with houses of worship limited to 50 percent capacity. Restaurants can serve only up to 4 people at a table.
• Gov. Cuomo also said he is reopening an emergency COVID-19 field hospital on Staten Island, the first such facility in the state to relaunch since the summer.
• Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) relaxed restrictions on social gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving. He said people still must wear masks, but he will not extend his previous two-week order that required people to limit social gatherings to people in their immediate.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) on Monday issued an EO authorizing the state health department to order hospitals and emergency departments to transfer non-virus patients and to cease admitting new ones to deal with the influx of coronavirus cases.
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced that all outdoor and indoor amusement venues, movie theaters, performing arts venues, casinos, and businesses that provide seated food and drink service (including social clubs, restaurants, and bars and tasting rooms currently open for outdoor service) will close for the night by 9 PM through Dec. 6.
• Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) said over the weekend that a maximum of two people from different homes can walk, hike, and bike together provided they wear masks and remain physically distant.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), Delaware Gov. John Carney (D), New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D), Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D), Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), Gov. Baker, and Gov. Cuomo announced they will encourage residential colleges and universities in their respective states to provide testing for all students traveling home for Thanksgiving break to the maximum extent possible before they leave campus. Any student who tests positive will be encouraged to isolate on campus before they can travel or detail arrangements of their safe travel home with the local department of health.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said in a tweet Sunday that operating hours will be extended at 35 county health departments on Monday "to provide additional COVID-19 testing options to Tennesseans before Thanksgiving."
• Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) on Friday limited public gatherings to 25 people where social distancing is not possible and announced a statewide mask mandate.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced a new statewide mask mandate, requiring that all residents wear a face covering anytime they interact with someone outside their household. The order will remain in place until Dec. 11 at the earliest.
• North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services is offering more than 120 no-cost COVID-19 community testing events, including new locations in partnership with retailers.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) urged people in and around Fayette County to take advantage of new COVID-19 surge testing being conducted at Keeneland Race Course.
• New Mexico’s Department of Health will open an alternate care site at the Gibson Medical Center in Albuquerque. The site will operate as a limited care facility for recovering, COVID-positive adults who do not require acute care. Those suspected of having contracted the coronavirus or who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive and who do not have a safe place to isolate or quarantine will be admitted.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) announced that starting on Nov. 24, travelers wanting to bypass Hawaii's 14-day mandatory quarantine must have COVID-19 test results, from a trusted travel partner, prior to departure to the islands.
• Nearly 300 Arkansas physicians wrote an open letter to Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday, asking for more COVID-19 restrictions amid the rising case numbers.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) launched a statewide public awareness campaign with Portland-based ad agency Wieden+Kennedy to inform Oregonians about the urgent importance of limiting social gatherings — especially during the holiday season — and continuing to wear face coverings even when visiting family and friends in small gatherings.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has gone into quarantine, along with his family, after three of the governor’s children were exposed to a state highway patrol officer who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 11,465,722 total cases and 249,670 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Infectious disease experts estimate that more than 3 million people in the U.S. are infected with the coronavirus, the equivalent of about 1 percent of the population. New COVID-19 cases in the U.S. have increased nearly 40 percent compared to last week.
• Twenty-five percent of the nation's hospitals have more than 80 percent of their intensive care unit beds filled. Nineteen states hit a record number of COVID-19 hospitalizations on Tuesday. Nearly 80,000 people are hospitalized across the U.S. – about 20,000 more than during peaks in April and July.
• Daily fatalities have risen by 76 percent in the last month, averaging more than 1,200 each day. The CDC predicts that between 276,000 and 298,000 Americans will be dead from COVID-19 by Dec. 12.
• A snapshot of the situation across the country – infections in Massachusetts are eight times what they were on Labor Day and hospitalizations have quadrupled. Only 6 percent of Oklahoma's ICU beds remain available. In Illinois, COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.
• New Mexico and Rhode Island have been chosen by Pfizer as two of four states in a pilot vaccine delivery program.
• On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City public schools are closing and returning to remote learning for all 1.1 million students because of rising coronavirus infection rates.
• In Texas, Utah, Michigan, Georgia, Indiana, among other states, some districts are temporarily closing schools that already opened, often because of pandemic-caused staffing shortages.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) became the first governor to announce a statewide school closure, saying that all public and private schools must close Nov. 23 and that all public universities must do the same. Middle and high schools are staying closed until Jan. 4, and only elementary schools in areas without soaring infections will be allowed to reopen Dec. 7.
• Gov. Beshear also announced several new mitigation measures. Beginning Friday, restaurants and bars must close indoor dining and indoor venues, including event spaces and theaters, will be limited to 25 people per room. Indoor social gatherings are limited to groups from no more than two different households, with a maximum of eight people per gathering.
• Pennsylvania will require out-of-state travelers to test negative for the coronavirus before arrival, health officials announced Tuesday, and masks are now required indoors wherever people from different households are gathered — even if they are physically distant.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued a new stay-at-home order Thursday. Starting Saturday, counties labeled as having widespread risk of viral spread will be under a nightly curfew for four weeks. From 10 PM to 4 AM, nonessential activities and gatherings with members outside of the household are banned.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) on Wednesday announced a “four-week dial back” to stop the spread of COVID-19. Beginning Saturday at midnight, mixed-household in-person social gatherings are prohibited; bars and restaurants can only offer take-out and delivery service; gyms, fitness studios, entertainment venues, event spaces, and similar establishments will need to close; and adult and youth sports are paused. The restrictions will remain in place until Dec. 18.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) on Tuesday announced a nightly curfew which starts at 10 PM Thursday and will run nightly until 5 AM for three weeks.
• Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced a two-week “pause” starting on Nov. 30. New measures will close all bar areas, fitness centers, recreational venues, and many offices and limit indoor socializing to members of the same household.
• As of Thursday, Maine hospitals were at 97 percent capacity due to rising COVID-19 cases.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) extended a mask mandate to seven additional countries. There are now 22 counties that require mask-wearing.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) issued an EO on Wednesday which requires Kansans to wear face coverings inside public spaces or in situations where physical distancing of six feet cannot be maintained.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced new coronavirus restrictions Tuesday aimed — at least temporarily — at preventing about half of Colorado’s counties from being forced into lockdown. For counties considered at the “red level,” indoor dining must close, gyms can operate at 10 percent capacity, businesses can offer takeout and delivery service and outdoor dining to single household groups, and bars remain closed.
• Gov. Polis also announced he is working with the state’s health departments to provide additional federal resources to assist school districts to safely return to in-person learning, including funding for outdoor classrooms, testing, and additional PPE.
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday issued an EO that requires bars and restaurants to close at 10 PM for indoor service and reduces capacity allowed in retail stores, religious facilities, fitness centers, personal service facilities, and bowling alleys to 50 percent. The rules take effect at 5 PM on Friday.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced additional COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will take effect in every region across the state. Tier 3 mitigations build on the Resurgence Mitigation Plan released in July to suppress the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from becoming overrun.
• New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) issued a statewide mask mandate that will go into effect Friday.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) issued a COVID-19 emergency proclamation that extends and clarifies the statewide mask mandate that has been in place since April 25. The proclamation directs businesses to refuse entrance or service to anyone who fails to wear a face covering.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced that indoor gatherings in homes are capped at no more than 10 people, outdoor public gatherings are limited to 50 people, and restaurants must operate at no more than 30 percent of fire capacity indoors, with allowances for additional outdoor seating.
• Gov. Carney also announced that Delaware youth sports organizations, teams, and venues are now prohibited from hosting or participating in tournaments with out-of-state teams.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO lowering indoor and outdoor gathering limits. The indoor gathering limit will decrease from 25 to 10 people and the outdoor gathering limit will decrease from 500 people to 150 people.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced a new COVID-19 County Alert System to pinpoint counties with the highest levels of viral spread and offer specific recommendations to reduce infections. The map will be updated every four weeks.
• Kentucky’s Department for Public Health will mobilize strike teams to hard-hit long-term care facilities, and the Kentucky National Guard will mobilize 10 non-clinical support teams.
• A bipartisan group of seven governors co-authored a Washington Post opinion piece urging people to stay home over Thanksgiving.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 10,984,398 total cases and 245,470 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Most recent sources are now reporting the U.S. has reached 11 million total cases.
• The U.S. is now averaging almost 145,000 new cases a day – nearly four times the daily average from just two months ago. New daily infections are rising in every state except Hawaii.
• Nearly 70,000 people are currently hospitalized due to COVID-19 as ICUs around the country run out of space and supplies.
• Hospitals are nearing capacity in North and South Dakota, two states coronavirus has hit disproportionately hard for their small population size and where cases continue to rise daily.
• There is a critical need for blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients in Wisconsin– nearly double what is currently available.
• El Paso County, one of Texas' COVID-19 hotspots, has recruited inmates to move the bodies of coronavirus victims. They are temporarily relieving overworked personnel at the El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office, authorities say; the Texas National Guard has been called to replace them.
• The Navajo Nation on Monday reinstated a stay-at-home order for the next three weeks after health officials warned of “uncontrolled spread” of COVID-19 in dozens of communities across the reservation. Residents must shelter in place, all roads in the Navajo Nation are closed to visitors, and most government offices will be closed. Essential businesses such as gas stations and grocery stores can open, but only from 7 AM to 3 PM.
• Philadelphia announced Monday that a new “Safer at Home” order restricting businesses, schools, and social gatherings will take effect Friday and last until at least Jan. 1, 2021. High schools and colleges must move to online instruction only; theaters, bowling alleys, arcades, museums, libraries, casinos, and senior day services will be closed. Indoor gatherings in public and private spaces are limited to a single household, including weddings and funerals. Houses of worship must limit capacity to five people per 1,000 square feet or 5 percent of maximum occupancy.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced the state will temporarily re-enact a statewide order closing in-person services for all non-essential activities, effective for two weeks.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced his state is “pulling the emergency brake” on its reopening. Most of California’s larger counties were moved back into the most restrictive reopening tier by the governor, meaning that indoor dining and some other businesses have to shut down.
• On Sunday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) announced a three-week “pause to save lives,” closing colleges, high schools, workplaces, and in-person dining as new coronavirus cases continue to spike.
• Late Friday night, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) announced a statewide mask mandate, occupancy limits on public-facing businesses, and the suspension of most high school winter sports as the state’s worst-in-the-nation COVID-19 outbreak continues to spiral out of control.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) ordered a two-week “freeze” starting Wednesday, requiring businesses to cease in-person operations, limiting restaurants and bars to take-out service only, prohibiting visits at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, and limit social gatherings to no more than six people from different households, among other rules.
• Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) announced on Monday that bars and restaurants must close by 11 PM, no in-person service of food or alcohol will be allowed after 11 PM except for curbside or drive-thru service, and all indoor restaurant tables must be set six feet apart or separated by sanitized dividers.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced new COVID-19 mitigation measures that took effect on Sunday. All public and private in-person gatherings must be limited to 25 individuals; all Virginians aged five and over are required to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces; no establishment may serve alcohol after 10 PM; and all restaurants must close by midnight.
• Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) issued an EO establishing tiered restrictions for counties across the state, based on their rate of COVID-19 infections marked by color ratings, from the lowest blue to highest red. In orange counites, indoor and outdoor events are limited to 50 people and any indoor extracurricular activity is limited to 25 people. Red counties are limited to 25 people at events. Face coverings and social distancing are mandated everywhere.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced several new rules which prohibit indoor social gatherings with people outside one’s household and indoor service at restaurants, bars, and more.
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed an EO to extend the state’s ban on gatherings larger than 50 people through Nov. 30.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced additional COVID-19 mitigation efforts for Region 5 (Southern Illinois), Region 7 (Will and Kankakee counties), and Region 8 (Kane and DuPage counties).
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) ordered the State Emergency Operations Center to return to level 1. This is the highest level of operation and brings together all state agencies, federal partners, and the voluntary organizations that serve the State’s communities in crisis. Gov. Polis also announced the extension of Colorado’s statewide mask order for an additional 30 days.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that the state has launched its official COVID-19 exposure notification app, COVID Alert CT. Gov. Lamont also signed an EO extending all COVID-19 EOs until Feb. 9, 2021.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced that the state is providing COVID-19 tests to colleges and universities across North Carolina to help bolster schools’ student testing efforts in advance of Thanksgiving and holiday break.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced that the state will partner with Nemours Children’s Health System, the Delaware Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other pediatric care providers in Delaware to make rapid COVID-19 tests available for Delaware children and adolescents statewide.
• New Jersey’s travel advisory was updated to include Maine and New Hampshire, bringing the total to 45 states and territories.
• The U.S. territory of the Northern Mariana Islands recorded another two COVID-19 cases over the weekend, both imported from Guam.
• Govs. Newsom, Brown, and Inslee issued travel advisories urging visitors entering their states (California, Oregon, and Washington) or returning home from travel outside their states to self-quarantine to slow the spread of the virus.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 10,314,254 total cases and 241,069 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Across the U.S., COVID-19 cases are up 41 percent, hospitalizations are up 20 percent and deaths are up 23 percent, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
• The U.S. reported over 143,000 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, breaking yet another single-day record for new cases.
• California reported its millionth coronavirus case on Thursday, joining Texas as one of only two states that have reported one million active cases.
• On Wednesday, 65,368 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, according to The Washington Post, a figure that has doubled in a little over a month.
• Hospitalizations are straining health-care systems across the country. Hospitals in Utah are at 87.5 percent capacity. Hospitals across Wisconsin are canceling elective surgeries and making difficult choices as they cope with an influx of patients. The Mayo Clinic Health System said Wednesday that its hospitals in northwest Wisconsin are at full capacity.
• Aurora Health Care, which operated drive-thru and walk-up COVID-19 testing sites across Wisconsin, announced it was temporarily shutting down all its community testing sites so that the dwindling number of available staffers can focus on “providing patient care at the bedside.”
• In Illinois, the rate of new COVID-19 infections is so high that a group of doctors sent an urgent letter to the governor. “We’re having to almost decide who gets treatment and who doesn’t,” said one of its leaders.
• Schools across the country are grappling with the severe increase in COVID-19 cases. Detroit’s public school system announced on Thursday that it would shift to online, remote learning until January. In Iowa, where cases have nearly tripled over the last two weeks, multiple districts — including Des Moines, West Des Moines and Iowa City — received waivers from the state this week to switch to remote learning. School districts in several cities have put reopening plans on hold, including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Anchorage, and Minneapolis.
• Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday that she will impose a 10-person limit on parties, weddings, and other social events beginning next week.
• A stay-at-home order in El Paso County, Texas, that has faced legal challenges has been extended through Dec. 1. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Wednesday that the state will be sending more personal protective equipment, increasing bed capacity at an alternative care facility, and adding more military personnel as needed in the county.
• To address a shortage in medical staff across the state, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) announced that medical workers who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic should continue working.
• On Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced new COVID-19 mitigation measures. Private indoor and outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people, and gyms, restaurants, and bars must close at 10 PM, though restaurants can provide curbside food pick-up or delivery past 10 PM. The rules take effect Friday night.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) issued a statewide mask mandate and new restrictions on social gatherings, requiring wedding and celebration attendees to remain seated and masked unless actively eating or drinking. In addition, university students will transition to remote learning following Thanksgiving.
• California's Sacramento, San Diego, and Stanislaus counties are moving to the most restrictive COVID-19 tier established by the state which prohibits indoor dining and access to gyms. Los Angeles County is already in the most restrictive tier.
• On Wednesday, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) announced he is extending a mask mandate in three additional counties.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) signed an executive order on Tuesday to reduce the number of people who can gather indoors to 10 people, down from 25, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
• On Tuesday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) extended the state’s public health emergency for 30 days and prohibited gatherings of more than 25 people indoors, or 100 people outdoors, at social, community, recreational, or sporting gatherings, unless all people over the age of 2 wear a mask. Masks are now required to be worn by customers and employees at businesses that provide personal services including salons, barber shops, massage therapy, tattoos, and tanning.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced new COVID-19 restrictions on Tuesday. Starting Friday, there will be a 10-person limit on indoor and outdoor private social gatherings that include a maximum of three households. Receptions for events like funerals and weddings will be limited to 50 people as of Nov. 27, and 25 as of Dec. 11, and will be prohibited from occurring between 10 PM and 4 AM.
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) reimposed COVID-19 restrictions for the first time since the start of the pandemic, reducing indoor dining capacity from 75 percent to 50 percent, urging a 25-person cap on indoor gatherings, and issuing a heighted travel advisory that prohibits nonessential travel to 35 states.
• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) urged residents of their states to stay at home and avoid interactions with others, warning the COVID-19 pandemic in their states has reached crisis levels.
• Rep. Don Young of (R-AK), the oldest member of the House, announced on Thursday he tested positive for COVID-19.
• Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) entered quarantine Thursday after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 9,463,782 total cases and 233,129 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• The U.S. on Wednesday recorded over 100,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day for the first time since the pandemic began. 
• Fifteen states set new daily records for COVID-19 infections Thursday, including Missouri, Washington, Nebraska, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Iowa, and North Dakota.
• The seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases hit record highs in 20 states spanning every region of the country Wednesday, with the largest increases in Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, and Iowa. At least 39 states on Thursday reported a rise in the weekly average of new daily cases.
• Eighteen states — including Kansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Oklahoma, Montana, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Wisconsin, and West Virginia — reported record numbers of patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
• The Dakotas continue to add more new coronavirus cases per capita than any other part of the country — and many areas of the world. In North Dakota, only 12 intensive-care beds were available statewide by Wednesday morning.
• Dozens of Kansas hospitals told the Associated Press that they expect to face staffing shortages next week.
• With new coronavirus infections surging and area hospitals already at capacity, medical examiners in El Paso, Texas, have received a fourth refrigerated morgue to temporarily store bodies, a county official says. Texas has surpassed California in recording the highest number of positive coronavirus tests in the U.S. so far.
• In Oklahoma, where a record 1,026 coronavirus patients were being treated in hospitals Wednesday, doctors called for a statewide mask mandate and warned of an impending crisis.
• After Illinois recorded its second-highest number of new infections on Wednesday, the state’s top public health official warned of a potential hospital bed shortage in some areas.
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) issued an executive order Thursday that requires people to wear face masks in public regardless of the distance they keep from others.
• Gov. Mills also returned the state to lower indoor gathering limits, postponed bar and tasting room re-openings, and removed New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from exempt status under the State’s travel advisory.
• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said Thursday she will institute a media campaign to encourage people to take action to reduce the state's surging number of coronavirus infections but will not impose any mandates or enforce new rules.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed an executive order extending the state’s disaster declaration.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) formally extended the state’s state of emergency.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) told NPR on Wednesday that he wished President Donald Trump had a "more happy relationship with masks." He urged Ohioans to follow restrictions on social distancing and wear face coverings.
• Rhode Island officials announced a series of new steps, including a “stay at home advisory” from 10 PM to 5 PM weeknights and 10:30 PM to 5 AM weekends and limits on hours for restaurants, gyms, and personal-service businesses.
• Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) also tightened the limits on social gatherings, banned spectators at youth sports, limited visits at hospitals and nursing homes, and closed hockey rinks and indoor sports facilities.
• Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) on Thursday loosened some COVID-19 restrictions for businesses but said the state's mask ordinance will remain in force through Dec. 11. The new guidelines remove emergency occupancy rates for retailers, gyms and fitness centers, and entertainment venues. The order also provides an exception to social distancing rules for many businesses, including barber shops, hair salons, gyms, and restaurants if people are wearing masks and separated by an “impermeable” barrier.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy warned the state’s residents on Thursday against unnecessary travel. Gov. Murphy called the statewide positivity rate, which hit 7.74 percent on Saturday, “unacceptable” and said health officials might consider additional measures if it persists.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) released guidelines for schools to reopen in red and orange micro-cluster zones to help keep schools open to in-person instruction. The guidelines require mass testing in schools before they reopen, followed by vigilant symptom and exposure screening conducted daily. Students and faculty must be able to provide a negative COVID-19 test result prior to going back to the classroom. The state will provide rapid test kits for schools wishing to participate.
• Gov. Cuomo also announced new guidelines allowing out-of-state travelers to New York to "test out" of the mandatory 14-day quarantine that became effective Wednesday. Travelers from states that are contiguous with New York and essential workers will continue to be exempt from the travel advisory.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced updates to Oregon’s school metrics that will allow more students to return to classroom instruction with health and safety measures in place.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced the opening of an innovative new laboratory in California that will increase the state’s COVID-19 testing capacity, reduce test turnaround time, and create hundreds of new jobs.
• Superintendents for Los Angeles, Fresno, Long Beach, Oakland, Sacramento City, San Diego, and Santa Ana unified school districts wrote a letter to the governor on Monday calling for common state standards that schools must meet before reopening. Collectively, the districts represent more than one million of California's six million K-12 students.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that his administration is collaborating with the leadership of the Connecticut General Assembly to form a bipartisan working group that will evaluate and address challenges for nursing homes and assisted living facilities that have been revealed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A Connecticut judge rejected an emergency request to strike down the state requirement that children wear masks in schools.
• As rising virus cases create fresh uncertainty in the state, New York is canceling the next round of statewide standardized tests for high school students known as Regents exams, which were scheduled for late January.
• Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City announced on Thursday that local officials were deploying case investigators and setting up more than 10 new testing sites in response to a concerning rise in virus positivity rates on Staten Island.
• An election official who supervised voting in a suburb of St. Louis despite having tested positive for COVID-19 has died, officials there announced on Thursday, raising concerns for 2,000 voters who passed through the site on Election Day.
• The Georgia Department of Public Health on Tuesday made significant additions to its closely watched coronavirus dashboard, adding daily and cumulative antigen positive cases of COVID-19 and a cumulative number of probable deaths linked to the disease.
• Kansas joined the list of 16 states that require travelers from South Dakota to quarantine for 14 days or report a negative COVID-19 test within a specified time frame.

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 8,834,393 total cases and 227,045 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. It is assumed the U.S. has now surpassed the 9 million marker for total cases. 
• Twenty-one states added more cases in the seven-day period ending Wednesday than in any other seven-day stretch of the pandemic.
• In North Dakota, more than 5 percent of the population has now tested positive — the biggest share of any state — as reports of new cases continue to soar. The state has temporarily suspended its contact tracing program and encourages residents who test positive to do their own contact tracing. The exception is for health care settings and K-12 schools and university systems where contact tracing will continue as usual.
• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) said his state is facing an “urgent crisis.” Wisconsin is home to eight of the country’s 15 metro areas with the highest rates of recent cases. More than 200 coronavirus deaths have been announced over the last week in Wisconsin, and as case numbers explode, hospitals have been put under increasing strain.
• Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said today that city employees would get one paid hour off every two weeks, during normal work shifts, to get tested for COVID-19. The share of coronavirus tests coming back positive in Boston increased to 7.8 percent, from 6.2 percent last week.
• Doctors, nurses, health care practitioners, and providers from across New Mexico this week signed an open letter urging New Mexicans to double down on safe practices and personal caution to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect the state’s health care and hospital resources. More than 350 health care workers signed the letter.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) signed a stay-at-home order for Lāna‘i island. Gov. Ige also announced that Japan will be added to Hawai‘i’s pre-travel testing program.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced that COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in Region 11 (Chicago), Region 4 (Metro East), and Region 10 (Suburban Cook County) beginning at 12:01 AM on Friday.
• Gov. Pritzker also announced updated guidance for youth and adult recreational sports, such as school-based sports, travel clubs, private leagues and clubs, recreational leagues and centers, and park district sports programs. Collegiate sports and professional leagues are not impacted by these restrictions.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said that community, long-term care, and school leaders and administrators, as well as Kentucky families in red-zone counties, should prepare a weekly COVID-19 reduction plan based on each Thursday’s incidence rate map.
• In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little (R) on Monday signed a health order that limits indoor and outdoor gatherings, requires bars and nightclubs to offer seating-only service and mandates masks at long-term-care facilities.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued a proclamation and guidance memo clarifying the application of COVID-19 requirements for voters and for voting service operations, including county elections offices, county voting centers, and student engagement HUBs throughout the state.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D), Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D), and Gov. Inslee Joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup, which will independently review the safety and efficacy of any vaccine approved by the FDA for distribution.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said Wednesday he plans to extend Tennessee's State of Emergency at the end of the month due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases and urged Tennesseans to follow COVID-19 safety protocols.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced a substantial list of community testing sites this week. Testing locations include pop-up and Curative trailer sites.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) will begin a voluntary COVID-19 screening program for frontline employees. Under this new initiative, free COVID testing for MTA workers will be offered at rotating field locations and medical assessment and occupational health services centers.
• Gov. Cuomo and his daughter Mariah Kennedy Cuomo announced New York State is partnering with The RealReal and dozens of New York fashion designers to launch "Mask Up", a campaign to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts and remind the public of the need to wear masks.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed an EO that makes slight revisions to the previously enacted travel advisory, most notably the creation of an exemption for the nearby states of New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island from appearing on the list of affected states from which travelers are required to self-quarantine.
• Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York’s regional travel advisory was updated. California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania have been added to the list of impacted locations that meet the metrics to qualify.
• Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe said Wednesday he tested positive for COVID-19. Seven GOP state legislators have also tested positive.
• Los Angeles city and county officials on Tuesday unveiled a rapid COVID-19 testing pilot project aimed at helping first responders and schoolchildren limit coronavirus spread. The pilot will be conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California in conjunction with the city and county. It will make Los Angeles one of the first regions in the country to conduct a large-scale study on both symptomatic and asymptomatic residents using inexpensive antigen tests, which can produce results in minutes rather than days.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 8,617,022 total cases and 224,601 deaths. The CDC data closes out the day before reporting.
• The U.S. hit a record number of daily new COVID-19 cases on Friday, reporting nearly 84,000. More than 41,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 across the country, a 40 percent rise in the past month.
• Some hospitals across the U.S. are in a state of duress. Medical centers in Kansas City, Mo., have turned away ambulances recently because they had no room for more patients. Outside Milwaukee, a new emergency field hospital set up on the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds admitted its first virus patient this week. And a hospital in Idaho reached 99 percent capacity, warning that it may have to transfer COVID-19 patients to hospitals in Seattle, Wa. or Portland, Ore.
• In Utah, the state hospital association warned that if current trends hold, it will soon have to ask the governor to invoke “crisis standards of care” — a triage system that, for example, favors younger patients. Gov. Gary Herbert (R) plans to open a field hospital for overflow patients if hospitals in Salt Lake City become overrun.
• States with low-density populations, such as Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota, now report some of the nation’s highest per capita caseloads. Even Alaska is recording unprecedented increases, including in rural villages.
• As Midwestern states face a staggering surge in cases, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called Monday for a unified, regional approach to addressing the pandemic.
• Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) emphasized the importance of wearing face masks on Sunday after the state broke several daily case count records last week.
• In the face of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the El Paso metropolitan area, local officials are taking drastic action, imposing a two-week stay-at-home order and a 10 PM to 5 AM curfew that took effect Sunday night. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the city has more than tripled over the past three weeks.
• Newark, New Jersey’s largest city, announced an 8 PM daily closing time for all nonessential businesses citywide, beginning Tuesday.
• Just over a quarter of New York City’s public school students have attended in-person classes since the city’s school system reopened last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Monday. More than 500,000 of the 1.1 million children in the system, the nation’s largest, elected to start the year last month with online classes only.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has launched a statewide COVID-19 exposure notification system, in partnership with Google and Apple. Coloradans received a notice on their Android and Apple phones with instructions about how to opt-in.
• California’s San Francisco and Alameda counties have severed ties with COVID-19 testing sites established by Verily, Google’s health-focused sister company, amid concerns about patients’ data privacy and complaints that funding intended to boost testing in low-income Black and Latino neighborhoods instead was benefiting higher-income residents in other communities.
• Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) announced the public can now notify health officials of violations of COVID-19 directives by using the Consumer Complaint Form used to report foodborne illnesses and other public health and safety issues.
• Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed an EO extending the state of emergency due to COVID-19 that has been in place since Mar. 15.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO extending the Public Health Emergency. Gov. Murphy said at a news conference on Monday afternoon that the state was ramping up testing and contact tracing in Newark, and helping the city enforce public health regulations.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that Multnomah County has been added to the County Watch List.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 8,312,667 total cases and 221,438 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting.
• The death toll across the U.S. yesterday – 1,170 people – was the highest in more than a month.
• Over the last five and a half weeks, new cases across the nation have surged by more than 72 percent. Over the past two weeks, 42 states have seen hospitalizations increase by more than five percent.
• Forty-one U.S. states and territories are in an upward trajectory of new infections, while six jurisdictions are at a plateau and seven others are in a downward trend.
• With the U.S. case count and hospitalization rates approaching a third peak, none of the country’s biggest hotspots are currently in a large city. Almost all the counties with the largest outbreaks have populations under 50,000, and most have populations under 10,000. Nearly all are in the Midwest or the Mountain West.
• In Utah, hospitals are overwhelmed and Gov. Gary Herbert (R) is warning that they are experiencing unsustainable stress.
• North Dakota, which has emerged as one of the nation’s worst coronavirus hot spots, is too overwhelmed to do its own contact tracing and is asking patients to do their own. Because of the recent surge, people who test positive for COVID-19 have been waiting an average of three days to learn their results, the North Dakota Department of Health and Gov. Doug Burgum (R) said Tuesday.
• After reporting more than 16,000 coronavirus-related deaths, the Florida Department of Health said yesterday that the fatality data is confusing and warrants a more rigorous review. State officials implied they have overcounted coronavirus-related deaths, citing examples from earlier this week in which fatalities were counted even as months had passed between individuals’ positive tests and their deaths.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced COVID-19 resurgence mitigations will be implemented in in Region 5 (Southern Illinois) beginning Thursday and in Region 7 (Will and Kankakee counties) and 8 (Kane and DuPage counties), beginning Friday.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced that, effective Friday, if a business records four rapid responses in a 14-day period, the business must close for two weeks. The rule applies to food and drink establishments, retail establishments, places of lodging, and close-contact businesses. Also, all retail spaces are to close by 10 PM every night. State-operated museums and historical sites will also close.
• Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) emphasized the need to continue taking precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19. As the state focuses on containing outbreaks in nursing homes, Holcomb said the state will use National Guard troops to work with staff members to help  screen employees and administer tests. Indiana continues to see record numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.
• Kentucky has begun preparing for a surge in coronavirus cases should hospitals reach capacity this fall and winter, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced Tuesday. The state is planning for the potential use of hotels and state parks and ensuring its field hospital is ready to go as case counts continue to rise.
• As cases rise in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a string of new rules Thursday, including requiring nonessential businesses to close from 10 PM to 6 AM.
• Just three days after classrooms reopened for in-person learning, teachers in the Houston Independent School District, the seventh-largest public school system in the nation, staged a “sickout” to protest what they view as insufficient COVID-19 safety procedures.
• Boston halted in-person schooling for students who had returned after the city’s test positivity rate climbed above five percent.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued a proclamation Thursday establishing safety guidelines for higher education institutions and living facilities.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended an EO allowing voluntary or elective surgeries and procedures to proceed under certain conditions.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) on Tuesday doubled down on opposing a statewide mask mandate and instead launching a new ad campaign emphasizing Tennesseans' "choices" about wearing facial coverings and encouraging county officials to impose their own mandatory mask orders in areas where infections are surging.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said she is reviewing her options for implementing a statewide mask mandate,. Gov. Kelly plans to hold a conversation with legislature leadership on creating a bipartisan mask requirement.
• Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Thursday called for all 24 jurisdictions in Maryland to move to the third phase of the state’s coronavirus recovery plan
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) named a group of nationally acclaimed California physician-scientists with expertise in immunization and public health to the state’s COVID-19 Scientific Safety Review Workgroup that will independently review the safety and efficacy of any vaccine that receives FDA approval for distribution.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed eight laws to support the state’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. The new laws establish a formal program for the purchase and distribution of PPE during public health emergencies, require school boards to publicly post their COVID-19 mitigation plans, and require the Board of Health to establish safety protocols for nursing home, hospice, and nursing facility visits.
• Connecticut, New Jersey, And New York’s regional travel advisory was updated: Arizona and Maryland have been added to the list of impacted locations, and no states or territories were removed from the list this week.
• Alabama Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth (R) announced Wednesday he’s tested positive for COVID-19.
• Puerto Rico’s two 911 emergency call centers were shut down Wednesday night after two employees tested positive for COVID-19.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 8,128,524 total cases and 218,986 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting.
• Only two states are showing downward trends in new COVID-19 cases of at least 10 percent compared to the previous week — Hawaii and Vermont. Twenty-seven states are showing upward trends, and 21 states are showing steady trends.
• On Monday, Florida reported fewer than 2,000 new daily coronavirus cases for the first time in a week, according to the Department of Health.
• The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that 34 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for COVID-19.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Monday announced the state will independently review the safety of any FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine before it is distributed in the state.
• Of the 50 largest school districts across the country, 24 have resumed in-person classes for large groups of students, and 11 others plan to in the coming weeks. An additional four have opened, or plan to open, for small groups of students who need extra attention.
• Contact tracing revealed two out of three Chicagoans who tested positive for COVID-19 contracted the virus from someone they know, according to Dr. Allison Arwady, the Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner.
• In response to a startling rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Amarillo and Lubbock areas, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Friday that the state is sending additional medical resources to those areas.
• Eighteen outbreaks of COVID-19 stemming from church services have been reported in parts of West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice (R) said.
• On Friday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced the launch of New Jersey’s COVID-19 Transparency website, providing oversight and public confidence in the expenditure of federal recovery funds as the State continues to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that the state will withhold funds for localities and schools in COVID-19 cluster zones that fail to enforce public health laws.
• Gov. Cuomo also announced that the state will provide 200,000 rapid test kits to New York City schools in "Yellow Zones,” that movie theaters outside of New York City can reopen at 25 percent capacity under state guidance starting Oct. 23, and that ski resorts can reopen with 50 percent indoor capacity and with strict health and safety protocols starting Nov. 6.
• Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) on Friday announced four steps that will go into effect Wednesday and stay in place at least through Nov. 30. Hospitals will need to protect 10 percent of their bed and intensive care availability to leave room for incoming COVID-19 patients. Indoor occupancy limits will be reduced from 75 percent to 50 percent, and individual groups at a gathering will be limited to eight per party. People patronizing bars and restaurants must remain seated, with table sizes limited to eight people. Wedding and funeral receptions must limit table sizes to eight people.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended an EO increasing the Medicaid home health workforce and eliminating cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for Medicaid enrollees.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) announced Monday that a mask mandate will be reinstated for nine counties in an effort to combat the rise of COVID-19 cases in the state. In addition, hospitals where elective procedures and surgeries are performed must reserve at least 10 percent of their available beds to care for COVID-19 patients. If they can't, all elective procedures in those hospitals must be delayed. The EO also limits outdoor social gatherings to 50 people and indoor social gatherings to groups of 10 people.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s (D) COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group held its first meeting last week. The group was created to advise the administration on preparations for a COVID-19 vaccine, including the optimization of a statewide vaccine distribution strategy, and communicating critical medical information about the vaccine with the state’s residents.
• Connecticut’s Department of Public Health launched a new weekly, color-coded COVID-19 alert map for every city and town in the state, identifying the average daily case rate per 100,000 population over the last two weeks. The new weekly alert level is also accompanied by municipal-level guidance on recommended actions for individual residents, institutions such as schools, houses of worship, community organizations, municipal leaders, and local health directors.
• Hawaii’s “Safe Travels Hawai’i” program has officially launched. Under the Safe Travels Hawai‘i program, travelers now have the option of taking a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test from a trusted testing partner, and if given a negative result for COVID-19, allowed to bypass the state’s 14-day mandatory quarantine.
• Organizers of the South Carolina State Fair will host the first ever drive-thru state fair this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The drive-thru fair is expected to start on Tuesday and will go through Wednesday.
• A judge in Wisconsin ruled to uphold Gov. Tony Evers's EO that limits public gatherings to 25 percent of a building or room’s capacity.
• The surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is so severe in the Kansas City area that some hospitals have been forced to refuse ambulances due to a lack of space.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 7,894,768 total cases and 216,025 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Some sources are now reporting that the U.S. has reached the 8 million case mark. 
• The U.S. topped 61,000 new coronavirus cases today, the highest daily count since reporting more than 66,000 cases on July 31.
• Seventeen states are seeing surges unlike anything they experienced earlier in the pandemic. States including Alaska, Minnesota, Montana, and Wisconsin reported more new cases during the seven-day stretch that ended on Wednesday than in any other week since the virus arrived in the country.
• Reports of new cases are trending upward in 41 states over the last two weeks, while nine states are holding case numbers roughly steady. No state in the country is seeing a sustained decline.
• Officials in El Paso, Texas, announced new activity restrictions to slow the spread of the virus as new cases and hospitalizations rose to an all-time high.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced the state of New Mexico will implement, and in some cases re-implement, several public health regulations later in the week to stem the alarming rise of COVID-19 illnesses statewide. The governor also reiterated her stark warnings from recent weeks – as COVID-19 infections have spread rapidly throughout all regions of the state, including an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations – that New Mexico may in the near future be compelled to re-enact even more stringent public health controls.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) signed a 14th supplementary emergency proclamation that extends the COVID-19 emergency period through Nov. 30 and announced that the state has arranged nearly 200 contact tracers to aid DOH in tracing any travel-related infections.
• Gov. Ige announced additional details of the pre-travel testing program, which is set to launch Thursday. All counties will be participating in the pre-travel testing program, which allows travelers to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine, though there will be different rules in different counties.
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) has extended current COVID-19 public health orders through the end of October, according to an Oct. 14 press release.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced the expansion of the state’s saliva testing program, including the opening of new saliva testing sites and a pilot of the mail-order program. Gov. Walz also extended the state’s COVID-19 peacetime emergency.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said today that it is not the right time to lift the state's 10 PM last call rule at bars. On Thursday, more than 20 Ohio senators announced they are backing a new bill to eliminate the curfew and end disciplinary action against bars and restaurants found to have violated that rule.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed an EO permitting municipal authority to revert to the more restrictive pre-Oct. 8, 2020 size and capacity limitations and rules for certain businesses and gatherings.
• Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) announced during a news conference Tuesday afternoon he will extend the state’s emergency declaration for another 60 days.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO allowing the resumption of contact practices and competitions in indoor settings for organized sports defined as “medium risk” and “high risk” by the New Jersey Department of Health’s “Guidance for Sports Activities.”
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced that the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services has partnered with a Minnesota-based supply company to launch an online order portal available to adult care homes across the state to procure PPE and infection control supplies during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
• Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York’s regional travel advisory was updated: Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia have been added to the list of impacted locations that meet the metrics to qualify, and no states or territories were removed from the list this week.
• Missouri’s COVID-19 dashboard is back up and running after being down for several days. The Department of Health and Senior Services said on Wednesday evening it completed resolving a data extract issue in reporting of COVID-19 cases, tests, and deaths. It said an error in how data was being exported caused inaccurate reporting on Oct. 10.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) is quarantining after a member of his executive security detail tested positive for COVID-19, the governor’s office said Wednesday.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 7,787,548 total cases and 214,446 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. The 7-day average of new cases in the U.S. is now over 50,000.
• Since Saturday, more than 20 states have hit a new high in their seven-day average of reported case counts, and more than half of those states set records again today.
• North Dakota and South Dakota are reporting more new cases per person than any state has previously.
• More than 100 of New Jersey’s long-term care facilities experienced fresh coronavirus outbreaks this summer or fall after they were declared free of the virus. Eleven of those facilities had residents or staff members die in the new round of increased spread.
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced that Region 4, the Metro East, will return to Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois Plan.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) amended and extended an EO requiring mask-wearing indoors to help stop the spread of the virus.
• Gov. Polis also extended an EO allowing for the operation of alternate care sites in response to COVID-19.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced the members he is appointing to serve on the Governor’s COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group. The group will be responsible for advising the governor on preparations for a COVID-19 vaccine, including the optimization of a statewide vaccine distribution strategy, and communicating critical medical information about the vaccine with the state’s residents.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that COVID-19 rapid result testing will be made available to every county in New York State. The New York State Department of Health will deploy an initial 400,000 rapid result test kits free of charge to local health departments, hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care providers to help increase access in all corners of New York State to free COVID-19 tests that can be done within 15 minutes and without having to send a specimen to a lab. DOH will prioritize the distribution of testing kits to counties and local health care providers in areas seeing a recent uptick in cases.
• Last week, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced that Louisiana will stay in Phase 3, keeping its strong COVID-19 mitigation measures, including a continued statewide mask mandate, in place for another 28 days.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 7,528,313 total cases and 211,132 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Half of all states are reporting an uptick in new COVID-19 cases. Only three states — Hawaii, Iowa, and South Carolina — report a decline in cases over the past week.
• Six states — Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming — set records for coronavirus-related hospitalizations on Tuesday, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. A seventh, Oklahoma, reported its highest count of hospitalizations since late July.
• Hospitalizations for the virus in North Dakota, which have risen abruptly, are forcing health care officials in some towns to send people to faraway hospitals, even across state lines to Montana and South Dakota.
• Utah heath officials said hospitals and healthcare systems are becoming strained under COVID-19 caseloads as current hospitalizations continue rising. Thursday, Utah had 237 people hospitalized for COVID-19 which is another record for current hospitalizations in any given day.
• The Nevada COVID-19 Task Force today loosened the standards for testing levels and test positivity rates that counties must meet to stay off the state’s watch list. Counties can now conduct a third fewer COVID-19 tests,  dropping from 150 tests per day per 100,000 residents to the new standard of 100 per day. The test positivity threshold will go from 7 percent to 8 percent.
• Hawaii is preparing to loosen some of the strict pandemic restrictions that have hammered its tourism industry, including the requirement that arriving travelers spend 14 days in quarantine. Starting on Oct. 15, travelers will be allowed to skip the quarantine if they can show a negative virus test result from an approved source, taken no more than 72 hours before arrival.
• Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York’s regional travel advisory was updated: New Mexico has been added to the list of impacted locations that meet the metrics to qualify, and no states or territories were removed.
• A total of 169 public school sites are now closed in areas where there are clusters of COVID-19 cases in New York City, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
• Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) said Thursday he's keeping the state’s current coronavirus restrictions on businesses and activities in place for another month. In September, state Republican lawmakers convened a special session, hoping to undo many or all of the governor’s restrictions.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Wednesday that bars can reopen next week at 50 percent capacity if counties opt in.
• On Wednesday, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced health officials would open a field hospital at the Wisconsin State Fair Park just outside of Milwaukee to handle the number of new COVID-19 cases that are starting to “overwhelm” hospitals in the state. The number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have nearly tripled in the past month, surging to 853 from 289 in early September.
• Gov. Evers also directed the Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm to issue Emergency Order #3, limiting public gatherings to no more than 25 percent of a room or building’s total occupancy.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) told reporters Tuesday he does not want to shut down the state’s economy again and doesn’t believe a shutdown is on the horizon.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) extended the state’s mask mandate for 30 days.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended the Protect Our Neighbors EO. Polis also extended an EO expanding the health care workforce for hospitals and other inpatient treatment facilities.
• Most new cases of COVID-19 in Ohio are coming from “everyday activities” and slipping vigilance, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Thursday afternoon. The Ohio Department of Health reported 1,539 new COVID-19 diagnoses, 13 new deaths, and 109 new hospitalizations on Thursday.
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced that Maine will move into Stage 4 of the Plan to Restart Maine’s Economy beginning Oct. 13.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced several updates to Washington's Safe Start reopening plan. The changes seek to align guidance and adjustments to regulations of several industries. Inslee also announced the extension of 26 proclamations today in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) announced the Healing Illinois initiative in response to the racial disparities highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced a plan to deploy a huge influx of rapid COVID-19 tests from the federal government. Oregon will be receiving 60,000 to 80,000 COVID-19 rapid tests per week until the end of the year.
• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced Wednesday morning that 60,000 antigen test kits, provided by the federal government, are now at the State Hygienic Lab. Her team will prioritize rural hospitals and clinics when sending out the tests, she said.
• A member of California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) office staff tested positive for COVID-19 and contact tracing has begun, the office said Wednesday.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 7,396,730 total cases and 209,199 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Only three states – Texas, Missouri, and South Carolina – are reporting a decline in new COVID-19 cases compared to last week, as the country hit its highest daily rate of new cases in almost two months.
• More than 3,000 new cases were announced in Wisconsin in a single day for the first time. The state set also single-day records for deaths and hospitalizations. Its test positivity rate reached 20 percent, a loud signal that the outbreak in the state has spun out of control.
• State health officials in New Jersey have contacted more than 200 people who attended a campaign fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster on Thursday, hours before the president announced he had COVID-19, as they try to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves’s (R) Safe Recovery EO will be in effect until Nov. 11. While a statewide mask mandate is no longer in effect, the EO will require teachers and students to wear masks at school, and will require fans to wear masks at sporting events. Restrictions on bars and restaurants remain the same. The EO does ease some restrictions, such as increasing attendance at K-12 extracurricular activities to fifty percent of seating capacity.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is refusing to allow New York City to close nonessential businesses in nine hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens where the coronavirus has spiked, pre-empting a plan announced the day before by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the Commissioner of Health will send an order to COVID-19 hot spot local governments today establishing a framework for reporting their enforcement activities and setting specific consequences for failure to enforce the State Department of Health Emergency Regulations and the governor's EOs related to social distancing, mask compliance, and capacity limitations. If local governments do not enforce these legally binding requirements, they will be in violation of the order and can be subject to fines.
• Schools in nine New York City Zip codes where coronavirus positivity rates have increased will close tomorrow, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today, just days after the city reopened all of its public schools.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) extended his state of emergency declaration by 30 days.
• Gov. Carney (D) also announced pop-up school testing locations as many schools prepare to return to school for in-person learning as part of their hybrid return-to-school plan.
• After testing positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 23, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) and First Lady Teresa Parson have both fully recovered and returned to their regular schedules.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an EO moving the Upper Peninsula region back to phase 4 of the MI Safe Start Plan.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced that he will be issuing an emergency directive lifting restrictions on youth and adult sports and adjusting the COVID-19 statewide guidance on sports. The new directive and accompanying guidance will allow for practice, training and competitions for non-contact and minimal-contact sports statewide for both youth and adult sports.
• San Francisco will start offering free COVID-19 testing to children on Tuesday in the city’s well-known Mission District to curtail health and financial disparities. California’s new health equity metric determines how different counties are able to reopen. Those with glaring disparities among neighborhoods might not be allowed to move forward with reopening and must vow to move resources for testing and contact tracing into neighborhoods deeply impacted by the coronavirus.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 7,260,465 total cases and 207,302 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced the Just Recovery for Racial Equity initiative. Just Recovery will identify and support strategies for responding to COVID-19, recovery, and building resilience in communities of color by partnering with community-based organizations and local groups, including other government and social service agencies. All media, outreach, and educational materials will be developed in multiple languages and will be distributed simultaneously with English language materials.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced that the Virginia Open Data Portal now includes more than a dozen new COVID-19 datasets from the Virginia Department of Health.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced that COVID Alert DE and PA will expand its reach to New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) yesterday announced the launch of COVID-19 exposure notification mobile apps in their respective states that will serve as crucial tools to supplement the effort to trace and contact individuals subject to a COVID exposure.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced that North Carolina will ease cautiously some restrictions while continuing safety measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 as the state’s metrics remained stable in September. 
• Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that his administration has launched a variety of new resources to support those who need to isolate or self-quarantine due to COVID-19.
• Health departments in Connecticut, Kentucky, Illinois, and Rhode Island all released guidance for trick-or-treating.

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 6,571,867 total cases and 197,116 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Nevada's COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force approved lifting previous restrictions on bars, pubs, breweries, distilleries, wineries, taverns, and bar areas within restaurants in Clark County and Elko County, effective Sunday, September 20.
• California’s Department of Public Health has recalled more than 10 million N95 respirator masks after learning they had not cleared a national certification process. More than seven million of the masks had already been distributed to frontline workers.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced the state will update its guidance within the emergency public health order to permit small groups in exercise settings and safe outdoor activities for New Mexicans.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced updated guidance for weddings and funerals as part of Washington's Safe Start phased reopening plan. 
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced that beginning on October 5, North Carolina public school districts and charter schools can choose to implement Plan A for elementary schools (grades K-5). Plan A continues to include important safety measures like face coverings for all students, teachers, and staff, social distancing, and symptom screening but does not require schools to reduce the number of children in the classroom.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that Washington and Oregon, members of the Western States Pact, will participate with California in piloting a project to test promising exposure notification technology. These states join other members of the Western States Pact, Colorado, and Nevada, along with states and universities across the country, in piloting this technology.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) announced plans for a Hawai‘i pre-travel testing program that gives travelers the option of possibly avoiding 14-day-long quarantine upon arrival to the state.
• Almost 1,000 Las Vegas casino employees have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than half are employees of Wynn Resorts.
• U.S. customs officials in Boston seized a trove of some 20,400 counterfeit N95 respirator masks from Hong Kong this month.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 6,571,867 total cases and 195,053 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Wyoming announced more than 120 new cases, far and away state’s highest daily total during the pandemic.
• New Jersey and New York's regional travel advisory was updated. Puerto Rico was added to the list, and California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio were removed.
• New York state's COVID-19 positivity rate rose above 1 percent this week for the first time in more than a month.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced that the state would be implementing a new framework that allows counties to reopen their economies to the fullest extent possible while protecting their communities. This tool will provide transparency and predictability for local governments and allow for a visual representation of a county’s success in suppressing the virus.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order that authorizes the commissioner of Public Health, local health departments, municipal chief elected officers, and state and local police to issue fines for violations of certain COVID-19 protective measures. Violations include failing to wear a mask or cloth face covering as required, organizing, hosting, or sponsoring a gathering that violates the gathering size restrictions, and attending a gathering that violates the gathering size restrictions.
• Gov. Lamont also signed an EO that modifies the state’s previously issued self-quarantine and travel advisory order for people arriving to Connecticut from impacted states, expanding the testing exemption to all travelers who test negative for COVID-19 in the 72 hours prior to arrival.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) launched COVID Alert DE – a mobile app that will help Delaware fight community spread of COVID-19. The free mobile app – available to anyone 18 or older who lives, works, or attends college in Delaware – uses Bluetooth technology from Google and Apple to securely and anonymously alert users who have been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed an emergency regulation to support widespread immunization efforts to help the State prepare for a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The regulation, approved and requested by the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy, authorizes pharmaceutical technicians with appropriate training to administer immunizations under the direct supervision of a pharmacist.
• Mayor Carlos Gimenez of Miami-Dade County, Florida, said he would allow the staggered opening of additional indoor spaces. Starting Friday, movie theaters, bowling alleys, banquet halls, and a few other venues will be allowed to open at half-capacity as long as they require masks and social distancing and meet certain ventilation requirements.
• A wedding in Maine in early August only had 65 guests but has been linked to seven deaths 175 cases of COVID-19. Six of the people who have died had no connection to the wedding.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 6,503,030 total cases and 193,705 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• South Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Pamela Evette, has tested positive for COVID-19. She reports that she has only had mild symptoms and began quarantining last week.
• States that reopened bars have experienced a doubling in the rate of cases after three weeks.
• Statewide data in Michigan show 280 COVID-19 infections linked to several school clusters.
• Wisconsin is reporting its highest level of new daily cases during the pandemic, averaging more than 1,000 new cases a day over the last week. The increases are largely tied to college towns.
• Los Angeles began its sweeping initiative to test and screen all 700,000 students and 75,000 employees in the Los Angeles public schools. Officials reported five cases last week out of more than 5,400 children and adults tested.
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that about 17,000 public school staff members have been tested ahead of the first day of school on September 21, and 55 have tested positive for COVID-19. Starting in October, the city will require monthly, random testing of 10 to 20 percent of students and staff members in all school buildings.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed an EO extending the COVID-19 peacetime emergency.
• The Illinois Department of Public Health reported that 30 counties in the state are considered to be at a warning level for COVID-19.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended his EO directing Coloradans to wear a face mask.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) also extended the mask mandate in his state.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) announced updated guidance for indoor fitness and training facilities as part of Washington's Safe Start phased reopening plan.
• A federal judged ruled recent EO's by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to be unconstitutional. The orders placed size limits on indoor gatherings and closed non-essential businesses.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced that the state will shift COVID-19 testing from mobile to fixed sites beginning Monday, September 14. The transition to more permanent, fixed testing sites will expand testing opportunities and provide more testing locations across the state.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that his administration, working in collaboration with Spectra Venue Management services, has reached an agreement with Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC to play its home games this season at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 6,381,013 total cases and 191,353 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• In open defiance of the governor's orders, Des Moines, Iowa, schools began this week by teaching remotely. The decision puts the district’s funding and administrators’ jobs in jeopardy, leaves students locked out of athletics, and leaves their parents uncertain whether online classes will even count.
• Oregon officials are having to figure out how to evacuate incarcerated individuals out of the way of the fires while also mitigating COVID-19 risks.
• Halsey Beshears, Florida’s secretary for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Tweeted yesterday that the state would allow bars to operate at half capacity starting Monday. He rescinded an EO from June that had banned drinking at bars as the state experienced a surge.
• Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez reopened beaches to everyone, and authorized the reopening of gyms, movie theaters, and casinos at 25 percent capacity.
• California's Supreme Court refused to overturn Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) directives limiting in-classroom instruction to slow the spread of COVID-19.
• Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced that Louisiana will move into phase three today.
• Nevada's COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force approved allowing bars in the City of Pahrump and in Washoe County to reopen following the statewide mitigation and enforcement measures.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced indoor dining in New York City will be allowed to resume beginning September 30th with a 25 percent occupancy limit. All restaurants that choose to reopen will be subject to strict safety protocols, including temperature checks, contact information for tracing, face coverings when not seated, and other safety protocols. Bar service will not be permitted, and restaurants will close at midnight.
  • MTA has also been authorized to fine those not wearing masks on public transportation.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced that, due to significantly improved health metrics in the Eastern Region, localities in Hampton Roads will join the rest of the Commonwealth in Phase Three of the “Forward Virginia” plan to ease public health restrictions while mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed an executive order facilitating learning pods due to the presence of COVID-19.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) received her flu shot and emphasized that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now more important than ever for all Kansans to get a flu shot.
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), are asking all Georgians - especially those who may have participated in large gatherings over the Labor Day holiday weekend - to schedule a COVID-19 test at one of the Georgia Department of Public Health's more than 180 testing locations.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 6,310,663 total cases and 189,147 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Other entities are now reporting over 190,000 deaths in the U.S.
• Iowa and South Dakota seem to have emerged as the new hotspots in the U.S.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended the disaster declaration and employment of the Colorado National Guard to support and provide planning resources to state and local authorities responding to COVID-19.
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) extended the State of Civil Emergency through October 1, 2020.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) approved another two-week extension of the “State-at-Home, Work-at-Home” order for the City and County of Honolulu, which will now end September 24.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) extended the commonwealth’s mandate for face coverings in some situations for another 30 days.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said indoor dining in New York City will return with limits on September 30.
• Arizona reported its lowest number of new cases since late March.
• For the first time in almost sixmonths, Navajo Nation authorities reported no new cases of COVID-19.
• The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health banned haunted house attractions and said door-to-door trick-or-treating is not recommended.
• A group of gym and boutique fitness studio owners announced a class-action lawsuit on Wednesday against Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City to allow indoor group fitness classes to reopen in the city. While gyms in New York were allowed to open back in August, indoor boutique studios and group classes, like Pilates, Zumba, and yoga have remained banned.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 6,087,403 total cases and 185,092 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Other entities, such as Johns Hopkins, are now reporting over 6 million cases in the U.S.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an EO opening gyms, fitness centers, pools, and other sports facilities. The order also allows organized sports to resume, although the state recommends against contact sports like football, soccer, and basketball.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said malls in New York City and casinos across the state will be allowed to reopen on September 9 at 50 percent capacity. Both will have to have specialized air conditioning systems capable of filtering out virus particles.
• Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie issued a mask mandate for his city last week.
• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced that the state will take a "modest" step forward and move into Phase 2.5 starting this Friday at 5 pm. Mask mandates and other prevention methods will remain in effect.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO increasing the limits for indoor religious services or celebrations, political activities, wedding ceremonies, funerals, or memorial services to 25 percent capacity with a maximum of 150 people. Other indoor gatherings, including house parties, remain at the limit of 25 percent capacity with a maximum of 25 people.
• Nevada’s coronavirus task force voted to allow some restaurants in the Las Vegas area to reopen next week.
• Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) said that, in the month of August alone, nearly 7,000 people in Missouri in the 18-24 age group tested positive for COVID-19.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that the state has formed a rapid response team to do testing in schools and childcare facilities in case of potential COVID-19 infections or outbreaks.

• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 5,972,356 total cases and 182,622 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. Other entities, such as Johns Hopkins, are now reporting over 6 million cases in the U.S.
• Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and the Dakotas all added more cases in a recent seven-day stretch than in any previous week of the pandemic.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) unveiled the Blueprint for a Safer Economy, a statewide, stringent, and slow plan for living with COVID-19 for the long haul. The plan imposes risk-based criteria on tightening and loosening COVID-19 allowable activities and expands the length of time between changes to assess how any movement affects the trajectory of the disease.
• The Illinois Department of Public Health has reported that 30 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for COVID-19. A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
• New Mexico's Department of Health has published a 21-page overview document providing guidance on COVID-19, Policies for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in New Mexico. It is intended as a resource for members of the public, health care providers, and employers who may have general questions about COVID-19 and the recommended guidance in responding to and protecting against the virus.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that two counties—Hood River and Multnomah—have succeeded in reducing the spread of COVID-19 sufficiently enough to be removed from the County Watch List. No counties have been added this week. This brings the total number of counties on the Watch List to six.
• Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) signed an EO extending the Phase 3 pandemic restrictions another 30 days, until September 28. It includes a 15-person limit on social gatherings, though indoor gatherings can have 50 people and outdoor gatherings 100 if they are held at a restaurant or are catered and follow the rules for restaurants to keep parties apart and having patrons wear masks when not seated.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) deployed a SWAT team to SUNY Oneonta to contain a COVID-19 cluster that has developed there. The State team will include 71 contact tracers and eight case investigators. New York State will also open three free, rapid testing sites in the city of Oneonta. The sites will be open to all city residents by appointment, and results come back in 15 minutes.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) extended the statewide mask mandate for an additional two weeks until September 14.
• Starting Friday, New Jersey movie theaters and other indoor performance venues can reopen with limits for the first time since the middle of March, and restaurants can open for indoor dining at 25 percent of capacity.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 5,799,046 total cases and 178,998 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• Guam is now leading all 50 states and U.S. territories after seven weeks of new COVID-19 case highs.
• As Hurricane Laura batters Louisiana and Texas, health officials are trying to shelter evacuees while keeping them safe from COVID-19.
• Following big increases in daily average numbers of new cases, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) ordered all bars, taverns, wineries, breweries, distilleries, and night clubs closed in six counties. They will not be able to reopen until September 20.
• Gov. Cuomo said colleges in New York must move classes online for two weeks if they report 100 cases or a number of cases equal to 5 percent of their on-campus population, whichever is lower, over two weeks.
• Gov. Cuomo also said the state is reviewing when it will allow malls to reopen and indoor dining to resume in New York City, as well as when to let casinos and movie theaters reopen across the state.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said her state had reached an "unfortunate milestone" by reporting at least one case of COVID-19 in every county.
• Iowa's health department confirmed the state's first death of a child from COVID-19 complications in a news release this week. The child, who was under the age of 5 and died in June, had underlying health conditions.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige approved a new “Stay-at-Home, Work-at-Home” order for the City and County of Honolulu that goes into effect on Thursday for the following two weeks.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) signed a modification to his state of emergency declaration, formalizing new face-covering requirements for children.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 5,682,491 total cases and 176,223 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that school principals can apply by this Friday to create outdoor classes in their schoolyards. The city’s public school system, the nation’s largest, is scheduled to reopen in just under three weeks in a hybrid model, not leaving much time to move classroom infrastructure outdoors.
• Residents in Danbury, Connecticut are being urged to stay home when possible and limit gatherings after new cases jumped sharply there in the first 20 days of August.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said new COVID-19 testing sites will be set up at LaGuardia and Kennedy airports for many out-of-state travelers.
• Gov. Cuomo also said today that school-sponsored sports that are considered “lower risk,” such as tennis, soccer, cross country, field hockey, and swimming, can practice and play with limits starting September 21.
• Louisiana has had to shut down testing sites as they brace for multiple tropical storms.
• A judge in Florida has blocked the state-wide mandate that said schools who do not offer in-person instruction would not receive government funding.
• Cases in both Florida and Texas have passed 600,000, a milestone previously only reached by California.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) unveiled the state’s new enhanced online data tool.
• Connecticut's Department of Aging and Disability Services released a document providing guidance for senior centers that will allow for the safe reopening of their facilities. The guidance was developed in partnership with senior centers, municipalities, and state and local health representatives. It is intended to provide senior centers with the discretion to expand the virtual programs and services that they have been providing during the pandemic beginning September 1.
• A wedding reception in Maine led to at least 53 people being infected with COVID-19, officials with the Maine CDC reported over the weekend.
• Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are 5,382,125 total cases and 169,350 deaths The CDC data closes out the day before reporting. 
• COVID-19 is now the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) announced four million free masks will be provided to the state's most vulnerable residents, through a partnership with Ford Motor Company and FEMA. The measure is part of Michigan's "Mask up Michigan" campaign, and masks will be distributed to schools, homeless shelters, and seniors.
• Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and the Illinois Department of Public Health announced new COVID-19 mitigation efforts that will be implemented in the Metro East area beginning tomorrow. Region 4 is now reporting three consecutive days of a test positivity rate of 8 percent or higher, triggering implementation of mitigation efforts as outlined in the state's COVID-19 Mitigation Plan.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed a directive formally adopting the Road to Recovery: Moving to A New Normal plan, which was announced publicly on August 3, and outlined the state’s transition to a long-term, focused mitigation strategy moving forward. The hallmark of the New Normal Plan is utilizing targeted strategic mitigation measures at the county level using State and local data and assessments to best help slow the spread of COVID-19 within those specific communities.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended and amended the EO requiring Coloradans to wear face masks.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced bowling alleys throughout New York will be allowed to reopen starting Monday with strict safety protocols in place. Gov. Cuomo also noted that gyms could be able to open as soon as next week.
• Utahans have a higher risk of infecting or becoming infected with COVID-19 in their own homes, according to a new analysis of data from the Utah Department of Health. About 38 percent of the state’s new cases have resulted from transmissions among family members and or roommates.
• In Georgia, more counties and cities are eyeing mask mandates after Gov. Brian Kemp (R) this weekend ended his blanket ban on local officials imposing their own rules.
• In Texas, a coding error left about 59,000 Walgreens COVID-19 tests uncounted according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
• Principals of New York City's public schools say they need more than the two work days the city has allotted for them to meet with teachers in September in order to make decisions about staffing. About 50 school leaders signed a letter that called for a delay to in-person instruction until the end of September and included a detailed plan for how to phase children into schools over the course of the fall, starting with young children.
• Mayor Carlos Gimenez of Miami-Dade County, Florida, said that he has been holding near-weekly phone meetings with Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami and federal health officials Drs. Jerome Adams, Deborah Birx, and Tony Fauci to talk about the virus in their region.

• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), are asking all Georgians - especially those who may have participated in large gatherings over the Labor Day holiday weekend - to schedule a COVID-19 test at one of the Georgia Department of Public Health's more than 180 testing locations.
• CDC Director Robert Redfield said Thursday that states in the South have begun “to turn the tide” on the coronavirus pandemic and predicted the country could bring it under control with basic measures of mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing.
• Utahans have a higher risk of infecting or becoming infected with COVID-19 in their own homes, according to a new analysis of data from the Utah Department of Health. About 38 percent of the state’s new cases have resulted from transmissions among family members and or roommates.
• In Georgia, more counties and cities are eyeing mask mandates after Gov. Brian Kemp (R) this weekend ended his blanket ban on local officials imposing their own rules.
• In Texas, a coding error left about 59,000 Walgreens COVID-19 tests uncounted according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
• Principals of New York City's public schools say they need more than the two work days the city has allotted for them to meet with teachers in September in order to make decisions about staffing. About 50 school leaders signed a letter that called for a delay to in-person instruction until the end of September and included a detailed plan for how to phase children into schools over the course of the fall, starting with young children.
• Mayor Carlos Gimenez of Miami-Dade County, Florida, said that he has been holding near-weekly phone meetings with Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami and federal health officials Drs. Jerome Adams, Deborah Birx, and Tony Fauci to talk about the virus in their region.
• Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said travelers should quarantine for 14 days if they arrive from 27 “high-risk” states that meet certain criteria, including California, Florida, and Texas. Residents from Maryland and Virginia are exempted from the order.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) signed a modification to his State of Emergency declaration, allowing driver education services to resume immediately, with safety measures in place to prevent transmission of COVID-19. Gov. Carney’s modification also allows senior centers to open with safety precautions at 30 percent capacity.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed an EO extending the temporary suspension of certain regulatory statutes due to COVID-19, including statutory license limitations for breweries, wineries, distilleries, and retailers licensed for on-premises alcohol consumption.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a new program, Housing for the Harvest, that will provide safe, temporary isolation spaces for agricultural and farmworkers who test positive or were exposed to the virus, which limits the risk of spreading COVID-19 to their coworkers or households. The program will operate in partnership with counties and local partners in the Central Valley, Central Coast, and Imperial Valley – the regions with the highest number of agricultural workers.
• California has surpassed New York for the most reported cases.
• North Dakota reported its single-day record for cases, with 160 while Alabama reported its single-day record for deaths, with more than 60.
• Hawai‘i Gov. David Ige (D) confirmed the state’s plans to move ahead with school reopening for students on Tuesday, August 4th. Teachers return on Wednesday, July 29th.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed EO's that outline mitigation procedures that schools must take to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Kansas students and teachers.
• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) extended the pause on evictions and foreclosures for 60 days, until October 17th, during the COVID-19 Emergency.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended an EO increasing the Medicaid home health workforce and eliminating cost sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for Medicaid enrollees.
• Gov. Tim Walz (R) in Minnesota said he would mandate masks in public starting Saturday, and added that the state would provide masks to individuals in underserved areas.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) issued a state-wide mask mandate effective tomorrow.
• Multiple states, including Kansas, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Wisconsin,Missouri, and Alaska, reported single-day highs for cases.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said the state’s plan for reopening schools will give parents the option to choose an entirely online option if they’re concerned about COVID-19.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that hair salons and barbershops in 33 counties may now reopen outside under new guidance from the state.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) limited social gatherings to 10 people.
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) reported COVID-19 outbreaks in seven churches across the state.
• ICU bed capacity in Florida's Miami-Dade County is at 130 percent.
• Minnesota reported its COVID-19-related death of a child under the age of five.
• Chicago, Illinois is rolling back some of the original reopening rules. Starting Friday, Chicago bars will once again be banned from serving alcohol indoors; services like shaves and facials that require people to take off their masks will be banned; indoor fitness classes will be limited to 10 people; and property managers will be asked to limit guests to five per unit to prevent parties.
• Gwinnett County Public Schools, the largest school district in Georgia, said that classes will begin on August 12th with online-only instruction.
• Cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. continue to surge, with multiple states setting daily case and death records.
• New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) has re-enacted restrictions on indoor seating at restaurants and breweries. The Governor also tightened restrictions on gyms and other close contact businesses.
• Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) announced a mandatory mask requirement and ordered bars in the state to close to on-premises consumption. The Governor also limited indoor social gathering to 50 people and will keep Louisiana in Phase Two of its reopening.
• Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced new requirements for face coverings and limits on social gatherings.
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) ordered bars in Monongalia County to close for 10 days in response to a spike in coronavirus cases.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ordered all counties in the state to close indoor activities at restaurants, bars, wineries, tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, and museums.
• Texas and Florida both surpassed 200,000 total cases over the weekend.

• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) directed Texans in all counties with 20 or more COVID-19 cases to wear face masks in public places. Sheriffs of Gillespie and Montgomery Counties have sad they do not intend to comply or enforce the order.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said the state is pausing its move to phase three of their reopening plan. Bars will remain closed and restaurants can only open at 50 percent capacity.
• Florida's Miami-Dade County will shut down restaurants and gyms starting Wednesday.
• West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) signed an EO requiring adults and children over nine years to wear a face covering in places where social distancing is not possible.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued a brief extension of the Safe Start proclamation until July 9th.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said today that the state will be cracking down on businesses that violate virus-related restrictions. Authorities inspected nearly 6,000 businesses over the holiday weekend and than 50 were cited.
• Cases in California increased by 45 percent over the course of the last week.
• At least 14 states have announced they are pausing or rolling back reopening measures, including: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, North Carolina, Maine, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington state.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced a pause on the state's resumption of indoor dining, which was set to resume Thursday.
• Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine starting Tuesday for people coming from a state with a 5 percent or greater positivity rate. The governor said Rhode Island will move to phase three of its reopening plan on Tuesday.
• Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) extended the state of emergency for Tennessee until August 29th.
• Local Florida officials announced that beaches in Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties will close for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Jacksonville will not be closing its beaches for the holiday weekend.
• Los Angeles County has also closed all beaches for the Fourth of July weekend.
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is expected to extend the state's remaining pandemic restrictions.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) said she would sign an executive order requiring most residents to wear masks in public beginning July 3rd.
• New cases in the U.S. account for 20 percent of new global cases.
• Local and state health department leaders have been subject to harassment, personal insults, and death threats in recent weeks as a vocal and angry segment of the population accuse them of making mask requirements too strict.
• Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced that casinos and indoor dining throughout New Jersey can resume at 25 percent capacity beginning on July 2nd.
• Gov. JB Pritzker (D) released plans to continue reopening businesses as Illinois moves into phase four of the Restore Illinois plan. Phase four allows for the safe reopening or expansion of several key business segments - such as health and fitness, movies and theater, museums and zoos, as well as indoor dining at restaurants. Phase four also allows for expanded gathering sizes, increasing the limit from 10 people to 50 or fewer. This expanded gathering limit extends to key activities like meetings, events, and funerals.
• Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced that Step Two of phase two of Massachusett's four-phase reopening plan, Reopening Massachusetts, will begin today to allow additional businesses to resume operations under sector-specific guidelines. These include indoor table service at restaurants, close contact personal services, retail dressing rooms by appointment only, and offices at 50 percent capacity.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced several steps the state is taking to mitigate the spread of the virus, including increasing enforcement of health and safety regulations, rapidly increasing testing in hot spots, and working with hospitals throughout the state to ensure they have the ability to treat Texans who test positive for COVID-19.
• It took only three weeks for Arizona to double from 20,000 cases of COVID-19 to 40,000 cases.
• Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that New York City is on track to enter phase two of reopening on June 22nd. The Mid-Hudson Valley is on track to enter phase three of reopening on June 23rd, and Long Island is on track to enter phase three of reopening June 24th based on current data.
• Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) announced a new round of Safer at Home guidelines that include residential summer camps, indoor and outdoor events, bars, personal services, and non-critical manufacturing facilities. The new guidelines will be open for comment for 48 hours and will be finalized on Thursday, June 18th.
• Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed an EO modifying previous orders to adapt to phase two reopening efforts to begin on June 16th. He also announced updated guidance for indoor and outdoor gatherings over the next several weeks.
• Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) offered updated guidance on public pools and gatherings of up to 50 people.
• Texas and Florida both recorded new daily highs of new cases of COVID-19.
• The Illinois and Du Quoin State Fairs have been canceled according to the Illinois Agricultural Department.
• Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) said the state will move into stage four of its reopening plan, which includes bars and entertainment venues at 50 percent, movie theaters and bowling alleys at 50 percent, restaurants at 75 percent capacity, and allows gathering of up to 250 people with social distancing guidelines.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced the reopening of schools, gyms, movie theaters, and bars. The Bay Area will hold off on reopening some businesses and services until later this summer.
• Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announced the reopening of the state's television, film, and streaming production industry.
• South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has issued a new state of emergency Friday, as part of an EO that also allows the reopening of bowling alleys and lifts restrictions on retail business capacity limits
• Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) extended the State of Civil Emergency for 30 days through July 10th.
• Gov. David Ige (D) approved a request from Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami of Kauaʻi county to re-open more businesses, operations, or activities under Hawaii public safety guidelines effective June 16th.
• Gov. Ige also signed a proclamation that extends the COVID-19 emergency period through July 31st. The emergency proclamation lifts the quarantine requirement for inter-island travelers effective on June 16th. However, it also leaves in place the quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) announced that he has extend the COVID-19 peacetime emergency by 30 days to ensure the state can continue to quickly and effectively respond to the pandemic.
• Numbers of newly reported cases are still rising in 21 states. Arizona and Texas, in particular, have emerged as hot spots over the last few weeks.
• Iowa announced today that the Iowa State Fair will not be held this year.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed an EO to reopen outdoor swimming pools on June 22nd. Additionally, outdoor recreational and entertainment businesses are permitted to reopen immediately, with the exception of amusement parks, water parks, and arcades. These recreational and entertainment businesses are required to abide by a number of social distancing protocols that are specified in the order. Public and private social clubs are permitted to reopen their outdoor spaces, provided they comply with all applicable terms of the order.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) issued preliminary guidance for high school and recreational sports teams to resume voluntary workouts and other in-person activities in the state’s yellow and green phases. The guidance includes college and professional sports.
• Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued new guidance for domestic services in phase two. Gov. Inslee also issued expanded and updated guidance for certain recreational activities.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) signed a directive allowing local school districts, charter schools, and private schools to immediately reopen for summer learning and activities while implementing the phase two protocols designed to keep students, staff, families, and communities safe.
• Yosemite National Park will reopen to the public on Thursday, allowing 50 percent of its average visitors.
• Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that phase two of Connecticut's reopening will be moved up to Wednesday, June 17th.
• Gov. Laura Kelly (D) recommended that most communities advance to phase three of Kansas's reopening plan.
• Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez (D) said that the county will open its beaches no later than Wednesday, June 10th.
• Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) announced that regions 6 and 8 of Michigan will enter phase five of the state's reopening plan. This allows salons, movie theaters, and gyms to open in those regions.
• Washington, D.C., has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases that occurred on May 30th due to a backlog in testing results.
• Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) allowed casinos and gaming to resume per reopening plans. He also released positive progress on COVID-19 showing a downward trend in cases.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced that he would allow the amended stay-at-home order to expire at midnight tonight. The-stay at-home requirements were only in effect for counties in the red phase.
• Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said today that zoos, museums, movie theaters, playgrounds, tourist attractions, and entertainment venues will be allowed to reopen on June 10th.
• On June 3^rd the Georgia General Assembly announced they will resume the 2020 legislative session on Monday June 15, the 30^th Legislative Day. From the directive of the Committee on Administrative Affairs and with the approval of the President of the Senate, implemented measures related to reconvening the Georgia Legislature. Please click here to read through the measures that will allow the Georgia Senate and others to effectively maintain a safe and secure work environment.

• On May 28, 2020, Governor Kemp and state officials provided an update on COVID-19 in Georgia and detailed his strategy for a “transitio to a new normal”. After consultation with Lieutenant Governor Duncan and Speaker Ralston, Governor Kemp decided to renew the State of Emergency for a third time through 11:59 PM on July 12, 2020. Kemp's order permits gatherings of as many as 25 people starting Monday, and it continues to require larger groups to maintain social distancing. It lets school systems start holding summer courses if they follow state criteria. It allows bars and nightclubs to reopen next week if they meet 39 measures, including screening workers for illness, limiting occupancy and requiring regular sanitation. Amusement parks can follow on June 12 if they abide by other limits. And live performance venues will remain indefinitely shuttered, and people older than 65, as well as the “medically fragile,” are urged to shelter in place until June 12. Click here for more information.
• Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced additional business reopenings under Maine’s rural reopening plan. Under the update, in 13 counties, tasting rooms and bars may open for outside service and gyms and fitness centers, nail salons, and tattoo and piercing parlors may open with added health and safety precautions beginning on Friday, June 12th. These establishments may reopen everywhere in all counties except for York, Cumberland, and Androscoggin counties.
• Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced details about phase two of her framework for building a safe and strong Oregon. She also approved 26 counties to move to phase two of reopening on June 5th, 6th, and 8th.
• COVID-19 infections and deaths are still on the rise in more than a dozen states.
• Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) approved several proposals from mayors across the state to reopen more businesses and operations under public health guidelines.
• Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed an EO which implements Phase 2 of the Stay Safe MN plan. Phase 2 includes outdoor dining at restaurants and bars to start June 1st with safety measures and capacity limits. Personal services like salons and barbershops can also open on June 1st at 25 percent capacity.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) issued an EO authorizing businesses to deny entry to inidividuals not wearing masks or face-coverings.
• Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced that the state will remain in phase one of its reopening for a minimum of another week, while Northern Virginia can enter phase one of reopening on Friday. Gov. Northam also signed an EO requiring masks in indoor spaces.
• California is the most recent state to have recorded 100,000 cases.
• Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued a proclamation that will enable water parks across Texas to reopen at limited capacity under Phase 2 of reopening on May 29th.
• Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) announced that Nevada is ready to move into Phase 2 of the reopening plan on May 29th including the reopening of casinos on June 4th. Additional businesses including personal services and gyms may open under new restrictions.
• Twenty U.S. states reported an increase in new cases of COVID-19 last week, an increase of 13 states from the previous week. South Carolina had the biggest weekly increase at 42 percent, Alabama’s new cases rose 28 percent, Missouri’s rose 27 percent, and North Carolina’s rose 26 percent.
• California's Department of Public Health announced that, subject to approval by county public health departments, all retail stores can reopen for in-store shopping under previously issued guidelines.
• The Kansas Department of Health and Environment is recommending voluntary 14-day self-quarantine for those Kansans who traveled to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, over the Memorial Day weekend and did not use protective measures, such as social distancing and face masks.
• Gov. Jim Justice (R) announced that overnight facilities at West Virginia’s state parks and forests will start reopening to state residents only in following the guidelines of the Safer at Home order. Most day-use areas remain open to the public, though social distancing guidelines will be enforced.
• White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said today that she is concerned about Chicago, the Washington, D.C. area, and Los Angeles, because their case rates are not dropping at the same rate as in other cities in the U.S.
• The New Mexico Department of Health and the State Personnel Office began accepting applications today to fill 200 to 250 contact-tracing positions around the state as the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic moves into the next phase.
• Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) announced that his state will conduct COVID-19 testing at long-term care facilities. He said that they will test a percentage of all residents and staff at each facility and, where there is a confirmed case, all staff and residents will be tested weekly.
• Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) has updated directives on reopening recreational pools, overnight camps, community and school team sports, and resuming elective procedures.
• Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) outlined changes to the state's phase 2 reopening plan including travel quarantine and sports.
• New York State is now looking into 157 cases of MIS-C, the severe inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 that is affecting children. CDC's informational page about MIS-C is linked here.
• House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) sent a letter to the Chair and Vice Chair of the National Governors Association, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), following up on his previous request that they direct the leaders of all fifty states, D.C., and U.S. territories to collect demographic data on racial disparities and COVID-19. His request follows reports that states are not reporting comprehensive demographic data. Of the 1.1 million COVID-19 cases reported to the CDC, race is not known in more than half of them.
• More than 10,000 individuals across the U.S. have been trained in COVID-19 contact tracing thanks to the free ASTHO and NCSD introductory training course. You can register for the course here.
• At this point, all 50 states have started to reopen in some capacity.
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery sent a letter to congressional leaders asking them to pass $1 trillion in direct relief for state and local governments. The letter, signed by 91 California leaders, outlines the budgetary challenges facing state, local, and tribal governments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Gov. Newsom also signed an EO waiving the deadline to verify grade point average and waive certain certification requirements and selective service registration verification for Cal Grant applicants.
• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed an EO moving Kansas into Phase 2 of “Ad Astra: A Plan to Reopen Kansas.” Phase 2, effective this Friday, will be modified to include data-driven restrictions necessary to prevent community transmission of COVID-19.
• In Michigan, armed protesters once again gathered at the statehouse to oppose the ongoing statewide stay-at-home order. The gathering was reportedly smaller than previous protests. Michigan’s stay-at-home order is scheduled to expire on May 28th.
• Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) extended the state of emergency to June 15th.
• On Thursday May 7, 2020 Governor Kemp  provided Georgians a COVID-19 update. Gov. Brian Kemp is now encouraging all Georgians to be screened for Covid-19, even if they have no symptoms of the disease, as part of the state’s ongoing efforts to increase its testing numbers. The state’s new guidance comes as the federal government has promised to send more than 200,000 testing swabs and kits to the state this month. Click here for more details.
• Updates on lockdowns/reopening:
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that gyms and fitness centers throughout the state can reopen on Monday, and restaurants and retail stores will be allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity.
  • Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's (R) order closing non-essential businesses is set to expire Sunday, but he said it will be extended until Monday to allow the Reopening Advisory Board to unveil its four-phase approach to reopening the state.
  • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that the state's stay-at-home order will remain in place until May 28th. The order also extended several emergency "suspensions" and "modifications" of laws through June 13th. Gov. Cuomo added that beaches in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware will open at 50 percent capacity Memorial Day weekend.
  • Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) announced Friday, new criteria for moving the state forward into Phase 2 of reopening the economy.
  • Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he plans to lift capacity restrictions on restaurants and large attractions in most of the state.
  • Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) has lifted restrictions in 13 counties, including the Pittsburgh area, and announced that 12 more counties could reopen starting May 22nd.
• Two restaurants in Dallas, Texas directed employees not to wear face masks as they resume dine-in operations, while a Dallas County Judge amended his local stay at home order to mandate mask use. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot (R) has prohibited local governments from “imposing civil or criminal” punishments for failure to wear a mask.
• The Ohio Legislature passed a bill that would require the Director of Health to apply to the legislature for approval to extend any health order issued in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Gov. Mark DeWine (R) has reportedly confirmed that he intends to veto the bill.
• Georgia reported today that 20,000 teens in the state had been issued a driver’s license in the last month without having had to pass a road test.
• Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) rescheduled the presidential primary for July 7^th.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced that he is extending a ban on foreclosures and evictions through July 10^th.
• New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced that schools in the state will remain closed for the rest of the academic year.
• Over the weekend, Delaware Gov. John Carney (D), New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), Gov. Murphy, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D), Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D), and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced a joint multi-state agreement to develop a regional supply chain for PPE, other medical equipment, and testing.
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an executive order creating the Michigan COVID-19 Office of Accountability within the State Budget Office

• On April 30, 2020 at 11:59PM the statewide shelter in place order for most Georgians will expire. However, moving forward, the Governor is urging Georgians to continue to stay home whenever possible. Governor Brian P. Kemp signed Executive Order 4.30.20.01. In accordance with the Governor Kemps executive orders, businesses across the Peach State must continue to operate with strict social distancing and sanitation rules to keep customers and employees safe through May 13, 2020. Those rules vary by business type for a measured, health-driven approach.
• On April 23, 2020 Governor Kemp issued an executive order that provides details on the his plan to reopen Georgia.  Click here to read the Executive Order.
• House Speaker David Ralston proposed that session resume on June 11. This date was selected for one overriding reason: to enable the members of the General Assembly to have the most current data available on the revenue and expenses as we make what will surely be significant changes to the FY 21 budget. Our priority when session resumes will be the only thing we are required to do- pass a balanced state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Click here to read the letter.
• Governor Kemp announces initial steps to reopen businesses starting Friday April 27, 2020. Click here to read the Governors press briefing.
• As the Georgia General Assembly looks forward to resuming the 2020 Session the date is still to be determined. House Speaker David Ralston appointed a committee to review their protocols and make recommendations on specific operations during that time. Click here to read the memorandum.
• Governor Brian P. Kemp, Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, and House Speaker David Ralston announced plans to extend Georgia’s public health state of emergency through May 13, 2020 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Under state law, the Governor may renew the public health state of emergency, which was otherwise set to expire on April 13, 2020. Lt. Governor Duncan and Speaker Ralston agree it is necessary for the public health emergency to be renewed and will not be requesting a special legislative session, which was tentatively scheduled for April 15, 2020.
• Governor Brian P. Kemp issued a shelter in place order for the state of Georgia. The order will be effective beginning Friday, April 3rd, at 6:00 PM and expire Monday, April 13th, at 11:59 PM. Click here to view the executive order and for guidance/FAQ click here.

• Gov. Kemp Calls on Georgia Businesses to Aid with Critical Health Care Needs - On March 24, 2020 Governor Kemp called on all Georgia businesses who are able to help the state provide, produce, distribute, or store critical health care items needed to fight the spread of COVID-19. Click here to read the press release and to complete the information form, visit: www.georgia.org/covid19response.
• Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Monday night that she has signed 14-day stay at home order for the city of Atlanta. The order says all city residents are being directed to stay home except for essential services, essential activities, work or for government services. As of right now, the order does not include essential businesses, parks, the Atlanta BeltLine and restaurants serving takeout. Click here to read the executive order.
• On March 23^rd Governor Kemp announced new restrictions by directing bars and nightclubs statewide to close. The executive order also limited gatherings, including those in churches, to 10 or fewer people, unless a safe “social distancing” space of six feet apart can be maintained. At minimum, this order for isolation, quarantine, or shelter-in-place covers those who live in a long-term care facility, have chronic lung disease, are undergoing cancer treatment, have a positive COVID-19 test, are suspected to have COVID-19 because of their symptoms and exposure, or have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19. Click here to view the executive order.
• On March 20^th Governor Kemp issued two additional executive orders: one authorizing nearly $20 million in emergency funding to pay for necessary medical supplies, and the other reducing regulations - especially in the healthcare context - to address COVID-19. All licensed Georgia pharmacists are now permitted to dispense a ninety-day supply of a prescription drug if a patient has no remaining refills and the pharmacist cannot get in contact with the prescribing provider. Pharmacists may also dispense early refills for prescription drugs. However, these authorizations do not apply to Schedule II controlled substances. Click here to view the executive order.
• On March 14^th Governor Kemp declared a public health state of emergency to deploy additional resources and give the Department of Public Health authority to direct specific healthcare action to fight against the spread of COVID-19. As part of this state of emergency, the Governor have authorized new processes for temporary licensure of out-of-state doctors and nurses, and authorized the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency to coordinate with the Georgia National Guard to call up as many as 2,000 troops to assist in emergency response. Click here to view the executive order.
• On March 17, 2020, Governor Brian P. Kemp signed House Bill 792 - Georgia's amended fiscal year 2020 budget - with $100 million in emergency funding to address the spread of novel coronavirus and COVID-19.