Medical musicians, Ford’s Theatre, Cuomo’s book: News from around our 50 states

Alabama

Montgomery: A federal appeals court on Tuesday blocked a judge’s order that would have lifted witness and photo ID requirements for absentee voting for Alabama voters who are at high risk for contracting a severe case of COVID-19. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the order previously issued by U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon that lifted the absentee ballot rules for voters 65 and older with an underlying medical condition. The appeals court left in place an order allowing counties to offer “curbside voting” if local officials choose to do so. The stay came after Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill appealed the ruling that loosened absentee ballot rules. He called the ruling a “win for the people of Alabama.” The court left in place part of the ruling allowing curbside voting, a method plaintiffs argued would be a safer way for people with health concerns to vote.

Alaska

Anchorage: The state’s biggest ski resort is set to operate this season with a new operations plan that includes health precautions like mandatory face coverings. Alyeska Resort in Girdwood cut the last ski season short because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alaska Public Media reports. “No mask, no service here at Alyeska Resort,” Marketing Director Ben Napolitano said. “That includes all public spaces, that includes lift lines, and that includes being inside the aerial tramway as well.” Skiers will be allowed to temporarily remove masks only while moving down the slopes, Napolitano said. Skiers will no longer be allowed to get close to strangers on chairlifts or while using the resort’s tram system. Lines to board the lifts and tram will be configured to encourage social distancing. Reservations will be required for equipment rentals, and the gear will be sanitized daily. Alyeska’s day lodge will be closed this winter, and the resort will limit cash transactions.

Arizona

Phoenix: Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs and two advocacy groups have agreed to put an early end to an extension of the state’s voter registration deadline that was ordered by a judge after pandemic restrictions led to a decrease in people signing up to vote. If the deal announced Tuesday is accepted by an appeals court, voter registration in Arizona would end late Friday night, instead of Oct. 23. Hobbs, Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and GOP groups had asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling on hold while they appealed it. The state’s original registration deadline was Oct. 5, but U.S. District Judge Steven Logan had extended it to Oct. 23 after finding the pandemic has undermined election integrity by preventing a portion of the population from registering to vote and concluding that pushing back the deadline would let the voices of those people be heard.

Arkansas

Little Rock: Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday ruled out rolling back the state’s reopening despite a recent surge in coronavirus hospitalizations and 25 more deaths from the illness caused by the virus. The Republican governor extended for another 60 days the emergency declaration he issued because of COVID-19, which has now killed 1,611 people in the state. The Health Department reported 680 new confirmed and probable cases of the virus. “There’s not really an option to go back on our opening of businesses,” Hutchinson said at his weekly news conference on the outbreak. “We’re way past that in Europe and the United States, here in Arkansas.” Hutchinson, instead, said the focus needs to be on following the state’s mask mandate and other safety guidelines because of the virus. Arkansas was among a handful of states that never issued a stay-at-home order because of the virus but had closed bars, restaurants and other businesses.

California

Beverly Hills: The city has banned trick-or-treating this Halloween to try to prevent spread of the coronavirus. The action was taken in an urgency ordinance approved by the City Council on Tuesday night. The ordinance bars trick-or-treaters from going house-to-house or car-to-car, which is described as “trunk or treating.” People also may not provide candy or other Halloween treats to any person outside their own household. People are prohibited from spraying shaving cream on others, except inside their own homes. Licensed barbers are exempted so that they may shave customers. The city is also banning pedestrians and vehicles from certain streets Oct. 31, excluding residents. California has not enacted a statewide restriction on Halloween but is strongly discouraging traditional activities and urging families to plan alternatives including virtual celebrations.

Colorado

Denver: The state is experiencing another surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, prompting Gov. Jared Polis to plead Tuesday with residents to wear masks, stay home as much as possible and maintain social distancing practices. As of Tuesday, Colorado’s three-day average positivity rate – the percentage of total tests coming in positive – was 5.4%, and the state recorded 1,000 newly confirmed cases both Saturday and Monday, the highest daily numbers recorded during the pandemic, Polis said. About 290 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest total since May 31, The Denver Post reports. During a briefing on the pandemic, Polis didn’t suggest he was contemplating renewed mandatory restrictions on business or other activities to stem the surge. But he insisted: “If this continues, our hospital capacity will be in jeopardy.”

Connecticut

Avon: Coronavirus outbreaks at two long-term care centers have been linked to a resident of one of the facilities and staff who work at both locations, health officials said Wednesday. The state Department of Public Health launched an investigation. Two dozen residents and 16 staff at the Avon Health Center nursing home recently tested positive for the virus, said Jennifer Kertanis, director of the Farmington Valley Health District. About 4 miles away, 11 residents and three staff at the Residence at Brookside tested positive recently, said Ted Doyle, a spokesman for the assisted living facility. The outbreak appeared to originate from a Brookside resident who went on an outpatient visit and contracted the virus, Kertanis said. Health officials learned of the resident’s positive test Oct. 1 and said all of Brookside residents and staff were tested. Two Brookside residents who tested positive died, but one was already in hospice care, Dolye said.

Delaware

Newark: The state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic was on center stage when Democratic Gov. John Carney and his Republican challenger faced off in a virtual debate. GOP candidate Julianne Murray argued Tuesday that the governor has overreached since the pandemic hit in March, saying the state’s virus safety measures have had a negative effect on businesses and people, news outlets report. Carney pushed back, saying in one of his remarks during the night that the virus is the most pressing issue. The two also held opposing views on Delaware’s mask mandate, with Murray describing the measure as unnecessary and an infringement on personal liberties, Delaware State News reports. She also said the coronavirus was “not fatal.” “I can’t liken it to the chickenpox, but it’s less deadly than the flu in many circumstances,” she said. Health officials widely agree the coronavirus seems to be at least several times more lethal than seasonal flu.

District of Columbia

Washington: Ford’s Theatre Society and the National Park Service have announced a phased reopening schedule for Ford’s Theatre and the Ford’s Theatre Museum beginning Wednesday, WUSA-TV reports. The society said following the initial opening, Ford’s Theatre and its museum will operate with a modified schedule for daytime visitation Wednesdays through Sundays with required advance tickets. Tickets will be available each Friday for the following Wednesday-Sunday. Adhering to capacity policies set forth by DC Health, a maximum of 25 visitors per hour are permitted in the building during this stage of reopening. Visits to Ford’s Theatre are self-guided. National Park Service ranger talks will not be scheduled during this initial reopening stage. The Petersen House and the Aftermath Exhibits at the Center for Education and Leadership remain closed.

Florida

Tallahassee: Florida A&M University’s position as a key center in combating the spread of the coronavirus in underserved communities got a major financial boost Tuesday from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest investors in COVID-19 research. Foundation representatives said $15 million is being invested over the next three years for historically Black colleges and universities to serve as hubs, providing rapid COVID-19 testing for students, faculty and staff, as well as processing test specimens submitted from other HBCUs across the country. FAMU will be receiving $1.5 million over three years to hire staff and operate its hub that will be opening in the next few weeks at its Center for Viticulture & Small Fruit Research in eastern Leon County. Collected specimens will be tested in the center’s 340-square-foot laboratory, the university said.

Georgia

Athens: The number of COVID-19 cases reported by the University of Georgia rebounded this week, though the numbers are still far from their peak in August. The tracking page at the UGA University Health Center lists 92 cases of coronavirus infection in the week ending Oct. 9, including 80 students and 12 employees. That’s up from the previous week, when 68 students and employees either tested positive at UGA or reported having tested positive somewhere else, but still much lower than UGA’s peak in the week ending Aug. 31, when the university reported 1,490 cases. The number of UGA students and employees who volunteered to be tested at Legion Field increased over the previous week to 1,944. That was the second-highest weekly total since UGA began its fall semester Aug. 20 with a goal of testing up to 500 people a day.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The state’s public schools will stop using a distance learning program after parents complained about racist and sexist content. The state Department of Education completed a review of Acellus Learning Accelerator, and reviewers recommended discontinuing its use as a primary curriculum resource “due to its inconsistency in quality and rigor,” Superintendent Christina Kishimoto said in a letter to parents Monday. Schools across the nation use Acellus, according to the Missouri-based company. Parental complaints have prompted schools in other states to drop the program. Complaints included misspelling and mispronunciation of Queen Lili’uokalani – the last monarch to rule the Hawaiian Kingdom – and racist depictions of Black Americans and Islamophobic stereotypes. Some have also complained the program lacks rigor.

Idaho

Boise: Health care experts say coronavirus is increasing as kids are returning to school – but most of the new infections aren’t happening in school buildings. Instead, it’s likely infections are spreading because many people are treating the return to school like a return to normalcy and slacking off on precautions such as social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing that can slow the spread of the coronavirus, said Dr. Joshua Kern, vice president for medical affairs for St. Luke’s hospitals in Jerome, Twin Falls and Ketchum. “It’s not necessarily in-school spread because they’re always wearing masks there,” said Kern, part of a panel of health care experts discussing the coronavirus online. Kern’s region is again becoming a coronavirus hot spot, with numbers “kind of relentlessly marching up,” he said. The area was one of the first in the state hit by the pandemic in March, when the Sun Valley region had among the highest per-capita infection rates in the country.

Illinois

Chicago: Low-income immigrants ages 65 and older in the state will be eligible for health care coverage that is similar to Medicaid despite their immigration status. Hayley Burgess of the National Immigration Law Center said Illinois is the first state to fully fund a program of this nature for noncitizen immigrant older people, The Chicago Tribune reports. The Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus supported the program in response to data showing uninsured older people who contracted the coronavirus could be at risk for more severe complications, resulting in more medical bills the state would pay for, said Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Chicago. The program is expected to cost the state $5 million, said Evan Fazio, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Advocates say that’s a small amount compared to how much noncitizen immigrants pay in taxes.

Indiana

Indianapolis: A statewide mask order will remain in place, but tougher restrictions on businesses and crowd sizes aren’t being reinstated, despite recent sharp increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations and rates of new infections in the state, Gov. Eric Holcomb said Wednesday. Holcomb, a Republican, said some people were showing disregard for the safety of others, putting the ability of schools to remain open and the health of those most at risk of severe illness from the virus in jeopardy. “Those inactions are costing, just to be blunt, health care costs, lost wages, business failures. Don’t kid yourself, we’re all paying this bill,” Holcomb said. “Throwing caution to the wind, ultimately ends up costing us all. It is the literal definition of whistling past the graveyard, pretending this isn’t around us.” The state’s health commissioner, Dr. Kristina Box, also announced that she, an adult daughter and young grandson tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday.

Iowa

West Des Moines: The family of the Indian Hills Junior High School special education assistant who died this month from COVID-19 released a statement Tuesday saying she was exposed at school. Jennifer Crawford, 53, died Oct. 3. She had worked at Indian Hills since 2017. According to the statement, Crawford’s last day at school was Sept. 2. She then traveled to Indiana to be with her mother, who was having surgery. Two days later, on Sept. 4, Indian Hills Principal Dr. Shane Christensen called Crawford and said she had been exposed to COVID-19 and should be tested, the statement said. Crawford was tested and began having symptoms shortly after the call. She was notified Sept. 8 that she had tested positive, according to the statement. Crawford was hospitalized Sept. 14 after her symptoms became worse. She died about two weeks later. Crawford’s mother contracted the virus from her daughter, the statement said.

Kansas

Topeka: Gov. Laura Kelly said Tuesday that she doesn’t plan to have the state health department use its power to manage disease outbreaks by shutting down businesses or imposing other restrictions in local coronavirus hot spots. The Democratic governor’s statement went further than a public promise she made last month to top Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature not to issue orders to close businesses statewide, as she did in the spring. She said that although the state will work with local officials in areas with big outbreaks to help them check the spread of the virus, it won’t dictate the steps they’ll take. “A much more effective way is to have the local buy-in,” Kelly said. “The better way to do it rather than using the hammer is to continue to work closely with local officials, local public health officials.”

Kentucky

Bardstown: This year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival that was postponed and then moved online gets underway this week. Registration is free and open for online programs on topics ranging from food and whiskey pairing to the art of whiskey making and putting together cocktails with ordinary supermarket ingredients. There’s also a VIP package available for $150. Last year’s festival drew some 50,000 visitors from 40 states and more than 20 countries for its activities and concerts, organizers said. For this year’s 29th annual festival, the board decided to shift to a virtual experience because of the coronavirus pandemic. The festival runs Thursday through Sunday.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell came to the state Capitol on Tuesday to ask for money to help the city’s coronavirus-damaged budget, but Republican lawmakers questioned her economic reopening decisions rather than offering her promises of aid. The Democratic mayor told the House Appropriations Committee the city faces a $150 million budget gap. City employees are being furloughed to save money, but that’s not nearly enough. Cantrell said the city, the earliest epicenter of Louisiana’s COVID-19 outbreak, has allocated dollars to protective equipment and other expenses because of the pandemic. In addition, she said the city economy – heavily dependent on tourism and the hospitality industry – has been damaged by the steep drop in visitors. Republicans peppered Cantrell with questions about why she continues locally tougher restrictions on businesses and activities than what Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has allowed statewide.

Maine

Auburn: About 30 inmates at the Androscoggin County Jail held a short-lived hunger strike to demand more testing for the coronavirus, officials in Maine said. Jail administrator Jeffrey Chute said the inmates refused meals from Monday morning through Tuesday afternoon. The central issue for inmates was testing for COVID-19, according to the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit working to improve conditions for incarcerated Mainers. Some inmates feared a lack of social distancing in housing units, lax mask-wearing and infrequent tests could lead to an outbreak similar to what happened at the York County Jail, where dozens of inmates became infected, said Joseph Jackson, the coalition’s director. Prisoners were also upset about the quality of bedding. The strikers’ issues were resolved, and they began eating bag lunches “right away,” Sheriff Eric Samson said Tuesday.

Maryland

Annapolis: Less than half of the state’s residents would agree to get a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available, new Goucher College Poll results show. The statewide poll is just the latest sign of faltering public trust in a potential COVID-19 vaccine. It mirrors recent national polling that has found just 50% of Americans say they intend to get the vaccine when it becomes available. The pace of COVID-19 vaccine trials, along with the politicization of the pandemic during a contentious election year, have contributed to the public’s uncertainty. The Goucher poll found that 48% of Marylanders said they would agree to be vaccinated if a free, FDA-approved vaccine were available today, and 49% said they would not. Black Marylanders were more likely to distrust a potential vaccine, according to the poll, with 61% saying they would not be vaccinated. A majority of white Maryland residents, 54%, said they would agree to receive the vaccine.

Massachusetts

Boston: A recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the state doesn’t amount to a new surge of the disease caused by the coronavirus, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday. “This is something we planned for and anticipated,” the Republican said during a Statehouse press conference. Baker said that “there’s no question that there will be more cases this fall” but that the state has done the needed work to prepare for any increase in the coronavirus. At the height of virus in the spring, there were up to 4,000 people hospitalized with the disease in Massachusetts. On Monday, the state reported about 500 people hospitalized with COVID-19. The state has also built a robust health care infrastructure, according to Baker. He said the state will soon be able to administer up to 100,000 tests a day with a turnaround time of about two days. The state has also created a contact tracing program and is continuing to stockpile personal protective equipment.

Michigan

Lansing: The state’s chief health officer warned Tuesday that the state could be beginning a second wave of the coronavirus as cases rise along with the number of people in hospitals. Michigan had 89 new cases per 1 million people per day, up from 81.6 cases last week, the health department said. About 700 people with COVID-19 were in hospitals, up about 20% from last week. The rate of positive tests has ticked up to 3.6% from 3.4%. It was under 3% in June. “It is very possible this is the beginning of a second wave,” said Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan chief medical executive. “The virus has not changed. It is an opportunist. If people are not wearing masks, if people are gathering, if people are not washing their hands, it will spread.” The Upper Peninsula is a hot spot. Nick Derusha, a health officer in four U.P. counties, said there’s “pandemic fatigue” among some residents. “We need all Yoopers to wear your mask,” he said.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: The state will expand its offering of saliva tests for the coronavirus into a statewide mail-in program that will be available free to all residents, Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday. The state opened a semi-permanent saliva testing site in Duluth three weeks ago that has already conducted about 8,000 tests. It will open nine others this month, but the state also plans to expand that strategy into a statewide program that, when fully implemented, would let any Minnesotan get tested without leaving home, Walz said in a briefing for reporters. People who request the saliva tests would send their samples via UPS to a lab that the state will open soon in Oakdale that’s projected to eventually double the state’s testing capacity to 60,000 per day. The specific saliva test that the state is using is very nearly as accurate as the nasal swab diagnostic tests now in common use, but without the discomfort, Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said.

Mississippi

Jackson: The Mississippi State Department of Health is making free rapid testing available at its drive-thru community test sites, State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs announced Monday. Rapid test results will be returned within 15 minutes, but it’s unclear how accurate they will be, Dobbs said. Rapid tests are done in the “front of the nose,” as opposed to the deeper PCR tests MSDH has been using, he said. If people choose to take the rapid test, they will also receive a PCR test, the results of which will be returned within a few days, he said. They can also choose to take the PCR test only. Dobbs said there’s not enough data to know what the rapid tests’ false negative rates are. So far health officials have seen that rapid tests work well on symptomatic individuals, he said. However, some people who were exposed to COVID-19 but were not experiencing symptoms have had negative rapid test results and positive PCR test results.

Missouri

St. Louis: The state is outsourcing contact tracing to private companies as part of the effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports the state approved contracts this week with nine companies to help track down people who may have been in contact with those who test positive for COVID-19. The outsourcing comes as the state continues to resolve problems with its COVID-19 dashboard that allows the public to keep track of new cases, hospitalizations, deaths and other factors related to the coronavirus. The website has not been updated since Saturday, when it showed 144,230 confirmed cases, including 5,066 reported that day. By Sunday, the state acknowledged the one-day increase was wrong and said it was working to resolve the problem. State health department spokeswoman Lisa Cox said the aim was to have the dashboard functional again by Wednesday.

Montana

Helena: Gov. Steve Bullock announced Tuesday that he would provide resources to counties to increase enforcement of coronavirus-related restrictions, including a statewide mask mandate, as Montana experiences one of the largest COVID-19 case outbreaks in the nation. According to a White House Coronavirus Task Force report on Montana dated Oct. 11, Montana had the third-highest rate of new cases per capita last week and the second-highest test positivity rate in the country, at 10.1%. Montana had 332 new cases per 100,000 people in the past week, compared with the national average of 100 per 100,000, according to the report. Bullock said enforcement of existing statewide mandates has been lacking, and he would provide education resources and coronavirus relief funds to county health departments and attorneys to investigate health-order violations and pursue legal action against businesses that do not comply.

Nebraska

Omaha: The number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus continues to grow as the state reports large numbers of new COVID-19 cases. Nebraska set another new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations Wednesday with 315 people being treated for the virus in hospitals across the state. That number exceeds the record set last weekend and remains well above the spring peak of 232 set May 27, according to the state’s online virus tracker. Officials with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services have said they are monitoring hospital capacity closely, but so far hospitals are managing the patient load OK. The state said 24% of Nebraska’s intensive care beds and 76% of the state’s ventilators remained available Wednesday. Nebraska continues to have the nation’s seventh-highest rate of new cases, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Nevada

Carson City: State health officials said they would resume the use of rapid “point of care” tests after federal health officials chided them for banning their use and accused them of violating federal law. Dr. Ihsan Azzam, Nevada’s chief medical officer, doubled down on his insistence that too many questions remained about the accuracy of rapid antigen tests. He said his team was “disappointed” in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We are not saying the tests have no use, we are just saying pause for further review and additional training,” he said in a statement. Late last week, Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters that federal law prohibits states from imposing a ban like the one that Nevada health officials ordered Oct. 2. He said Nevada is the only state to do so.

New Hampshire

Concord: Two elementary school students who were kicked off a school bus last week for not keeping their faces covered will be allowed to return to the bus. The Monroe Consolidated School Board convened an emergency meeting Monday to say that JPI Transportation had backed down from its decision to ban the two boys, ages 9 and 10, from the bus for the rest of the school year, the Caledonian-Record reports. Going forward, a student caught not wearing a mask will be banned from the bus for five days. A second offense will bring a 10-day ban, and a third offense will lead to a meeting between the bus company and school officials to determine the next penalty. Meanwhile, a court has thrown out a lawsuit by Democratic legislative leaders to stop Republican Gov. Chris Sununu from spending federal COVID-19 relief funds without their permission.

New Jersey

Hillsborough: State officials aren’t aware of any COVID-19 outbreak stemming from the campaign fundraiser President Donald Trump held recently at his Bedminster golf club, Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday. More than 200 donors and staff were at the Oct. 1 event, just hours before Trump announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus. The Democratic governor said state and county officials have been working to contact all attendees but have not heard of any cases that trace back to the event. The White House said last week that the president did not have any contact with anyone that would be considered close, based on CDC guidelines. Murphy has said officials were trying to contact some nearly 200 attendees as well as 19 club staff members, who all live in New Jersey.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday that she will renew public health restrictions and warned that more stringent rules could be imposed because of a rise in COVID-19 cases. The updated regulations will take effect later this week. They will include limiting gatherings to five people or less, a mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors from states deemed high-risk, reduced hotel capacities, and a 10 p.m. closing time for food or drink establishments serving alcohol. Lujan Grisham said the virus is spiking in New Mexico right now, and the state has experienced some of the worst increases in the U.S. so far this fall. Without a vaccine, she said officials have only a few tools to fight the virus – such as making people wear masks, staying home as much as possible and avoiding groups of people.

New York

Albany: Gov. Andrew Cuomo condemned the federal government’s coronavirus response and lauded his own leadership efforts in a new book released Tuesday that offers a few new details – but not many – about New York’s battle against the pandemic. The Democrat’s book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” delivers a retelling of his efforts to contain the virus as it ravaged his state in spring. In it, Cuomo describes trying to placate President Donald Trump in order to get needed hospital beds, ventilators and other supplies for New York. He details the state’s success at rapidly ramping up testing capacity and his worry that New Yorkers wouldn’t heed calls to stay at home to help avoid a catastrophic surge in hospitalizations. As for his mistakes, Cuomo concedes only a few. Among them, he said, he waited too long to mandate that New Yorkers wear masks.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Weeks from the end of the election, three of the state’s most populous counties are often taking two weeks or more to send absentee ballots out to voters who request them, an Associated Press analysis shows. Understaffing, outdated technology and voter registration groups are straining a system that has struggled to handle an unprecedented surge of requests as many seek to avoid the risks of in-person voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Data obtained by the AP shows that in Wake County, the state’s largest, it took 15 days on average from when voters requested ballots via mail or an online portal to when the county printed and mailed out ballots during a period from Sept. 1, when the state launched its online portal, through Oct. 5. Average processing times for Buncombe and Forsyth counties were 14 days and 11 days, respectively, according to the data provided by the State Board of Elections.

North Dakota

Bismarck: State health officials on Wednesday confirmed 713 new positive COVID-19 cases and 159 new active cases, along with eight additional deaths. The update came after the COVID Tracking project reported that the state topped 900 new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, based on numbers collected through Tuesday. That ranks first in the country for new cases per capita, ahead of No. 2 South Dakota’s figure of more than 832 new cases per 100,000 residents. It was the state’s seventh straight day of record active cases, putting the total at 4,750. Hospitalizations fell by 26, to a total of 132. There were three deaths from LaMoure County, a county of about 4,000 people in the southeastern part of the state. A total of 44 counties showed new cases in the past day.

Ohio

Cincinnati: In the spring, when the pandemic darkened nightclubs and live music venues, local guitarist Carl Fichtenbaum called on other local musicians he knew and organized “Quarantunes,” a one-time live Facebook concert. But the raves of friends and fans pushed “Quarantunes” to become a monthly series, and the eighth concert is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday. The musicians, though, all have day jobs that have worked them hard through the pandemic at UC Health or the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Fichtenbaum, a guitarist and singer since boyhood with a musicians’ union card, is a UC Health infectious-disease doctor treating coronavirus patients at the UC Medical Center. He also is leading a clinical trial for a promising vaccine candidate.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The state remains in the red zone for newly reported coronavirus cases, according to the White House Coronavirus Task Force, which recommends residents wear masks among the ways to slow the virus’s spread. “Community spread continues in Oklahoma in both rural and urban areas,” according to the task force report released Wednesday by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. There were 749 people hospitalized Wednesday, down from a record-high 760 reported Tuesday, the health department said. There were an additional 1,121 confirmed cases, bringing the total to 102,614 since the pandemic began. Health officials reported 13 additional deaths from COVID-19, the illness caused by the disease, bringing the death toll to 1,132. The true number of coronavirus cases is likely higher because many people haven’t been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected and not feel sick.

Oregon

Salem: The state marked a grim milestone Tuesday as health officials announced it had surpassed 600 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Six more people have died, bringing the statewide total to 605 fatalities, the Oregon Health Authority said. There were also 321 new cases diagnosed statewide, bringing the total number of cases in Oregon to 37,780. “Each death is a reminder to the rest of us of the severity and danger of COVID-19,” OHA Director Patrick Allen said. “OHA sends its condolences to every Oregonian who has lost someone to COVID-19.” The deaths were in Malheur, Multnomah, Yamhill and Marion counties. The counties with the highest number of new cases Tuesday were all in the Portland metropolitan area: Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The state is “at the start of the fall resurgence” of COVID-19, the health secretary said Wednesday, urging residents once more to take steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Wednesday marked the ninth consecutive day that Pennsylvania’s daily case count surpassed 1,000, and the average daily number of new confirmed cases is up by more than 50% over the past two weeks, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Though some of the increased caseload is due to expanded testing, the state’s hospitalization and test positivity rates are also rising. That indicates increased viral spread, Dr. Rachel Levine said. Pennsylvania is more prepared to handle the influx than it was in the spring – with a contact tracing program in place, increased supplies of personal protective equipment, and a sufficient number of hospital beds at the ready, Levine said at a news conference.

Rhode Island

Providence: Gov. Gina Raimondo is appealing to the state’s retired teachers to get back in the classroom to address a severe statewide shortage of substitutes brought on by the pandemic. “I’m putting a call out to all retired teachers – we need your help,” she said. Substitutes are particularly needed for virtual learning, she said. She also encouraged anyone looking for a career change to apply for the state Department of Education substitute teacher training program. Qualified candidates can take a free 10-hour course that includes training in child development, curriculum development, engagement strategies, classroom management and other skills.

South Carolina

Columbia: The state Supreme Court will give six hours of training credit to any attorney who volunteers to be a poll worker on Election Day. Lawyers must work the entire day Nov. 3, from 7 a.m. poll opening to 7 p.m. poll closing, minus regular breaks, and can’t take any payment to get the continuing legal education credit, according to an order from the state’s highest court. Attorneys are required to get additional training periodically to maintain their legal license. The court said in its order allowing the credit that finding poll workers is especially important because some people who traditionally work elections are opting out because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The polling place is required to be in South Carolina, and judges are not eligible for the credit.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday blamed the state’s recent surge in coronavirus cases on an increase in testing, even as the state saw a new high in the number of people hospitalized by the virus. There are currently no open general-care hospital beds in the southeastern part of the state, which contains the two largest hospitals, according to the Department of Health. “We have triple the amount of testing that we are doing in the state of South Dakota, which is why we’re seeing elevated positive cases,” Noem said. “That’s normal, that’s natural, that’s expected.” The Republican governor did not explain how an increase in hospitalizations would be connected to an increase in testing. The state has also seen one of the nation’s highest positivity rates for testing in the past 14 days, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. The roughly 23% positivity rate is an indication there are more infections than tests are indicating.

Tennessee

Nashville: Gov. Bill Lee announced Wednesday that he is in quarantine after a member of his security detail tested positive for the coronavirus. The governor’s office released a statement saying the Republican had tested negative and was “feeling well” but would be in quarantine as a precaution with first lady Maria Lee. No other information about the security staffer’s exposure was immediately available. Earlier Wednesday, Maria Lee had posted to social media that she was visiting a middle Tennessee elementary school with Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn. The two were photographed wearing masks while interacting with children. The governor, meanwhile, had attended a fundraiser the night before. Lee has long encouraged the public to wear masks and maintain their social distance in order to protect themselves from the virus. However, he has also resisted calls to implement a statewide mask mandate.

Texas

Austin: State health officials reported the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus broke through the 800,000-case level Tuesday amid a new surge of cases. The 5,209 new cases reported Tuesday were the most this month so far, and 80 previously unreported cases were also added. The newly reported cases raised to 800,415 the total caseload reported in Texas since tracking and tracing of the pandemic began in March, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported. An estimated 77,126 of those cases are active, an increase of almost 2,100 since Monday, and 4,053 of those cases required hospitalization. That was 183 more cases than Monday and the first time more than 4,000 COVID-19 cases required hospitalization since early September. The state reported 64 COVID-19 fatalities Tuesday, raising the state’s pandemic death toll to 16,622.

Utah

Salt Lake City: The state is implementing a new strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic as the number of confirmed cases and hospitalizations continues to surge, state officials announced Tuesday. The state will move away from its color-coded health system and instead place counties under restrictions based on their COVID-19 transmission rates, Gov. Gary Herbert said. Each county will be listed as a high-, moderate- or low-level transmission area. Salt Lake, Utah, Cache, Garfield, Juab and Wasatch counties have been designated as high-transmission areas. Masks will be required in all indoor settings in these counties, and social gatherings must be limited to 10 people or fewer, said Rich Saunders, acting director of the Utah Department of Health. In moderate transmission areas, gatherings will be limited to 25 or fewer unless masks are worn, he said. Maskless gatherings will be limited to 50 or fewer in low-transmission areas. The state ranks fifth in the country for newly confirmed infections per capita, according to data from Johns Hopkins.

Vermont

Montpelier: Health officials are encouraging Vermonters to limit travel outside the state at a time when new coronavirus cases are increasing around New England. New COVID-19 cases in the Northeast rose by 3% in the past week, with hospitalizations also on the rise, Vermont Public Radio reports. Deputy Health Commissioner Tracy Dolan told VPR’s Vermont Edition on Tuesday that people should carefully consider any upcoming travel. “And as we move into the holidays, this might be a time to hunker down and have some smaller family events and really think twice about either visitors coming in or going out of state,” she said. The number of counties in the Northeast from which Vermont allows visitors to come without having to quarantine is shrinking, according to a map the state developed to show case counts in the region.

Virginia

Richmond: Enrollment at the state’s colleges and universities declined 1.3% this year. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the figure amounts to a large sigh of relief because university leaders and state officials feared a drop of as much as 20% as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia said there are 6,658 fewer students at Virginia’s public and private institutions of higher education this fall. The biggest drop was at community colleges, where enrollment fell 10%. Enrollment at public four-year schools was essentially flat. Private schools had an increase mainly because of large gains made by Liberty University. The enrollment figures illustrate the durability of colleges and universities despite the daunting economic challenges of the pandemic.

Washington

Olympia: Gov. Jay Inslee says five counties in central and eastern Washington still under the tightest COVID-19 restrictions will be allowed to resume more activity and open more services. At a news conference Tuesday, the governor said Yakima, Benton, Franklin, Douglas and Chelan counties will be moved from modified Phase 1 into Phase 2. “They’re not out of the woods yet; we know that,” Inslee said. “But these counties and their people have made tremendous progress.” Under Phase 2, counties are allowed to resume some adult and youth sports as well as outdoor recreation with more than 12 people. Also, more business activity will be OK’d, like movie theaters at limited capacity, restaurants with limited seating and indoor fitness centers with reduced numbers of people allowed. There have been more than 93,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Washington since the start of the pandemic and more than 2,100 deaths.

West Virginia

Charleston: The last county in the state to report a confirmed case of the coronavirus is now deemed the most critical by health officials as the number of weekly cases statewide reached a record high. Doddridge County on Wednesday became the only county in the red category on the state’s color-coded map. That’s the most serious of five colors, indicating substantial community transmission of the virus. Under the red category, public schools are prohibited from conducting in-person classes, while sports events and other extracurricular activities are postponed. Schools in the county were closed starting Oct. 6 due to the rise in cases. Dr. Ayne Amjad, the state’s health officer, said Wednesday that she visited Doddridge County and was told that despite a statewide order for residents to wear masks at indoor public places, “a lot of people were not privy to wearing masks.”

Wisconsin

Madison: The Wisconsin Department of Corrections says there’s been another coronavirus outbreak in a state prison. The Racine Correctional Institution/Sturtevant Transitional Facility had 124 active COVID-19 cases among prisoners as of Tuesday, according to the DOC. Two other prisons, Kettle Moraine Correctional Institution and Oshkosh Correctional Institution, are still in the midst of large outbreaks. As of Tuesday, Kettle Moraine had 352 active cases among inmates, and Oshkosh had 347. Sturtevant is a small unit of Racine Correctional and is located adjacent to the larger prison. The facilities are counted as one prison on the DOC’s data dashboard. Among staff, 37 Racine Correctional employees have self-reported testing positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Across all adult institutions, DOC reported 1,055 active COVID-19 cases among inmates and 145 among staff, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.

Wyoming

Jackson Hole: There will be no guest lodging at Yellowstone National Park’s largest concessionaire for the winter due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. More than 100 guest units are closing for the rest of the year and for the winter to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, park officials said in an announcement on the park website last weekend. Another consideration is that there are very few medical services in that area of the park. During the winter, Yellowstone is accessible only by snowmobiles and vehicles called snowcoaches that transport people. Xanterra Travel Collections, which operates accommodations in the park, will also close the Madison Campground a week earlier than normal. The Old Faithful Inn operated by Xanterra was not open this summer because of staffing issues related to the pandemic, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reports.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Medical musicians, Ford’s Theatre: News from around our 50 states