Chicagoans Told To Stay Home As Cities, States Crack Down On COVID

Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago Issues Stay-Home ‘Advisory,’ 10-Person Limit On Social Gatherings 
Warning that up to 1,800 more Chicagoans could die by year’s end, Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday issued a 30-day stay-at-home “advisory” and slapped a mandatory, 10-person lid on social gatherings to control a second surge of coronavirus cases that’s worse than the first. Two weeks to the day before Thanksgiving, Lightfoot implored Chicagoans to shake off “COVID fatigue,” avoid unnecessary travel, order small turkeys and resist the temptation to open their homes to extended family. (Spielman, 11/12)

NBC News: New Jersey Governor Pleads With Covid-Fatigued Residents To Choose Inconvenience Over Death
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy pleaded with coronavirus-fatigued residents on Thursday to keep following health guidelines, bluntly telling them the ultimate inconvenience is "when you die." Murphy rattled off a long series of numbers showing how the virus is spiking in New Jersey before a reporter asked what he'd say to state residents tired of Covid-19 protocols. (Li, 11/12)

NBC News: Ohio Gov. DeWine, In Risky Move, Reimposes Tougher Mask Mandate
Faced with skyrocketing numbers of new Covid-19 cases in his state, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has risked antagonizing his own Republican Party by reimposing a statewide mask mandate and bolstering it with some additional tougher guidelines. DeWine made the move on Wednesday as the number of new cases in Ohio jumped by 96 percent over the past two weeks and after nine straight days of logging 4,000 or more new Covid-19 infections a day in the state, the latest NBC News data showed. (Siemaszko, 11/12)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Kentucky Supreme Court Upholds Beshear's Emergency COVID-19 Orders
The Kentucky Supreme Court has upheld the authority of Gov. Andy Beshear to issue executive orders in an emergency, following a challenge to those he delivered in response to COVID-19. In a unanimous decision Thursday, the state high court found Beshear acted within the power granted to the governor under the Kentucky Constitution and state law to issue orders that have sparked heated political debate and rowdy public demonstrations at the Capitol. (Yetter, 11/12)

In news from Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, West Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi —

The Washington Post: Guests At Maine ‘Superspreader’ Wedding Returned To Work Despite Showing Symptoms, Report Says
A rural Maine wedding became a deadly superspreader event because guests refused to wear masks and later showed up to work despite feeling sick, according to an analysis published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report. Though not explicitly identified in the report, the Aug. 7 gathering at the Big Moose Inn in Millinocket has received copious media coverage and become a cautionary tale about the dangers of mass gatherings. To date, it has been linked to seven deaths, all among people who did not attend the wedding. (Farzan, 11/13)

Boston Globe: Public Health Officials Fear Evictions Could Worsen COVID-19 Spike In Mass.
As the coronavirus devastated Massachusetts last spring, Governor Charlie Baker and the Legislature quickly approved a previously inconceivable law: a sweeping eviction moratorium that not only forestalled new evictions but also halted roughly 11,500 cases already in process. The impetus was economic, of course, but the law was also supposed to prevent more people from getting sick. State officials deemed it unwise to expel people from their homes while urging everyone to shelter in place. Evictions often lead families to double up with relatives or friends — precisely what public health officials hoped to prevent. (Greenberg, 11/12)

NBC News: 'Chinese Virus' Sign At Doctor's Office Draws Rebuke
A sign at a chiropractor's office in New Jersey referring to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus" is being slammed online as racist. Annesia Paraison took a photo of the sign Tuesday at the Jersey City office of Kevin Julian and uploaded it to Facebook. Paraison said she was visiting the office with her 17-year-old daughter, Nala, who was scheduled to meet with the doctor for the first time. (Griffith, 11/12)

West Virginia Gazette Mail: Lawsuit Claims State-Funded Health Plans Discriminate Against Transgender People 
Two West Virginians said their state-funded health insurance won’t cover hormone replacement therapy solely because they are transgender, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday. The men are challenging blanket exclusions of coverage for gender-confirming health care in West Virginia’s health plans, the state’s Medicaid program and the Public Employees Insurance Agency, most commonly called PEIA. (Pierson, 11/12)

Lexington Herald Leader: University Of Kentucky Union Wants Hazard Pay, More Telework 
Close to 50 students, faculty and staff marched the concrete pathways of the University of Kentucky campus Thursday to protest for COVID-19-related hazard pay, greater teleworking flexibility and a meeting with UK President Eli Capilouto. The march culminated in the masked crowd rhythmically chanting Capilouto’s name outside the university’s main administrative building, demanding the president come down and accept a petition signed by just over 1,000 concerned students, workers and local community members. Capilouto never appeared. Tom Harris, the vice president for university relations, accepted the thick stack of the printed pages of the online petition and promised to get it to Capilouto. (Childress, 11/12)

Clarion-Ledger: Medical Marijuana In Mississippi: Why Did It Pass?
Politicians didn't want it. Leaders in medicine, law enforcement and religion warned against it. Conservative talk radio railed against it. The Legislature, after years of inaction, offered an alternative. Voters bucked that advice. They easily passed Initiative 65 on Nov. 3, amending the constitution and legalizing medical marijuana. (Bologna, 11/11)