In Minnesota, No Major Hike In COVID-19 Cases After Protests

ABC News: Minnesota Sees No Rise In COVID-19 Cases Tied To Protests: Health Official 
Infectious disease experts have warned that mass protests over the death of George Floyd could lead to another wave of COVID-19 infections. So far, Minneapolis, where the protest activity originated, has not seen a dramatic uptick in cases related to the demonstrations, the state's Department of Health told ABC News Monday. As of late last week, 4,487 tests conducted across four testing sites specifically for protesters resulted in 62 positive cases of COVID-19, for a positivity rate of 1.4%, the department said. (Deliso and Hoyos, 6/22)

NPR: Meatpacking Workers Are Getting Tested — But Some Say Not Often Enough 
Back in April, the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, was a poster child for corporate failure to protect workers from the coronavirus. Dozens of plant employees every day were showing up in clinics with symptoms of COVID-19. Nafissa Cisse Egbuonye, the public health director for Black Hawk County, Iowa, where the plant is located, recalls telling plant managers: "There is a huge volume [of cases]. There is an outbreak!" At the time, no one knew the scale of the outbreak. Cisse Egbuonye told Tyson's managers that they needed to test every single one of their employees: "You have to get a sense of what's going on in the plant." (Charles, 6/22)

Reuters: Life Care Fired Staffer Who Revealed Nursing Home Nightmare To Reuters
A nursing home owned by Life Care Centers of America Inc has fired one nurse and banned another from the premises after the two were quoted in a Reuters investigation detailing horrific conditions, a staff exodus and a botched management response to the facility’s deadly COVID-19 outbreak. (Kirkham, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Kansas Labor Secretary Resigns Amid Unemployment Missteps
Kansas Labor Secretary Delia Garcia, who was already under attack for the slow processing of unemployment claims during the pandemic, has resigned after her agency pushed the bank accounts of an unknown number of jobless residents into the red, the governor said Monday. Gov. Laura Kelly announced she had accepted Garcia’s resignation on Sunday night and appointed the governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Ryan Wright to serve in an acting role until a permanent candidate can be nominated. (6/22)

The Associated Press: South Carolina Beaches Fill, But COVID-19 Takes No Vacation
The elevator doors opened and inside were 10 people crammed into a space no bigger than a closet, none of them wearing a mask. In bathing suits, they walked out of the hotel, across the pool deck and into the sand in what is fast becoming South Carolina’s hot spot for COVID-19 — Myrtle Beach. People in this resort city are leaving their cares — and sometimes their face coverings — at home after months of worry as hotels, restaurants and beaches reopen. (Collins, 6/23)

The Washington Post: Metro To Reopen 15 Stations As Coronavirus Restrictions Are Lifted 
Metro has accelerated its plan to restore service from the skeletal operation it has been running during the coronavirus pandemic, a shift partly driven by federal agencies that are headed back into the office sooner than expected. On Monday, the transit agency announced that on Sunday, 15 Metro stations that have been closed since late March, when most of the Washington region was shut down, will reopen. (George and Rein, 6/22)

The Associated Press: Budgets Put Limits On Social Distancing Options For Schools
As schools consider how and when to reopen their buildings during the pandemic, many are finding themselves overwhelmed by the potential expenses that would come with operating under social distancing guidelines: protective equipment, staff for smaller classrooms, and additional transportation to keep students spread out on bus rides. The burdens loom large in particular for urban, under-resourced districts that often have neither the space nor the budgets to accommodate new health protocols. (Catalini and Melia, 6/23)

CBS News: Coronavirus Cases Surging In Florida And Texas As States Barrel Ahead With Reopening Plans 
The U.S. is seeing a dangerous increase in coronavirus cases in the South and West. As the nation pushes forward with re-opening, half of all states are now averaging more new cases each day than they have in weeks. A fifth of new infections globally are in the U.S. Florida and Texas are setting records for positive tests, and their governors are warning they may need to crack down on people who aren't social distancing. (Bojorquez, 6/22)

Dallas Morning News: ‘Alarming’ Trend Of Dallas County COVID-19 Cases Could Worsen By Fourth Of July, UTSW Experts Say
With the Fourth of July weekend approaching, local disease experts are warning of troubling trends in the coronavirus epidemic. The number of people requiring hospitalization for the disease is rising. A bigger proportion of tests at hospitals are coming back positive. And the disease is increasing in younger residents, with some so sick they need care in the ICU. (Hacker, Ambrose and Keomoungkhoun, 6/22)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas County Again Sets Single-Day Coronavirus Record As New Cases Jump To 454
Dallas County reported a record 454 new coronavirus cases Monday — 10% more than the previous single-day high of 413, set five days earlier. County officials also announced three more deaths from COVID-19: a Dallas man in his 30s who was found at his home, a Dallas man in his 40s who had been hospitalized and an Irving man in his 60s who also had been hospitalized. (Steele, 6/22)

Dallas Morning News: Poll Of North Texans Shows Big Concern About Jobs Lost To Coronavirus But Also About Safety
While a plurality of North Texans believe coronavirus-driven business closures are the most important issue facing the region, most consumers are personally wary about venturing back out to shop and work again, according to a new poll. Almost two-thirds of adults in the Dallas-Fort Worth area think it’s a risk to their health to return to their normal, pre-coronavirus lives and 62% see risk in going to the grocery store, the poll released Monday by the nonpartisan think tank Texas 2036 found. (Garrett, 6/22)

NBC News: End Of Lockdown, Memorial Day Add Up To Increase In Coronavirus Cases, Experts Say
The spike in coronavirus cases in Florida, Arizona, Oregon and other Southern and Western states can be traced back to around Memorial Day, when officials began loosening their lockdowns, health experts said Monday. And in about two weeks, hospitals in those states could find themselves struggling to find enough beds for patients, one of the nation's top public health experts warned. (Siemaszko, 6/22)

The Washington Post: Florida’s Surging Coronavirus Numbers Complicate Return Of Sports 
Needing a place to resume its season, the NBA in early June announced it would sequester all 22 of its teams that will return to competition in Florida. The state had opened its arms to sports leagues, and Disney World offered requisite court space and lodging. Crucially, Florida’s novel coronavirus statistics were under control. And the NBA crafted a 113-page plan, praised by outside experts for its thoroughness and feasibility. After months of toiling to salvage its season, the NBA had seemingly found a solution.Now it has a problem. (Kilgore, 6/22)

Politico: ‘Government Itself Can’t Solve This Problem’: Florida Officials Alarmed As Virus Rages
Florida officials expressed new concern on Monday that the tactics used to slow the spread of the coronavirus are falling short and may not be enough to stop a resurgence of positive cases before the state hosts part of the Republican National Convention in August. Top Republican politicians and the state official leading Florida’s response to the pandemic urged businesses and residents — particularly young people — to stay vigilant about social distancing, leaving the fight in the hands of some of the same people who helped fuel the latest uptick in cases. (Sarkissian and Oprysko, 6/22)

CIDRAP: Florida 1 Of 7 States With More Than 100,000 COVID-19 Cases
According to the Washington Post, 29 states in the past 7 days have recorded increasing COVID-19 case counts, and Florida has joined New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Texas, and Massachusetts in states reporting more than 100,000 cases. Today the Sunshine State recorded 2,926 cases, bringing its official total to 100,217 cases, including 3,173 deaths. The Miami Herald says new cases have been trending upward since mid-May, when the state started relaxing physical distancing and stay-at-home measures. The uptick could not be solely explained by an increase in testing, the paper argues. (Soucheray, 6/22)

Boston Globe: Rhode Island Is The First State To Test 20 Percent Of Its Residents For The Coronavirus 
Rhode Island is the first state to test 20 percent of its population for the coronavirus, Governor Gina M. Raimondo announced Monday. And while President Trump suggested during a campaign rally Saturday that he directed his administration to slow coronavirus testing to keep the national case count down, Raimondo said Rhode Island is planning to speed up testing. (Fitzpatrick, 6/22)

The Washington Post: At The Woodner, D.C.’s Largest Apartment Building, Coronavirus Has Sickened Some Residents And Scared Many More
The secret social hub of the Woodner apartment building in Northwest Washington used to be its mailroom. Residents who took the elevator down from their apartments overlooking the P-shaped swimming pool and walked through the lobby where Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington once lounged would duck in to pick up packages and find themselves staying for half an hour. (Zauzmer, 6/22)

In other state news —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Senate Backs Maternal Mortality Bill
Georgia senators unanimously approved a bill Monday designed to cut back on the state’s stubbornly high maternal mortality rate. An amended version of House Bill 1114 now heads back to the House, where legislators have only a few days to act before the end of the 2020 session. (Hallerman, 6/22)

Albuquerque Journal: NM Again Ranks Last In Child Well-Being  
New Mexico may be on top of things in tamping down coronavirus, but it’s still dead last in the nation in child well-being, according to the national 2020 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. (Nathanson, 6/22)