Mayors Besieged By Spike In Cases Blame Officials For ‘Ambiguous’ Messaging About Controls; California Strike Teams Aim To Enforce Rules

The Hill: Mayors Blame Federal, State Officials For Mixed Messaging As Coronavirus Cases Surge 
The mayors of cities seeing massive spikes in coronavirus cases pushed back Sunday on optimistic projections about the pandemic, saying mixed messages at different levels of government led to confusion among residents, many of whom began to believe the crisis was over and it was safe to return to pre-pandemic norms. They said the aggressive reopening timelines pursued by state officials in Texas, Florida and Arizona allowed people to crowd into newly-reopened bars, restaurants and other venues where coronavirus is easily spread. At the same time, state officials were preventing local leaders from implementing more restrictive policies at the city or county level than those in place statewide. (Budryk, 7/5)

Palm Springs Desert Sun: Calif. Sends Strike Teams To Enforce COVID Rules; Worker Complaints Rise
About 200 state inspectors fanned out across California over the July 4 holiday weekend to enforce health orders related to coronavirus, including about 100 from the Alcohol Beverage Control agency and the rest from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health and other state licensing entities. They are part of new "strike teams" from 10 state agencies that Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said would focus on counties with the most restrictions, including Riverside and San Bernardino. (Daniels, 7/4)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Coronavirus Cases Hit One-Day High Over July 4th Weekend 
Los Angeles County public health officials on Sunday reported 7,232 more cases of COVID-19 and 30 related deaths, numbers that account for Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week. On Friday alone, 3,187 new cases of COVID-19 were reported — the highest daily total since the pandemic began, officials said. (Newberry, 7/5)

Boston Globe: As Cases Spike In California, A Warning For Massachusetts
A state that was once considered a road map for fighting COVID-19 now looks more like a warning sign.Just one month ago, California seemed to have the coronavirus pandemic under control. Its cities were among the first in the country to implement strict lockdowns, and the state escaped the worst of COVID-19 in the spring. But in recent weeks, a dramatic surge in cases has torn through the state, from the beaches of San Diego to the streets of San Francisco. (Moore, 7/4)

San Jose Mercury News: Bay Area Hospitals Receiving Imperial County COVID Patients
For years, the company has helped the state move patients from hospital to hospital, flying people who had suffered bad heart attacks or traumatic injuries that required more care than the county’s two hospitals could provide to places like San Diego or Palm Springs. Then COVID-19 hit. In recent weeks the company has been transferring patients overwhelmingly battling the highly infectious disease to distances farther than before — including to places such as Silicon Valley. (Deruy, 7/5)

The New York Times: As The Virus Surged, Florida Partied. Tracking The Revelers Has Been Tough. 
Miami’s flashy nightclubs closed in March, but the parties have raged on in the waterfront manse tucked in the lush residential neighborhood of Belle Meade Island. Revelers arrive in sports cars and ride-shares several nights a week, say neighbors who have spied professional bouncers at the door and bought earplugs to try to sleep through the thumping dance beats. They are the sort of parties — drawing throngs of maskless strangers to rave until sunrise — that local health officials say have been a notable contributing factor to the soaring coronavirus infections in Florida, one of the most troubling infection spots in the country. (Mazzei, 7/6)

The Hill: Miami Mayor Says City 'Breaking Record After Record After Record' Of Coronavirus Cases 
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) said Sunday he's hopeful measures put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus will prevent city officials from needing to enact even more dramatic restrictions in the coming weeks. Both Miami and Florida are seeing record numbers of new COVID-19 infections. Florida reported a record 11,458 cases on Saturday, and as of Friday, 1 in 5 coronavirus tests in the Miami-Dade region was coming back positive. (Zilbermints, 7/5)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A Look At Major Coronavirus Developments Over The Past Week
As COVID-19 cases rapidly multiply in Georgia, government leaders and public health experts are urging residents to wear masks and stay diligent about frequent hand-washing and social distancing to try to slow the spread of the disease. Savannah became the first city in the state to require the use of masks, implementing a $500 fine for violations. (Oliviero, 7/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: COVID-19 Slows Medical Service For Atlanta Veterans
The Veterans Affairs hospital in Decatur is struggling to limit COVID-19 exposure, and the shutdown of most other health care services during the pandemic has kept many veterans from getting needed help, say staff and patients. Staff are concerned about lax screening of people entering the hospital, the mixing of veterans being tested for the coronavirus with surgery patients and inadequate cleaning of exam rooms after positive tests, among other problems, according to internal emails from doctors and nurses reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (Quinn, 7/5)

Boston Globe: Boston Hotels Make A Push To Bring Back Indoor Gatherings In Phase 3 
Several Boston hotels are finally turning the lights on again as they awake from their slumbers this spring. But some of the biggest ones will stay dark, with no sign of indoor events returning. So the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau went to Governor Charlie Baker’s administration last week with an ambitious request: bring back the meetings and events business. (Chesto, 7/5)

WBUR: Crisis Hotlines In Mass. See Rise In Calls, Texts During Pandemic
Some suicide prevention hotlines in Massachusetts have seen a significant increase in calls in the first six months of 2020, with the most notable jump happening since the pandemic began in March. Samaritans in Boston reports an 84.1% increase in text messages to its crisis line during the period of March 12 to June 30 this year, compared to the same time last year. Phone calls to the hotline went up 23.5% — from 28,768 to 35,535. (Jolicoeur, 7/6)

Detroit Free Press: More Coronavirus Testing, Clusters Drive Numbers Higher In Michigan
Michigan's coronavirus curve continues to climb upward as 543 newly confirmed cases were reported Thursday, the highest number of new cases in the state since May 29. Calling it "one of the highest case counts we've reported in several weeks," Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services, said a few things might have contributed to the rise in cases. Among them is testing. (Shamus and Tanner, 7/3)