New Travel Advisories In N.Y., N.J., Conn. Extend To 31 States; Infections Surge In Oregon To More Than 15,000

The Hill: Visitors From 31 States Now Required To Quarantine When Visiting New York, New Jersey, Connecticut 
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are now requiring visitors from 31 states to quarantine for 14 days in an effort to combat the growing number of coronavirus cases in the country. The metro area announced Tuesday that 10 additional states would be added to the travel advisory that mandates the quarantine: Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia and Washington. Minnesota was removed from last week’s list. (Coleman, 7/21)

NPR: Black Mayors Call For Governors To Let Them Enforce Rules To Fight COVID-19
Black mayors in many of the nation's largest cities on Tuesday formally called on governors to repeal orders prohibiting them from enacting strategies that reduce the spread of COVID-19. The African American Mayors Association passed a resolution beseeching state leaders to repeal any rules that prohibit local leaders from implementing strategies like requiring the use of face masks. (Romo, 7/21)

AP: Oregon Tops 15,000 Coronavirus Cases, New Walmart Outbreak
The Oregon Health Authority has reported 299 additional confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases in the state, bringing the state’s total number of cases since the pandemic began to more than 15,000. In addition on Tuesday seven more deaths were reported, bringing the state’s death toll to 269 people. That ties the state’s record for the most deaths reported in a single day, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The authority also said an outbreak of 23 cases of COVID-19 has been reported at a Walmart Distribution Center in northeastern Oregon’s Umatilla County. (7/21)

The Hill: Connecticut Discovers At Least 90 False Positive Coronavirus Tests 
Coronavirus testing in Connecticut returned at least 90 false positives due to a “flaw” in the state’s testing system, Connecticut’s Department of Public Health announced Monday. A total of 144 people tested positive using a system developed by Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific in the period between June 15 and July 17, the department said. Nearly all of the tests affected by the flaw were taken from residents of nursing homes or assisted living facilities, according to acting Public Heath Commissioner Deidre Gifford. (Budryk, 7/21)

CNN: Convent Outside Detroit Loses 13 Religious Sisters To Covid-19, 12 In One Month 
Coronavirus spread so quickly through a convent in Michigan that it claimed the lives of 12 sisters in one month, beginning on Good Friday. They were all members of the Felician Sisters convent in Livonia, outside of Detroit, ranging in ages from 69 to 99, the executive director for mission advancement, Suzanne English, confirmed to CNN on Tuesday. A 13th sister initially survived the virus but passed away from its effects in June. (Jackson, Riess and Paget, 7/21)

The Hill: Louisiana Delays Easing Coronavirus Restrictions 
Louisiana has extended phase two of its economic reopening plan amid coronavirus pandemic, as the state continues to see a spike in cases and deaths. The extension of the second phase, announced Tuesday by Gov. John Bel Edwards (D), comes as 1,691 news cases of COVID-19 were reported, bringing the total number of cases in the Bayou State during the pandemic to over 96,000. The state's positivity rate has climbed above 15 percent. (Johnson, 7/21)

AP: Navajo Nation Reports 22 More COVID-19 Cases, 3 More Deaths
Navajo Nation health officials on Tuesday reported 22 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 and three additional known deaths. The total of infected tribal members on the vast reservation now stands at 8,639 with 425 known deaths. Residents of the reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah have been under a mandate to wear masks when out in public. (7/22)

AP: Maine To Promote Flu Shots Amid Coronvirus Pandemic
The director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the state will do more to promote flu vaccines this year to try to take the strain off the health care system during the coronavirus pandemic. Maine promotes flu shots every year, but they’re especially important this year because of all the resources being used to combat the pandemic, Maine CDC director Nirav Shah said Tuesday. Residents typical start getting flu shots in early fall, and Shah said “it’s likely COVID-19 will still be with us” at that time. (7/21)

In news from Oklahoma —

The Oklahoman: Oklahoma Updates Hospital Surge Plan As Coronavirus Hospitalizations Grow
As the number of people hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19 increases, the Oklahoma State Department of Health updated its hospital surge plan to boost the number of beds available for patients, if needed. The plan state health and hospital officials unveiled Tuesday would add 340 additional beds across seven hospitals in Oklahoma City and one in Tulsa. (Forman, 7/22)

AP: Stitt: No One He Was In Contact With Has COVID-19
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Tuesday that no one he was in contact with in the days before he tested positive for the coronavirus has come down with the virus. “We’re not out of the woods yet, but it underscores the opportunity for Oklahoma to tackle COVID-19 when we take personal action and listen to the guidance from our public health officials,” that include being tested at the first sign of any symptoms, the Republican governor said. (Miller, 7/21)

In news from California —

Sacramento Bee: Coronavirus: Live Updates On Pandemic In California, Sacramento 
A sustained surge in COVID-19 patients pouring into some California hospitals has alarmed local and state officials, and is putting pressure on other counties in the state to prepared for an influx of cases not yet seen since the coronavirus pandemic began. More than 400,700 Californians have been infected by the virus and 7,755 have been killed, as of Tuesday morning. And more Californians are hospitalized with the virus than at any other time: Nearly 7,100 people are in the hospital with COVID-19, and about 28% of those hospitalized patients are receiving intensive care. (Yoon-Hendricks, 7/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Supervisors Seek Lower Health Care Costs For SFO Workers Amid Coronavirus
Essential workers still on the job at San Francisco International Airport say they are grappling with paying for health insurance for themselves and their families, which could leave them more vulnerable to the coronavirus. San Francisco Supervisors Shamann Walton and Rafael Mandelman said Tuesday they are seeking an ordinance that would lower costs for airport workers. (DeFeliciantonio, 7/21)

In news from Texas —

WBUR: Houston's COVID-19 Cases Level Off After Sudden Surge In Late June 
After a sudden surge in reported COVID- 19 cases beginning at the end of June, Houston's daily case count and hospital admission rates seem to be leveling off. Health officials say they're not ready to determine if the data are statistically significant yet, but it's a positive trend. Last Friday, experts were ringing alarm bells. (Harab, 7/21)

AP: COVID-19 Outbreak Reported At Texas Federal Medical Prison
More than 500 women at a federal medical prison in Texas have tested positive for the coronavirus, in one of the largest confirmed outbreaks at a federal prison, the Bureau of Prisons said. The number of confirmed cases at the Federal Medical Center-Carswell in Fort Worth jumped to 510 on Tuesday, just two days after the Bureau of Prisons reported that 200 women there had tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Only the federal prison in Seagoville, also located in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, had more infected inmates, with 1,156 cases as of Tuesday. (7/22)