Overwhelmed ICUs In Alabama Could Be Harbinger For States Rushing To Broadly Reopen

Politico: Rising ICU Bed Use 'a Big Red Flag'
Intensive care units in Montgomery, Ala., are overflowing with Covid-19 patients, pushing them into emergency departments that are not primed to care for them. And Alabama’s capital city could be a harbinger for other parts of the country. ICU beds are also starting to fill up in places like Minnesota’s Twin Cities; Omaha, Neb.; and the entire state of Rhode Island, according to local health officials and epidemiologists tracking such data, a warning sign of possible health care problems down the road. (McCaskill, 5/28)

The Associated Press: Virus Taking Hold In Rural, Old Plantation Region Of Alabama
Sparsely populated Lowndes County, deep in Alabama’s old plantation country, has the sad distinction of having both the state’s highest rate of COVID-19 cases and its worst unemployment rate. Initially spared as the disease ravaged cities, the county and other rural areas in the state are now facing a “perfect storm:” a lack of access to medical care combined with poverty and the attendant health problems, including hypertension, heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease and diabetes, that can worsen the outcomes for those who become sick with the coronavirus, said Dr. Ellen Eaton. (Reeves and Chandler, 5/29)

Los Angeles Times: Counties Scale Back Reopening After Coronavirus Cases Spike
Sonoma County was one of the first regions in California to begin reopening after months of restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus. Public health officials loosened constraints on construction, car sales and landscaping services in early May. A week later, they began allowing retail stores to reopen for curbside pickup and delivery. Last week, outdoor dining, summer camps, drive-in religious services and other ceremonies were allowed to resume. (Fry, 5/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Vacation Towns Reopen From Lockdowns, And The Locals Are Torn
Weeks before Arizona officials eased stay-at-home rules, people looking for an escape from lockdown orders had discovered a poorly kept secret in the desert: Lake Havasu and the Colorado River were open for recreation. By the last week in April, empty hotel rooms in this resort town along a Colorado River reservoir with 45 miles of coastline started filling back up, with crowds growing week by week. People poured in even as most businesses were closed and restaurants offered only carryout. (Caldwell, 5/29)

The Associated Press: Both Businesses And Customers Conflicted As DC Reopens
Starting Friday, a tiny slice of pre-pandemic normality starts returning to the nation’s capital as a three-month old coronavirus stay-home order is replaced by the first phase of a reopening plan. Barbers and hair salons will begin welcoming back clients grown haggard from months of self-maintenance. Non-essential businesses, shuttered since late March, will be able to start offering curbside pickup. And restaurants that have operating solely on takeout will start limited outdoor seating. (Khalil, 5/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: Gov. Newsom’s Speedy Reopening Plan Leaves Bay Area Counties Perplexed As Coronavirus Cases Grow 
Faced with a ruined economy and mounting political pressure, Gov. Gavin Newsom has opted for a speedy reopening of the state after two months of sheltering in place. The decision has not been universally embraced, leading to a patchwork of policies among counties as life resumes in the shadow of the coronavirus. Most of the Bay Area is refusing to go along with the governor’s accelerated pace, and a handful of local health officers have criticized his plan as overly risky, especially with COVID-19 case counts still climbing across the state. (Allday and Koseff, 5/28)

San Francisco Chronicle: Sonoma County Sheriff Criticizes County’s Health Order, Says He Won’t Enforce It 
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said Thursday that he will stop enforcing the county’s shelter-in-place order on June 1 because he believes the past and current orders put “significant restrictions on our freedoms.”In a Facebook post, Essick said the county’s initial and subsequent health orders since the start of the coronavirus pandemic have been “far more restrictive” than guidelines in neighboring counties and in statewide orders. (Hernandez, 5/28)

San Francisco Chronicle: A Tahoe County Removes Travel Ban, But California Still Doesn’t Allow Tourism To The Lake 
California’s stay-at-home order may still be active, but health officials in El Dorado County have a simple request after rescinding a travel ban into the Lake Tahoe basin: Please don’t visit unless absolutely necessary. The county’s ban on visitors was issued in early April due to concerns over a surge of coronavirus cases and insufficient critical health care infrastructure and resources, according to health officials. Fines of $1,000 were being issued to those who violated the order. But the county’s current capacity to test and contact-trace, as well as the ability to monitor COVID-19 indicators, led officials to rescind the order Wednesday. (Serrano, 5/28)

The Associated Press: GOP Lawyer Fights California Governor On Stay-At-Home Orders
Long before Harmeet Dhillon became the leader of the legal fight against California’s stay-at-home order, she was a new elementary school student in North Carolina uncomfortable because she didn’t know the Christian prayer her classmates recited every morning. She told her mother, who had studied the Constitution for her citizenship test after the Sikh family emigrated to the United States from India. Her mother spoke to the principal about the legality of having public school students reciting a prayer. (Ronayne, 5/29)

The Washington Post: D.C.-Area Businesses Stock Up On Hand Sanitizer And Prepare To Reopen 
Vinyl junkies will soon be able to visit Crooked Beat Records in Alexandria, Va., and flip through actual bins of actual record albums again. But you’ll have to wear a mask. “We’re going to enforce it strongly — you’ve got to have a mask on. If you don’t have a mask on, you can’t come in,” said Bill Daly, who has operated the shop for 22 years. “It’s just safe for you, it’s safe for me, it’s safe for everybody.” (Kunkle, Wiggins and Shapira, 5/28)

The Associated Press: Hawaii Governor To Extend Traveler Quarantine Past June
Hawaii Gov. David Ige on Thursday said he would extend the state’s 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers arriving in the state beyond June 30. The state mandated the quarantine beginning on March 26 to control the spread of the coronavirus. The governor told a joint online press conference held with the state’s four county mayors that an official announcement on the extension would be made later. (McAvoy, 5/29)

NPR: Illinois Is Reopening But Chicago Isn't Because Of Coronavirus Cases
Illinois is joining many of its neighboring Midwest states in reopening some retail shops, restaurants, salons and other businesses Friday. But Chicagoans will have to wait until the middle of next week to get a haircut or manicure, or eat on a restaurant patio, as Mayor Lori Lightfoot is delaying the limited business reopening until Wednesday, June 3. (Schaper, 5/28)

Stateline: Jury Trials Begin Again, Carefully
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, had issued a stay-at-home order to slow the spread of COVID-19 nearly two months before, and it applied to all but the most urgent of judicial proceedings. But Multnomah County, home to Portland, like many places requires grand juries to hear all felony criminal cases. That meant the county's docket of pending cases was "bursting at the seams," said Circuit Judge Cheryl Albrecht, the county's chief criminal judge, in an interview. (Bolstad, 5/29)

The Washington Post: Should You Return To The Gym?
With gyms closed, exercise enthusiasts across the nation have kept up with their fitness regimens by switching to online workouts, running and making use of household objects. Now that gyms have reopened in more than two dozen states, some fitness buffs will be able to return to in-person instruction and commercial-grade equipment. But should they? (Moore, 5/27)

The Associated Press: Grand Canyon To Fully Open South Rim Entrance In June
The Grand Canyon is expanding access to its more popular South Rim entrance and planning to let visitors in around the clock next month after it shuttered temporarily over coronavirus concerns. The entrance station will be open from 4 a.m. until 2 p.m., starting Friday until June 5 when the national park will drop restrictions on the hours. The canyon’s North Rim also will reopen June 5, though the campground will be closed until July 1 because of construction. (5/29)

The Associated Press: Montana Gates To Yellowstone Park Opening Monday
Montana’s three entrances to Yellowstone National Park will reopen to visitors Monday, as the state moves to its second phase of restarting the economy after shutdowns because of the coronavirus. Parts of Glacier National Park could open in mid-June, Gov. Steve Bullock added Thursday, but a specific day has not been set. (Hanson, 5/29)

NPR: 2020 Boston Marathon Canceled, Will Move Online
The 124th annual Boston Marathon has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Boston Athletic Association announced the move in a statement on Thursday, saying that the marathon will instead be held as a virtual event. All participants who were set to run in the event initially slated for April 20 and later pushed back to Sept. 14 will be offered a full refund of their entry fee and have the opportunity to participate in the alternative. (Horn, 5/28)

The Washington Post: The 2020 National Book Festival Will Take Place Online Only
One of Washington’s most cherished events has been felled by the novel coronavirus. The National Book Festival, set to celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, will not be held as planned, the Library of Congress announced Thursday. The literary extravaganza, which in recent years has drawn an estimated 200,000 people to the Washington Convention Center, was scheduled for Aug. 29. But due to the ongoing covid-19 crisis, the presentations by scores of best-selling and award-winning authors will be moved to the weekend of Sept. 25-27 and presented online only. (Charles, 5/28)

Detroit Free Press: Need A Haircut? Salons Push To Open 'Immediately'
The right to a haircut may not be enshrined in the Constitution, though it's a pretty big deal in Michigan these days if the ongoing feud between hair stylists, barbers and the governor is any indication. The stylists are pushing to reopen "immediately," arguing they can cut, color and shampoo hair safely amid the pandemic. But the governor has said it's still too soon. (Baldas, 5/29)