States Experiment With Methods To Halt Virus

AP: $250 One-Time Payments To Louisiana Workers Begin This Week
Payments start going out this week to Louisiana’s front-line workers who remained at grocery store checkouts, in health care facilities and on bus routes in the first months of the coronavirus outbreak, the revenue department said Tuesday. Louisiana is offering $250 one-time payments, financed with federal relief aid, to as many as 200,000 people who meet eligibility requirements set by state lawmakers. Approved applicants will receive payment through a check or direct deposit into a bank account. (7/28)

Detroit Free Press: Whitmer: Michigan Needs More Federal Aid For State Budget
Having used federal relief funding to help close a $2.2-billion hole in the state's 2020 budget, Michigan officials warned Tuesday they now face a $3-billion hole for the budget year that starts Oct. 1 and called for more financial aid from Washington. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and state Budget Director Chris Kolb both criticized at a news conference a proposed relief plan unveiled Monday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as woefully short of what is needed. (Egan, 7/28)

AP: California Withholds Virus Money From 2 Defiant Cities
Gov. Gavin Newsom is using new powers to withhold money from two cities in California’s Central Valley that are defying his health orders by allowing all businesses to open during the pandemic. Newsom blocked nearly $65,000 from Atwater in Merced County and more than $35,000 from Coalinga in Fresno County, the first installments of $2.5 billion in federal funds that cities and counties across the state risk losing if they don’t toe the line on coronavirus safeguards. (Thompson, 7/29)

The Washington Post: Maryland To Stop Paying For Mandatory Coronavirus Testing For Nursing Home Staff
Maryland’s health department has warned nursing homes that the state will soon stop paying for the weekly coronavirus testing it requires for staff — prompting frustration from some in the industry, who say facilities cannot afford to foot the bill. State officials say nursing homes should be able to pay for the tests through funding they received from the federal Cares Act. But industry advocates say there is not enough money to cover those costs and other pressing pandemic-related needs, especially for small, independent facilities. (Tan and Chason, 7/28)

The Hill: Virginia Imposes New COVID-19 Restrictions In Eastern Part Of State 
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) will impose new restrictions on restaurants and bars, but only in an eastern section of the state that's experiencing a major surge of new coronavirus cases, he announced Tuesday. Northam said bars in the Hampton Roads area will be prohibited from serving alcohol after 10 p.m., and that restaurants will have to close by midnight and will be reduced to 50 percent capacity for indoor dining. "This will effectively shut down bars," he said during a press conference. (Weixel, 7/28)

In news from Texas —

Dallas Morning News: Texas Automatically Renews Food Stamps To Ease Coronavirus Worries
After a brief period of time in which the Trump administration sought to end automatic renewals of food stamp recipients, Texas has applied and again successfully won federal permission to extend benefits for another six months to those scheduled for renewals this month and next. The move waives a requirement to supply financial information and undergo an interview for 276,000 Texas households. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the 1.4 million families and individuals enrolled had to renew every six months. (Garrett, 7/28)

Kaiser Health News: In Texas, More People Are Losing Their Health Insurance As COVID Cases Climb 
Steve Alvarez started feeling sick around Father’s Day weekend this year. His symptoms started as mild, but developed into a fever, chills and shortness of breath he couldn’t shake. “Just when I started to get to feeling better and I would have a couple of good days,” Alvarez said. “I felt like I’d backtrack and I was just really run down. This thing lingered and lingered.” (Lopez, 7/28)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Finally Got COVID Data On Nursing Homes — And Houston Is Faring The Worst 
At one Houston-area nursing home, at least 117 residents had been infected with the new coronavirus. At another, at least 20 residents who tested positive died. At a third, 86 residents were simultaneously sick. These snapshots emerged from new data released Monday by the state of Texas showing how many residents and staff had been infected with the new coronavirus in individual nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The move to disclose the data marked a significant step toward increased transparency that advocates and relatives had long demanded. (Foxhall, Rubio and Tedesco, 7/28)

And updates on COVID-19 cases from the states —

Boston Globe: Mass. Reports 178 New Confirmed Coronavirus Cases, 14 New Deaths
The death toll from confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Massachusetts rose by 14 to 8,331, state officials reported Tuesday, and the number of cases climbed by 178, bringing the total to 108,740. Key metrics the state is eyeing for its phased reopening plan hovered well below the numbers reported during the springtime surge, but a recent uptick in coronavirus cases is still making some doctors uneasy. (Reiss, 7/28)

AP: Arkansas Reports New One-Day Record Spike In COVID-19 Deaths
Arkansas on Tuesday reported a new one-day record increase in deaths from the illness caused by the coronavirus, as the state’s virus cases surpassed 40,000. The Department of Health reported 20 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the state’s total fatalities to 428. The state’s health secretary said six of those deaths were late reports and didn’t occur within the last 24 hours. (DeMillo, 7/28)

AP: North Dakota Hits Grim COVID-19 Milestone; Task Force Forms
Gov. Doug Burgum on Tuesday announced a task force to investigate the spread of the coronavirus in the Bismarck metropolitan area, the state’s current COVID-19 hotspot. Burgum’s announcement of the Burleigh-Morton task force came during his weekly briefing at the state Capitol came and as North Dakota marked its 100th COVID-19 death and the number of active cases reached a new high. (MacPherson, 7/28)

The Hill: Georgia Reports More Than 4000 New Coronavirus Cases 
Georgia reported more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, according to state data. The state health department reported 4,293 new cases and 54 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 175,052 cases and 3,563 deaths statewide. (Klar, 7/28) 

AP: Dozens Of Inmates At Omaha Jail Test Positive For Virus
Dozens of inmates at the Douglas County Jail have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said. A news release from the county said 36 of 41 inmates in a single housing unit at the jail recently tested positive for the virus. The Douglas County Department of Corrections tested the inmates after learning last week that a contractor and two trustees at the jail had tested positive. Most of the inmates are not showing symptoms of illness, department director Mike Myers said. (7/28)

AP: COVID-19 Closes Popular Youth Summer Camp In Black Hills
The coronavirus has shut down a popular Christian youth summer camp in the Black Hills. The South Dakota Department of Health confirms several cases of COVID-19 linked to Camp Judson, west of Keystone, caused it to cancel camps. Health department spokesman Derrick Haskins said they will continue to investigate the outbreak and notify people who had close contact with those who tested positive. (7/28)