COVID-19 cases in Alabama rose to 9,889 Sunday night and deaths to 393. That’s an increase of 221 cases and three deaths from the day before as the state prepares to loosen social distancing requirements Monday. Read more.
Restaurant dining rooms, salons and barber shops, and athletic facilities join the list of businesses that may reopen today, and groups of more than 10 people are allowed to gather. But things are not going to look, or operate, they way they used to – at least not yet. The state’s amended Safer-at-Home order is in effect as of today and, while it allows more businesses to reopen, it requires people to maintain social distances of six feet or more between themselves and others. In Birmingham, the city’s ordinance requiring people to wear masks or other face coverings also is in force through Friday. Health and government officials issued cautions Sunday asking people to remain vigilant to avoid contracting the virus that has killed 393 and sickened 9,889 Alabamians to date. “When it comes to the reopening of Alabama, we must choose data over dates,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said in an open letter to the city. “Here’s the reality: the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in our state. In fact, they increased by 20% in Alabama last week.” Read more.
First came one wave of devastation. Then swiftly came another. That’s not the precise story of the coronavirus, though in the end it may turn out to be. But it is the story of newsrooms getting piled on by adverse conditions. Lost advertising put the journalism industry into a decade-long spiral of closures, layoffs and diminished products that was still happening at the time of the virus outbreak. COVID-19 halted events, shut down businesses, and savaged advertising even further. News companies around the nation responded as they always had, with yet more slashing of expenses in the forms of permanent layoffs, temporary furloughs, and pay cuts that they present as temporary but that are likely to become permanent. Read more.
COVID-19 cases in Alabama rose to 9,668 Saturday night, an increase of 283 cases from the day before. The Alabama Department of Public Health also reported that deaths from the disease have risen to 390, up seven from Friday night. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — In a rare Saturday meeting, Alabama lawmakers approved a $7.2 billion education budget, finishing the heavy lifting in a legislative session derailed by the coronavirus outbreak. They left the capital city but expect to be back in the State House for special sessions on multiple matters later this year. State House leaders also plan to call back lawmakers May 18 should they need to react to possible amendments by Gov. Kay Ivey or a veto of the state General Fund. Ivey and lawmakers have wrangled in recent weeks about who gets to allocate nearly $1.8 billion in coronavirus relief funding from the federal government. Ivey last week agreed to cede responsibility and told lawmakers she wanted details on how every penny would be spent before she'd call them back for a special session to allocate it. The Legislature approved a General Fund budget that gives $200 million of the funds to state agencies to spend immediately, something she told them not to do. Read more.
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones took Attorney General William Barr to task Friday, saying Barr had tossed aside the rule of law in the Justice Department’s decision to drop a 3-year-old criminal case against former Trump Administration National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. ”As a former U.S. attorney, I have to say I was absolutely appalled,” Jones, D-Ala., said during a Friday video news conference. “The attorney general, I think, has basically thrown the rule of law out the window” and “given a green light for people to lie to the FBI.” Read more.
As Alabama began preparing Friday to relax restrictions put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19, 339 new cases were reported to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Confirmed cases in the state since mid-March rose to 9,385. Fourteen more people also were reported as having died, bringing the state’s death toll to 383. Of Alabama’s 4.9 million residents, 122,396 have been tested for the coronavirus. Read more.
Acknowledging the balancing act between protecting the health of citizens and the health of the economy, Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson on Friday expressed concern about the state’s relaxing of restrictions put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Wilson did not issue a new emergency order for the county, but he issued a strong recommendation that people in Jefferson County refrain from having public gatherings of greater than 10 people, including worship services, for at least another two weeks after this weekend. He said he wants to see the effect of the governor’s new order.
The new Proceeding With Caution order, which Gov. Kay Ivey announced Friday morning, allows restaurants, bars, athletic facilities and close-contact service providers such as nail salons and barber shops to reopen starting Monday. It also lifts the 10-person cap on non-work gatherings, but it stresses that people must maintain six feet between themselves and others from different households while in public. The new order expires May 22.
“We're going to be opening a lot of things,” he said. “I'm very concerned that we could start to see an increase in disease.”
He wasn’t the only voice calling for caution as the state starts to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Other health care officials and government leaders expressed concern, most of them saying they also understand the need to get people back to work. Read more.
Gov. Kay Ivey Reopens Restaurants, Gyms and Salons, Says More Openings Likely Next Week
UPDATED — Restaurants, bars, athletic facilities and close-contact service providers such as nail salons and barber shops will be reopening in Alabama Monday. Gov. Kay Ivey today amended her Safer-at-Home order and said she hopes to announce more re-openings by the middle of next week. The new order lifts the 10-person cap on non-work gatherings but states that people must maintain six feet between themselves and others from different households. This provision effectively allows churches to reopen, provided they can provide for social distancing. The same holds true for gatherings on Alabama’s beaches. The new order expires May 22. “400,000+ unemployment claims have been filed w/ (the state labor department). These are innocent people whose lives have been turned upside down & it’s not their fault. We hear your voices, your frustrations, your fears. Today’s order will hopefully begin providing some hope again,” Ivey said on Twitter this morning. Much of public life has been shut down in Alabama since April 3. Last week Ivey loosened restrictions to allow stores, businesses and beaches to open. The state’s cases of COVID-19 still are trending upward, with 355 new cases and 26 deaths Thursday alone. In reaction, to Ivey’s announcement, Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson issued a strong recommendation that people refrain from having gatherings of more than 10 people for at least two weeks after this weekend to see what effect opening up the state more is going to have. He said COVID-19 is still in the community. “I’m very concerned that we could start to see an increase in disease,” he said. Read more.
On Thursday, 355 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the state, bringing the total of cases since the pandemic began to 9,046. Twenty-six new deaths also were reported. Since the pandemic began, 369 Alabamians have died from the disease. Read more.
