The number of COVID-19 deaths in Alabama climbed to 315 Tuesday, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported. The number of those testing positive for the virus rose to 8,437 by the end of the day, up 325 cases in the past 24 hours. Read more.
The Jefferson County Commission is likely to go into executive session at its meeting Thursday to get information about the $115 million in stimulus money it received to help the county deal with the effects of the novel coronavirus. The subject came up during today’s commission committee meeting. “There has been lots of information that has come out regarding the use and expenditure of these funds,” said County Attorney Theo Lawson, “and the way that it will be looked at in terms of illegal spending and potential exposure that we have or may not have depending on how we use those funds.” Read more.
Birmingham has placed a May 15 deadline on its mask and public safety ordinances, bringing them in line with Gov. Kay Ivey’s safer-at-home order. The face mask order — which requires Birmingham residents to cover their faces in public to slow the spread of COVID-19 — was originally passed by the City Council on April 28, but with no expiration date; that omission led District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams to vote against the bill. The council extended the deadline to May 15 a meeting today. Read more.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Alabama climbed above the 300 mark today, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported. The department said 310 people who tested positive for the coronavirus have died in the state, including 38 since the beginning of March last Friday. The number of those testing positive stood at 8,206. The latest report said 106,003 people have been tested in Alabama. Read more.
Some state senators want more say in extended emergency orders like the ones put in place in response to the coronavirus. Current law says the Alabama governor can issue a state of emergency for up to 60 days. A bill filed Monday in the State House would limit that to 14 days and then require legislative approval for an extension. Senate Bill 334 also says that no public health order issued by the state health officer will take effect until it is signed by the governor and delivered to the secretary of state. Current orders, like the late March order that closed many Alabama businesses and limited public gatherings, are signed by Public Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris alone. Read more.
Alabama ended the day Monday with 8,112 cases of COVID-19, up more than a thousand from when the month began Friday. Deaths stood at 298, with 26 people dying from the disease in the past four days, according to Alabama Department of Public Health data. The state has documented 103,302 tests conducted to determine whether people had the novel coronavirus, but that number is incomplete because some commercial testing labs have not reported negative test results to the state, according to the Health Department data. Read more.
MONTGOMERY — The Alabama Legislature resumed Monday a legislative session that looks much different from when it began three months ago. Wearing masks and sitting apart, lawmakers gathered without lobbyists in the hallways or members of the public in the galleries, kept out of the State House over coronavirus health concerns. In the House, many Democrats stayed home Monday in protest, saying lawmakers shouldn't be meeting or passing budgets yet. While passing the General Fund and education budgets are the stated purpose of resuming the session that must end by May 18, they're not the only bills in play. The Alabama Senate on Monday considered local bills and formal resolutions but also passed Gov. Kay Ivey's bond issue proposal borrowing $1.25 billion for school construction and capital improvements. Senators on Tuesday could consider legislation giving them and their House colleagues significant say in how the state’s nearly $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief money, and future funds, are spent. Read more.
Gov. Kay Ivey gave new orders last week regarding which businesses may reopen after shutting down because of the COVID-19 outbreak. But while some reopened at the stroke of 5 p.m. Thursday, others are slower to get back to businesses, and many had yet to open their doors again as of Monday evening. The Riverchase Galleria, which is the largest enclosed mall in the state, will remain closed until Tuesday, according to a press statement issued by mall operators. “We anticipate that the Mall’s food-use tenants may continue to operate for carryout and delivery service,” the statement said, adding that the Galleria’s popular Mall Walker Program is suspended for the moment. The sight of an empty Galleria parking lot has been startling for April Stone, executive director of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce. “I would come into our office to check mail and so forth, and to look out on the lot in the middle of the day — it was like Christmas Day with no one open,” she said. Meanwhile, professional organizations such as law or accounting firms, as well as many government agencies, mostly continue to operate remotely with their staffs working from home. Industrial employers varied in the degree to which they have been able to operate, either due to government directives or greatly decreased orders that made normal operation unprofitable. Read more. Also read: Shoppers Emerge From Quarantine as State Eases COVID-19 Emergency Order
UAB announced Monday that more than 300 university staff members will be temporarily furloughed in an effort to offset significant financial losses due to COVID-19. UAB Medicine projects a $230 million loss through the end of September. Meanwhile, the university projects a $40 million loss. Read more.
The Alabama Senate this week will consider legislation giving it and the House significant say in how the state’s nearly $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief money, and future funds, are spent. The Senate General Fund budget committee last week amended an existing bill, Senate Bill 161 related to supplemental appropriations, to create a three-person panel of the governor and the Legislature’s two General Fund budget chairmen to make decisions about that money. “This is almost equal to the General Fund budget; we believe it makes sense that we have a voice,” Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, told Alabama Daily News. Read more.
