Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the US - Latest State Updates - April 14, 2020

Arkansas

As of April 13th

The number of cases in Arkansas are up to 1,410 driven in large part by outbreaks at the Federal Correctional Institute in Forrest City and Arkansas Correctional Facility, Cummins, in Pine Bluff.

Independent contractors are now able to receive guidance on how to claim unemployment benefits through the state.

Delaware

As of April 13th

Recognizing that their states have one integrated regional economy, Delaware Governor John Carney, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, and Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo today announced the creation of a multi-state council to restore the economy and get people back to work. This announcement builds on the states’ ongoing regional approach to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

View the press release here.

Georgia

As of April 14th

State cases are up to 14,223 at noon today as compared to 13,621 Monday night. Georgia is up to 501 deaths up from 480 Monday night. 2,769 patients are hospitalized as compared to 2,702 on Monday night. Dougherty, Fulton and Cobb Counties have the most cases in our State.
IHME predicts that Georgia will now peak on May 1 with 91 deaths on May 3. IHME predicts a shortage of 218 ICU beds and 715 ventilators [both numbers less than before].
The Georgia Republican Party has cancelled its State Convention to select delegates for the RNC. Stay tuned as they seek direction from the RNC as to the new method to choose delegates.

Kansas

As of April 14th

Please see the following new Executive Order that Governor Laura Kelly issued yesterday. The EO extends conditional and temporary relief from certain motor carrier rules and regulations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The full order can be found here.

Missouri

As of April 13th

Senate Majority Floor Leader Caleb Rowden announced that the Missouri Legislature will return to regular session on Monday, April 27. This will leave the General Assembly with three weeks to conduct business before their constitutional adjournment on May 15.

Tennessee

As of April 13th

The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 5,610 with the most cases in Shelby County (Memphis-1,331) followed by Davidson County (Nashville-1,207). There are 109 confirmed deaths in the state and 579 hospitalizations. For ten consecutive days, the state has maintained only single digit increases in the percentage of new cases. A county-by-county case count and daily chart of identified cases below.

Today, Governor Lee extended the statewide “Safer at Home” order thru April 30. It was set to expire tomorrow night.

Since Sunday, around 6,000 tests were processed; many of which occurred in coordination with the National Guard in two state correctional facilities. Of the 1,145 correctional employees and contractors tested, 19 positive cases of COVID-19 were identified at Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville and the Bledsoe County Correctional Complex in Pikeville. Additionally, two inmates at the Turney Center Industrial Complex have tested positive and one inmate at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center has also tested positive.

The state has approximately 800 of its 2,000 ICU beds available with an additional 2,000 available as reserves. On Wednesday, the state plans to announce its plan for extending school closures. They are currently ordered closed thru April 24.

The state is also responding to “significant damage” and at least two deaths from last night’s storms and at least one confirmed tornado in the southeast portion of the state around Chattanooga. The Governor will visit that region of the state tomorrow morning.

Economic Response

The Department of Labor & Workforce Development released the latest number of new unemployment claims filed for the Week ending April 4 (see graph below). Among the new claims, 47,325 came from northern Middle Tennessee and 25,040 came from East Tennessee. Overall, new unemployment claims have increased 25 times its normal rate.

Also today, Gov. Lee indicated his desire for a “phased reboot” of the state’s economy with industry-specific guidelines, noting the current economic shutdown is unsustainable in its current form. An economic recovery task force has been formed to determine that guidance and will be led by the Commissioner of the Department of Tourism.

Wisconsin

As of April 13th

Legislature’s Extraordinary Session on Coronavirus Response Bill

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Majority Leader Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) announced that the State Assembly will convene at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, March 14^th for an Extraordinary Session. The Session will be broadcast on WisconsinEye.

In a statement, the Speaker Vos and Leader Steineke said the following:

“The Assembly will meet in an extraordinary session on Tuesday to vote on a coronavirus response bill. Assembly leaders have worked with the minority party and the governor’s office on legislation that will give the Evers administration the needed flexibility to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. The bill will allow our state to capture millions in federal dollars on top of the US$2 billion in coronavirus funding from the federal CARES Act. The legislation also eliminates the one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits. We applaud the bipartisan work that went into the creation of this important bill.

“Representatives have been given a choice to attend either in person or virtually. Members who are attending in person, as is customary for legislative sessions, are being asked to follow a set of guidelines to maintain proper social distancing. We appreciate the tireless efforts of the Assembly Chief Clerk’s Office, Sergeant’s Office and the Legislative Technology Services Bureau for coordinating the historic session that will enable us to accomplish the legislative work in the safest way we can.

“While tomorrow’s extraordinary session will certainly be a first, we anticipate a day of bipartisan action to help hard-working Wisconsin families and businesses.” (link)

Statement by Majority Leader Fitzgerald:

“We crafted this bill taking into consideration the governor’s proposals, reacting to legislation passed by Congress, and receiving input from both parties in the Legislature. This bill extends a lifeline to the recently unemployed and provides the Joint Finance Committee flexibility to respond to future challenges caused by COVID-19. There is no such thing as a perfect piece of legislation, but action is desperately needed right now. We plan to move forward with a vote in the Senate on Wednesday.” (link)

On Twitter, Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling tweeted:

I support @GovEvers call for action and the comprehensive solutions he put forward, but the bill being proposed by the majority party still falls far short of what’s needed to address this ongoing pandemic. This bill acknowledges the immediate need to help Wisconsin workers and capture federal health care dollars but we need to do more to help businesses, families and communities struggling with the long-term impacts of COVID-19.

Links to the Legislation:

Governor Evers Media Availability on State Response to COVID-19

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers was joined by Secretary-designee Andrea Palm, DHS Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard, and Ryan Nilsestuen, Chief Legal Counsel in the Office of the Governor for their Monday media briefing on the status of COVID-19 pandemic and Wisconsin’s reaction.

The Governor began his remarks stating that “we’re starting to see Wisconsin flattening the curve which means safer at home is working” and thanking Wisconsinites for their responsiveness to the order.

Some notes from the Q&A:

The Governor was asked about whether the “Safer at Home” order, which is set to expire on April 24^th would be extended? He responded;

“We’re not in position to make a decision on that at this point in time, we’re looking at the success we had first of all but seeing what opportunities exist in the future in other words we’re not prepared to make a statement on that at this point in time.”

The Governor was asked whether he would set up a task force with business leaders and community leaders on a timeline to reopen the state?

The Governor said that he will be reaching out to different business groups but at the same time will be consulting with health care officials and that whenever it does happen it’s not going to be flipping a switch and he will want to make sure the local public health systems are in place so we don’t return to the same place we are today.

Asked whether he would consider categorizing grocery store workers as first responders to receive some of the associated benefits that are afforded to them during the health emergency like child care and other benefits?

The Governor said it was definitely something they were considering.

Link to video of the media availability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYzTDs_iwBA

Updated numbers released on Monday:

In addition to the daily numbers that are released from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) we will also be including numbers from the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) COVID-19 Situational Awareness Update site.

Of note over the weekend are the following new numbers (as of latest 4/12/2020 postings):

35,916 negative tests
- +853 over reported on Sunday
3,428 confirmed cases
- +87 over reported on Sunday
154 deaths
- +10 over reported on Sunday
431 Hospital Admissions (163patients in ICU)
- Hospital admissions are -12 compared to those reported on Sunday (-13 ICU patients)

Sources:

Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA) COVID-19 Situational Awareness Update site

DHS COVID-19: County Data; https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/county.htm

Daily Numbers: