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The Latest: Ariz. says its unemployed to get only $300 extra

A sign encouraging social distancing is seen during the "World's Longest Yard Sale," Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, in Dunlap, Tenn. The six-state yard sale, which was held despite concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, started Thursday and ended Sunday, and stretched from Alabama to Michigan. (C.B. Schmelter/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
Original Publication Date August 13, 2020 - 10:21 PM

PHOENIX -- Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s office says unemployed residents of the state were expecting to receive an additional $400 a week under an executive order by President Donald Trump will get only $300 extra.

Friday’s announcement comes after the state decided it should not use its own funds to cover a required 25% match to the extra coronavirus payments.

Arizonans were getting $600 extra on top of the maximum $240 a week. But that extra pay expired in late July when Congress failed to extend it.

Also on Friday, Arizona health officials reported 928 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and 40 additional deaths, increasing the state’s totals to 191,721 confirmed cases with 4,423 deaths.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Canada-U.S. border closed for another month

— Alabama Gov. Ivey’s chief of staff in quarantine

— Indonesia takes part in late-stage China vaccine trial

— Rural families without internet face tough choice on school. Roughly 3 million students across the United States don’t have access to a home internet connection. For some, it is simply too expensive or there's no wi-fi.

— A federal judge threw out a lawsuit by an Arizona woman who claimed New York’s quarantine requirement for travellers from hotspot states infringed on her “fundamental right to travel.”

— NBA players at the Walt Disney World campus have been safe, with no players testing positive for the coronavirus since arriving in early July. Now some players whose teams missed the playoffs return home to virus hotspots.

— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting 2,264 more people have tested positive for the coronavirus — the largest increase in confirmed cases in nearly three months and the third time the state has topped 2,000 daily cases in the last week.

The state health department also said Friday that 25 more people have died from the virus, raising Illinois’ death toll from the pandemic to 7,721.

The most confirmed cases reported in Illinois in a single day was 4,014 on May 12.

In a press release, the health department blamed the uptick in the number of virus cases on local elected officials of communities “where there is little public concern for consequences or enforcement” of social distancing and isolation orders. Officials say 14 of the state’s 102 counties were deemed at “warning level” for the resurgence.

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FRESNO, Calif. -- Students at a private school in California have attended a second day of in-person classes despite state and county orders to close the school.

Immanuel Schools in Reedley was told on Thursday to close its classrooms until the county is removed from a state monitoring list for two weeks. Fresno County also issued a health order against the K-12 school, which has about 600 students.

But the school allowed students into classes Thursday and Friday without masks or social distancing. The school’s trustees and superintendent say they believe students’ development will suffer if they cannot be taught on campus.

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LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says 4 million masks will be distributed to the state's residents at no charge to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

The face coverings will go to low-income people, seniors, schools and homeless shelters through a partnership of the state, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Ford Motor Co.

FEMA is supplying 2.5 million of the masks, including 1.5 million that the state has already sent to social service agencies. Ford is paying for 1.5 million masks, which combined with an additional 1 million from FEMA will go to low-income schools, the city of Detroit, health clinics for the poor, some virus testing sites and other places.

The governor has required that masks be worn in enclosed public spaces and also in outdoor public areas whenever consistent distancing is not possible.

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LOS ANGELES — California is withering under a heat wave that has brought dangerously high temperatures, increased wildfire danger and fears of coronavirus spread as people flock to beaches and recreation areas.

High pressure building over Western states pushed temperatures into triple digits across the state by midday Friday.

Los Angeles opened cooling centres, but with limited capacity because of coronavirus social distancing requirements.

Health officers were worried that people will pack beaches, lakes and other recreation areas without following mask and social distancing orders — a major concern in a state that has seen more than 600,000 coronavirus cases.

Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, told the San Francisco Chronicle that Israel saw a COVID-19 resurgence after a May heat wave inspired school officials to let children remove their masks.

“People will want to take off their masks when it’s hot,” Rutherford said. “Don’t do it.”

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A pair of COVID-19 clusters has been discovered at separate dormitories at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

An alert sent out by the school on Friday said the clusters were confirmed in Ehringhaus Community on the south end of campus and Granville Towers, which is on the west side of campus and adjacent to downtown Chapel Hill.

According to the school, the people in the clusters have been identified and are isolating and receiving medical monitoring. The school says it has also notified the Orange County Health Department and is working with the agency to identify possible potential exposures.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s high school athletic board has voted to begin practices for football and other fall sports Aug. 24 and games less than two weeks later. The decision pushes aside the advice of medical experts who said competition shouldn’t resume for at least six weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Florida High School Athletic Association board voted 11-5 on Friday to begin practices this month, though some counties with major outbreaks might choose to delay their seasons and forgo participation in the statewide playoffs.

Football games and other competitions could start Sept. 4, but the 67 countywide school districts plus private schools will have until Sept. 18 to resume if they want to participate in the playoffs. Other fall sports affected are swimming and diving, cross country, golf, bowling and girl’s volleyball.

The association’s vote pushed aside the recommendation of its medical advisory board, which called for not resuming sports until Sept. 28 at the earliest. No county meets all the criteria the board recommended for the resumption of sports.

The decision comes as Florida reported more than 6,200 new coronavirus cases and 200 deaths on Friday. Over the past week, Florida has averaged 175 reported coronavirus deaths per day — only Texas was higher with 212.

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OAKLAND, Calif. — A judge has ordered a McDonald’s restaurant in California that was hit by a coronavirus outbreak to follow increased health and safety protocols to help stop the spread of the virus.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports an Alameda County judge issued a preliminary injunction on Thursday against the owners of the McDonald’s in Oakland. Workers said the outbreak there infected 35 people.

The judge ordered them to provide employees masks and gloves. It also required them to send home workers who show symptoms of infection.

After being closed for weeks, the McDonald’s franchise reopened in July after agreeing to requirements in a temporary restraining order.

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PHOENIX — Arizona health officials on Friday reported 928 coronavirus cases and 40 more deaths.

That increased the state’s totals to 191,721 confirmed cases and 4,423 deaths.

Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Arizona peaked about a month ago. The latest hospitalization metrics posted by the Department of Health Services are trending down to mid-June levels.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases decreased from 2,550 to 1,021 per day from July 30 to Aug. 13. The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths decreased from 94 to 54 in the same time period.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama health officials are encouraged by a decline in coronavirus cases a month after a statewide mask order.

State Health Officer Scott Harris says the numbers are improving but warned people shouldn’t abandon precautions heading into Labor Day gatherings and school openings.

The seven-day average number of daily cases has dropped below 1,000, after reaching 1,800 in mid-July. The number of hospitalized patients has dropped from about 1,600 to 1,400, and the per cent of positive tests has dropped from 16.7% to 12.3%.

Harris encouraged people to keep wearing masks. He says the numbers may be declining because the surge of cases after the July 4 holiday has ended and the statewide mask order in July “played a role” in lowering the numbers.

Dr. Don Williamson, the former state health officer who heads the Alabama Hospital Association, says the next concern is a possible spike when students return to schools and colleges and gather for the Labor Day weekend.

Williamson says while the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals has dropped, 89% of ICU beds are full.

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WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez is urging all schools on the tribe’s reservation to use online learning during the fall semester to help reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

Nez’s statement cited all public and private schools, including charter schools, schools operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and those controlled by the tribe.

More than 9,300 confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported on the reservation, which includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

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TORONTO — The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel for at least another month.

The statement Friday by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair came a day after Mexico announced a similar measure for its border with the United States. The land border restrictions aimed at controlling the coronavirus pandemic were first announced in March and have been renewed monthly.

Many Canadians are concerned about a reopening. Canada has flattened the epidemic curve, reporting 9,000 deaths and 123,000 cases. The U.S. leads the world in confirmed deaths (167,00) and cases (5.2 million), according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Essential cross-border workers such as health care professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Americans and Canadians returning to their respective countries are exempted from the border closure.

Canada sends 75% of its exports to the U.S. and about 18% of American exports go to Canada.

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HONOLULU — The Hawaii Department of Health has hired a new official to oversee the state’s maligned coronavirus contact tracing program.

The Honolulu Star Advertiser reported that Dr. Emily Roberson will lead the department’s Disease Investigation Branch. Health department spokeswoman Janice Okubo says Roberson is reorganizing the efficiency and capacity of the branch.

The announcement follows a recent increase in Hawaii’s number of coronavirus cases and calls for the removal of state health director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Sarah Park by Democratic U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Democratic Lt. Gov. Josh Green has called for Park’s removal from management of the tracing program.

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey’s chief of staff is quarantining at home after his wife tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola says Ivey’s Chief of Staff Jo Bonner doesn’t have symptoms but is in quarantine at home. Bonner’s wife took a test after attending a visitation for a funeral last Friday in Mobile where she later learned several other attendees had tested positive. Janee Bonner doesn’t have symptoms of the virus, but the test was positive.

Maiola says Bonner was not with the 75-year-old Republican governor this week and Janee hasn’t been around the governor in several months.

News from © The Associated Press, 2020
The Associated Press

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