Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Montana's stay-at-home order will be lifted Sunday, as part of a gradual and phased reopening of the state, Gov. Steve Bullock tweeted today.

His phase one measures outlined in a statement include giving local school districts the option to return to in-classroom learning beginning May 7.

Places of worship can become operational on April 26 in a manner consistent with social distancing between people who are not members of the same household.

Main street and retail businesses can become operational on or after April 27 if they can adhere to requirements to limit capacity and maintain strict physical distancing. Employers are directed to develop policies to keep employees and customers safe including teleworking when possible, enforcing social distancing protocols, and other measures.

Restaurants, bars, breweries, and distilleries can begin providing some in-establishment services beginning May 4.

Businesses where groups gather without the ability to social distance including movie theaters, gyms, and other places of assembly will remain closed.

Montana’s travel quarantine will remain in effect.

“Our new normal is going to look different. This virus isn’t gone from Montana. So as we turn to support our main street businesses and get more families back to work during this time – as we should – we must also be sure to continue looking out for those around us and protecting everyone around us,” Bullock said. 

“Once we begin to reopen, we want to be able to stay open. Our personal responsibility to protect those around us – particularly those most vulnerable – remains just as important as any time during this pandemic.”

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has put out guidelines for the reopening of gaming establishments in the state once the temporary closures end. 

Nevada operations are currently closed under the state's stay-at-home order. The guidelines would go into effect once that order is lifted or changed by the governor.

Establishments must send a reopening plan to the audit and enforcement divisions at least seven days before reopening, or as soon as possible, the memo said.

The board also listed 18 procedures that licensees should follow and have in place when reopening including that the establishment must comply with all prescribed local, state and federal Covid-19 heath requirements.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced Wednesday that she will require people to wear face coverings in public to combat the spread of Covid-19 in her county, which includes Houston, Texas.

The order will go into effect April 27 and will last for 30 days, said Hidalgo who emphasized that this new measure is “not a substitute for social distancing.”

Turner will announce a plan tomorrow to distribute 70,000 face coverings "to vulnerable communities," the mayor's office tweeted today.

Beginning today, all essential workers in San Francisco, California, can receive Covid-19 testing, Mayor London Breed announced at a news conference today.

The expanded testing is available to both public and private sector workers and any other resident with symptoms who cannot otherwise access testing, Breed said. 

Breed also announced approximately $10.5 million is being allocated to a response and recovery fund to support vulnerable San Franciscans and small businesses during the pandemic.

As of Wednesday, 1,233 San Francisco residents have tested positive for coronavirus and 21 have died, Breed said.

Stakeholders have been meeting to discuss how North Carolina might be able to ease restrictions while still protecting its residents, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

“I look forward to sharing more ways in what easing restrictions in the state could look like in the coming days,” Cohen said at a news conference Wednesday.

Cohen said decisions are currently being made on the state level, and not county-by-county.

Crematoriums in hard hit areas of New York have a backlog of nearly a month and now, volunteers are coming to their aid.

Mike Lanotte, the executive director for the New York state funeral directors association, told CNN that volunteers are helping to ease the burden that downstate crematories are experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Licensed funeral director volunteers, like 58-year-old Dave Penepent, work with multiple funeral homes to pick up and transport bodies of the deceased.

Penepent, who is also an associate professor of Funeral Services Administration at SUNY Canton, said, “I knew that with the backlog of human remains down in the NYC area there was going to be the need to find a solution to get these remains to a final resting place.”

Some context: In the beginning of April, Penepent created “Hands with a Heart” along with four of his students who have been deputized as resident funeral directors. 

“I’m just offering a hand, and what is in that hand? The hearts of the bereaved families. In the middle of our hands is the grieving hearts of the bereaved,” Penepent told CNN. 

Over Easter week Penepent said he and his team transported 70 bodies to crematories out of the area to their final resting place.

This past week “Hands with a Heart” transported 150 bodies, and Penepent says he is looking at close to roughly 250 human remains to be transported this week. Most bodies are going out of state to places like Connecticut, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she signed an executive order to temporarily ease licensing restrictions on the state’s healthcare workforce to “adjust to the urgent demands” Covid-19 has placed on the health care system.

“The actions I'm taking today will we move roadblocks and bolster the number of qualified health care workers who are able to contribute to our Covid-19 response at their full professional capabilities,” Kelly said at a news conference Wednesday.

The governor said this measure will temporarily wave physician supervision or collaboration requirements from certain medical professionals who are assisting in the state’s response efforts such as physician assistants and registered nurses.

The executive order will also permit registered nurses and licensed practical nurses “who hold a specialty license that is exempt, inactive, or has lapsed within the last five years to provide medical services appropriate to their qualifications,” Kelly said.

She added that the order will also allow students enrolled in programs to become licensed, registered, or certified healthcare professionals to help in whatever appropriate roles are necessary to support a facility's response to the pandemic.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday encouraged hospitals to move forward with scheduled surgeries.

Newsom emphasized those surgeries include important medical procedures like heart surgery and cancerous tumor.

Elective procedures like cosmetic surgery are not a priority, he said.

Newsom said allowing hospitals to perform scheduled surgeries is the first phase in returning to normalcy in California.

State officials have been asked to draft a plan for reopening parks and beaches in Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced on Wednesday. 

On Wednesday, Rhode Island announced 365 new coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths, bringing the state total to 5,841 cases and 181 deaths. The state has performed a total of 41,722 tests.