Government

The Tennessean reports: Days after issuing an executive order urging Tennesseans to stay at home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Bill Lee will now mandate the action. The governor’s office said in a news release he would be signing an executive order on Thursday. The order will be effective immediately, said Gillum Ferguson, the governor’s spokesman. It will last …

The New York Post reports: The MTA and its largest union want bus riders to shield their mouths and noses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has ravaged the agency’s workforce and led to severe service reductions and dangerous crowding. Bus riders should “cover their noses and mouths with bandanas or scarfs… if they do not have masks,” …

Reuters reports: New York City crematories are extending their hours, burning bodies into the night. The state has started a running tally of all cremations and burials. City officials are surveying upstate cemeteries for temporary interment sites. Funeral homes and cemetery directors described a surge in demand unseen in decades from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus that …

The Hill reports: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) on Wednesday called on the city’s millions of residents to start covering their faces whenever they are out in public as part of an effort to combat the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Garcetti said on Twitter that the decision was guided by data showing that many of those infected with …

Bloomberg News reports: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said the state needs more capacity to store bodies amid increasing deaths from the new coronavirus. “Those numbers are going to continue to rise,” Murphy said at a Trenton news conference. Refrigerated trucks for the bodies will be needed ‘soon’ in New Jersey, the governor said, adding that he is talking to …

NBC Boston reports: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has extended the state’s stay-at-home advisory and an executive order requiring all non-essential businesses to close through May 4. “These actions will improve our ability to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” he said, noting the “high cost” the measures have taken on residents and business owners. “If we can limit face-to-face, person-to-person contact …

NBC Philadelphia reports: Lakewood Police and Ocean County prosecutors said Eliezer Silber, 37, and Miriam Silber, 34, held a gathering of 40 to 50 people in the yard and street in front of their home Sunday. Police dispersed the crowd and charged the Silbers with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child, one count for each of their …

Axios reports: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam issued stay-at-home orders on Monday, with exceptions for residents engaged in essential services, including health care and government functions. The states are the latest to announce policies to enforce social distancing, which have affected almost 250 million Americans. More than 1.5 billion people worldwide had been asked to stay …

The New York Post reports: The Empire State has recorded nearly 60,000 coronavirus cases and almost 1,000 deaths, but a new poll shows an overwhelming majority of New Yorkers think Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing a great job handling the pandemic. A Siena College poll released Monday shows 87 percent of eligible voters approve of the job Cuomo is doing …

ABC News reports: Texas expanded its quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers on Sunday, adding to a growing patchwork of domestic travel rules aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus. Gov. Greg Abbott targeted some of the pandemic’s hot spots, ordering that air travelers from California, Washington state and several other places must self-quarantine for two weeks after arriving in …

NBC News reports: Rhode Island’s National Guard and state police are stopping motorists with New York license plates and going door-to-door to find people who may have traveled recently from the state. The enforcement actions come after Gov. Gina Raimondo ordered that anyone who has moved from New York state to Rhode Island in the past two weeks must self-quarantine …

The Kansas City Star reports: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly imposed a statewide stay at home order Saturday in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Kelly said the measure, which follows similar orders in the state’s most populous counties, is necessary to give health care workers the time to prepare for the peak of the virus and …

The Oklahoman reports: Former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, a physician who became a powerful force in Congress on fiscal matters, died early Saturday morning after a long fight with prostate cancer. He was 72. Coburn, of Muskogee, served in the Senate from 2005 to 2015 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001. After leaving the Senate, …

Via press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom: Governor Gavin Newsom today issued an executive order banning the enforcement of eviction orders for renters affected by COVID-19 through May 31, 2020. The order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent and prohibits enforcement of evictions by law enforcement or courts. It also requires tenants to declare in writing, no …

USA Today reports: Several members of Congress from New York City are traveling to Washington, D.C., Friday to vote on the coronavirus stimulus package despite White House guidance for New Yorkers to self-quarantine Earlier this week at a coronavirus task force press briefing, Dr. Deborah Birx advised people from New York to self-quarantine for 14 days after leaving the city …

The New York Daily News reports: New Yorkers should be prepared for the city to remain in “pause” due to coronavirus through May even as President Trump gives Americans “false hope” the country will reopen by Easter next month, Mayor de Blasio said Friday. “We have to be ready for that and I think it’s going to spread in the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated that the U.S. government would take stakes in airline carriers in exchange for billions of dollars in direct grants to the companies, as part of a $2 trillion economic rescue package, according to people familiar with the matter. He detailed his plans during last-minute negotiations when the aid to airlines …

Business Insider reports: Of the funding allocated to the CDC, the bill sets aside at least $500 million for public health data surveillance and modernizing the analytics infrastructure. The CDC must report on the development of a “surveillance and data collection system” within the next 30 days. While it’s not clear what form that surveillance system will take, the federal …

The Washington Post reports: Facing one of the worst economic downturns in American history, one that is unsparing in its trauma, the Senate late Wednesday unanimously approved a $2 trillion emergency relief bill that attempts to arrest the financial havoc caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Lawmakers acted with unusual speed and cooperation to produce the largest economic rescue package in …

Denver’s ABC News affiliate reports: Gov. Jared Polis issued a statewide stay-at-home order Wednesday afternoon. It goes into effect 6 a.m. Thursday and will last until April 11. Many Coloradans, including the vast majority of people in metro Denver, live in counties where stay-at-home orders have already been announced. In-person gatherings with people outside one’s residence are prohibited. People can …