Latest News
Cases continue to pile up each day that courts are closed to the public due to COVID-19, so Lehigh County will begin using technology to limit the number of people in courthouses and increase access to public proceedings.
Even though they live in ZIP codes with some of the lowest numbers of coronavirus cases, “Black Ohioans are hospitalized or infected by COVID-19 at more than twice their share of the overall population.”
The nation has enjoyed public health triumphs, with life expectancy far higher than it was a century ago. But responsibility for health has always been scattered, with disease tracking less a priority than treating individuals.
It may seem hard to believe that the time of a deadly pandemic might one day be remembered wistfully by those who lived through it. But something like that has happened before in American life.
Currently, the country has hired just a fraction of the contact tracers needed to contain the spread of the coronavirus and help the economy return to life. Experts say a national workforce is needed.
Twenty miles of Seattle streets that have been closed during the pandemic will be permanently closed to car traffic by the end of May. The closures will provide extra space for alternate transportation methods.
The state only has about 300 tracers currently and has plans to begin the first phase of reopening on May 15. Some are upset that the search for contract tracers didn’t begin months ago, “We wasted two months.”
The coronavirus has revolutionized how Americans work and those changes could be permanent. For many organizations, this coronavirus-caused shift to working from home could be a welcome excuse for change.
After two and a half years of development and less than a year after unveiling a $2.8 billion (US) master plan, the New York-based Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs has cut its losses and put Toronto’s smart-city project in limbo.
Researchers have employed a supercomputer to help with faster development of a treatment for the coronavirus. “Instead of doing the tests in the test tube, we replicate that process in the computer.”
Officials worry that citizenship and the coronavirus concerns may deter Latino participation in the 2020 Census. As the coronavirus increases government distrust, encouraging participation is harder than ever.
Boston city council members introduced an ordinance that would ban the city government from using the technology. The ACLU hopes to pass the ordinance before the existing surveillance network is renewed on May 14.
The newly released document reveals that the 300 million N-95 masks that California had ordered have yet to arrive. Gov. Newsom is now requiring a $247.5 million reimbursement by the end of the week.
Florida released a list of coronavirus deaths but blacked out the probable cause of death and description of each case. The redacted document reinforces the so-called Sunshine State’s lack of transparency in dealing with the pandemic.
Pennsylvania’s unemployment compensation fund is not expected to run out, despite the historic number of unemployed workers, but the state may have to eventually repay billions of dollars, which could increase taxes.
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing local governments to find new ways to cut costs. It's an opportunity to build effective financial practices into their cultures, not just for now but for the long term.
Sponsored
Innovative technology rapidly expands West Virginia’s ability to serve citizens affected by COVID-19.
COVID-19 has accelerated demand for telemedicine services. Recently, state legislatures have introduced bills that provide remedies for issues such as reimbursement and credentialing that have slowed implementation.
For small business owners, applying to the Paycheck Protection Program could be the lifeline to get them through the coronavirus pandemic. But doing so is not easy for the businesses or the banks that manage the loans.
As the coronavirus further exposed the state’s connectivity issues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopes to expand broadband services to rural New Mexico to help close the digital divide.
Businesses must comply with the new data security law by July 1, but many employers’ priority is simply to keep financially afloat until then. California’s AG is undeterred and committed to keeping to the deadline.
As workers slowly begin returning to work after shelter-in-place orders are lifted, employers will have to make adjustments to ensure worker safety, like new office configurations and more remote workers.
The Wisconsin capital is in a hiring freeze, stopping all purchases of nonessential supplies and services, and may have to consider furloughs or using some of the city’s “rainy-day” fund.
Amid coronavirus concerns, Connecticut has decided to send out absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in the state to reduce the number of in-person voters for the primary and November elections.
For students who were already struggling in school, the coronavirus pandemic might be too much for them to manage. Miami-Dade is working hard to ensure these students don’t get left behind.
While there are still some parts of health appointments that are better done in person, officials are hopeful that telehealth will be offered and become more mainstream as shelter-in-place orders are lifted.
Locally focused investors support the innovative entrepreneurial ecosystems that will produce high-paying jobs in the post-pandemic world. Public officials can learn a lot from their angel investors.
Sponsored
Forced to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, government agencies are discovering that collaboration on the budget is difficult. What can they do to prepare their budgets remotely and plan for the evolving crisis?
Disinformation of all different stripes is still a persistent problem when it comes to the COVID-19 crisis. Increased reliance on social media and spiking Internet use have helped fuel these campaigns.
Hackers have sought to exploit the novel coronavirus to spread chaos, make money and build political advantage. The trends show a variety of ways bad actors are using this particular global moment to their advantage.
Sponsored
-
Sponsored
Most Read
