‘Diddy’ delivers, chicken coops, New Year’s Eve restrictions: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Gadsden: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Alabama topped 2,800 this week, as recent days have shown a steady climb and new record high inpatient counts – 2,804 on Tuesday – as the surge in cases continues. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, the University of Alabama’s Division of Infectious Diseases director, said Alabama now is third in the nation in COVID-19 hospitalizations per capita, behind Nevada and Arizona. She said Alabama is sixth in the nation in the number of COVID-19 cases per capita, after falling out of the top 10. On Christmas Eve, the number hospitalized was 2,458 across the state; on Christmas Day and on Saturday, it was 2,516, according to statistics published by BamaTracker. On Sunday, the number rose to 2,631; and it jumped significantly by Monday, to 2,802 people hospitalized.
Idaho officials have released a rough timeline for when residents can expect their turn to get the coronavirus vaccination, though much of the planning remains a work in progress and is contingent on the state's supply and demand.
Idaho long-term care facility residents begin to receive COVID-19 vaccines idahostatejournal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from idahostatejournal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sandhill cranes, black-footed ferrets, Washington crossing the Delaware: News from around our 50 states From USA TODAY Network and wire reports, USA TODAY
Alabama
Montgomery: In-person help for residents needing assistance with unemployment claims is coming to an end as a new phone appointment system will be established for the new year. The Department of Labor said it is ending in-person service at the Crump Senior Center because of health and safety concerns related to the coronavirus. The last dates for such service will be Monday and Tuesday. Appointments for those days will be available on the ADOL website www.labor.alabama.gov. Claimants can call (800) 361-4524 beginning Sunday after 5 p.m. until midnight on Sundays through Thursday to schedule a call-back for the next day to set up an appointment. Claimants are encouraged to keep their phones near them for their scheduled call-back, the department said. The calls will come from a Montgomery number. State of
CVS, Walgreens and a handful of smaller pharmacies in other states are participating in an end-to-end vaccination program with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The pharmacies receive shipments of the vaccine themselves and their pharmacists deliver and administer the doses at care facilities.
“Some facilities already have a date of when the pharmacist will arrive at their facility; most are waiting for a definitive date,” said Robert Vande Merwe, the executive director of the Idaho Health Care Association, which represents long-term care centers.
According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, 319 of the approximate 400 long-term care centers in Idaho, or about 80%, have elected to participate in the pharmacy vaccination program.