7. Multiple Alabama cities are getting a military flyover today
- In Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Dothan, Mobile and Tuskegee there will be military jets performing flyovers over the hospitals to help show support for medical workers during the pandemic.
- President Donald Trump started this initiative to support our healthcare workers on April 23, saying, “We’re paying tribute to our front line health care workers confronting COVID-19. And it’s really a signal to all Americans to remain vigilant during the outbreak.”
6. Treasury has borrowed almost $3 trillion
- In the second quarter, the United States will borrow more than in all of 2019 due to decreased revenue and an increase in spending for coronavirus relief. A Treasury official on Monday said the country will borrow $2.99 trillion for the second quarter.
- Last year, the Treasury’s net borrowing totaled $1.28 trillion. The last time close to this much was borrowed in the second quarter was $344 billion in 2010, and the highest record in borrowing was $530 billion from July-September 2008.
5. Another sheriff won’t enforce the “Safer-At-Home” order
- Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon previously said that officers wouldn’t be going to churches and businesses to shut them down in compliance with Governor Kay Ivey’s “Safer-at-Home” health order, and now another sheriff has said he won’t enforce the order either.
- Sheriff Hal Allred of Lamar County has said that those in his department won’t be enforcing the health order, saying “We are smart enough to use precautions. I refuse to tell y’all how to worship or make a living. This is my decision and mine alone.”
4. Alabama House meets for the first time in nearly two months
- When the Alabama House met on Monday, those who attended wore masks and they reassigned seats to keep legislators separated. Of all the 105 members, 59 Republicans and one Democrat attended the meeting.
- State Representative Rod Scott (D-Fairfield) was the only Democrat to attend, saying he felt that it was his “constitutional responsibility to represent my constituents on the two things that we are definitely supposed to handle as legislators, and that is the education ways and means budget and the General Fund budget.” House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) said that Democrats wouldn’t be attending and the legislators should wait until July to pass a budget so we can a more complete picture of the impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the state economy.
3. We could see changes to the state health order soon
- Attorney General Steve Marshall has said that the decision for churches to open or remain closed should be left up to the church, but there is a question about if the government can constitutionally keep churches closed.
- Marshall said that he’s given his “thoughts to the governor on this,” adding, “I hope we’re going to see some changes (on church meetings) coming forward.” The current “Safer-At-Home” order prevents non-work gatherings of 10 or more people and keeps restaurants, churches, bars, salons, barbershops and entertainment centers closed.
2. Two new projections show deaths increasing greatly
- The latest projection by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics (IMHE) shows a massive increase in the number of deaths the United States will face between now and August 4 with the number jumping from around 74,000 to almost 135,000 with the relaxation of social distancing being cited as a reason for it.
- FEMA has internal documents and coronavirus case projections that show nearly double the number of daily deaths than what the White House has been predicting. White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said it’s “not a White House document nor has it been presented to the Coronavirus Task Force or gone through interagency vetting.”
1. Alabama death projection has jumped almost eight-fold
- As the national number skyrockets, the IMHE also upped the number of death projected for the state of Alabama. The number has jumped from 294 earlier this week to 2,308.
- This number has been fluctuating from a high of 7,300 dead on April 1 to a low of 290 in mid-April, but there are a lot of questions about what the actual numbers will end up being as the state starts to reopen with elective medical procedures taking place and people begin leaving their houses to visit beaches and other recreational areas.
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