7. Trump has been taking medication to prevent coronavirus
- In an effort to keep from getting the coronavirus, President Donald Trump has been taking hydroxychloroquine once a day for a little over a week, which was approved by a White House physician before Trump started the drug.
- Trump revealed this while at a meeting in the White House State Dining Room, but more recent studies have said that hydroxychloroquine isn’t effective in treating the coronavirus. Of course, that issue is still up for debate as no rigorous testing has been done.
6. Businesses can now apply for loan forgiveness
- Loan forgiveness from the Paycheck Protection Program is now available, according to the Small Business Administration, who recently released guidelines for applications. Additional guidelines and regulations will continue to be released.
- Alabama Bankers Association president and CEO Scott Latham said now “small business owners are one step closer to realizing the greatest benefit of the stimulus program designed to provide relief from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
5. Excess COVID-19 testing exists
- Even if you aren’t showing symptoms, you can be tested for the coronavirus through Huntsville Hospital, according to CEO David Spiller. This is a big change since people were previously required to be symptomatic to qualify for testing.
- Spillers said that they aren’t expecting a big spike in testing because they’ve already been testing some patients before elective procedures that were asymptomatic and have found one that was” COVID positive.” Spillers added, “Contrary to the belief that there were a lot of asymptomatic patients running around in our community that weren’t diagnosed, the data is not proving that to be true.”
4. Tuberville has nothing new to say
- Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville has consistently attacked former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on his recusal during the Russia probe, and now Tuberville’s U.S. Senate campaign has put out a television ad against Sessions on that same issue.
- The ad shows President Donald Trump saying he wouldn’t appoint Sessions given a second chance. Tuberville says, “Sessions quit on the president and he failed Alabama.” He then repeated popular lines that have also been stated by Trump, such as “build the wall” and “drain the swamp.” Sessions responded to the ad saying that Tuberville “doesn’t know the first thing about Alabama or the great issues facing America.”
3. Get ready for the second wave
- The second wave of impeachment is finally here, as House Democrats have informed the Supreme Court that they have an “ongoing presidential impeachment investigation,” claiming that the full special counsel Robert Mueller’s grand jury testimony must be released.
- The Democrats are especially looking at “the possible exercise of improper political influence over recent decisions made in the Roger Stone and Michael Flynn prosecutions, both of which were initiated by the special counsel” The Supreme Court was told that new articles of impeachment could be brought against President Donald Trump if the redacted portions of Mueller’s testimony “reveals new evidence supporting the conclusion that President Trump committed impeachable offenses that are not covered by the articles adopted by the House.”
2. Alabama’s death projection jumps again and health officials are worried
- The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has released another round of projections for the United States and the state of Alabama. While the United States projections show lower the numbers, Alabama’s projection go from 795 deaths by August 4 to 1,208.
- These numbers show that we are not out of the woods yet, and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris iswarning residents that this situation is still very serious in some parts of the state like Montgomery and Mobile Counties, saying, “The numbers are not headed in the right direction, especially in some parts of the state.”
1. Executive amendment for CARES Act funding approved
- Governor Kay Ivey’s proposed executive amendment for the $1.8 billion given to Alabama through the CARES Act has been approved by the state legislature, with a House vote of 73-1 and a Senate vote of 30-1.
- Ivey thanked the legislature for “supporting this amendment and for ensuring this money helps the people of Alabama who have been harmed by this disease.”
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