7. Coronavirus testing is still free
- Governor Kay Ivey has clarified that despite the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now saying that asymptomatic people need not necessarily be tested for the coronavirus, there are still federally funded testing locations where people can be tested for free.
- These locations are in Tuscaloosa, Center Point and Hoover and will offer 60,000 free tests within the next two weeks. Ivey has said that “these tests are available to everyone everywhere in Alabama who just wants to get tested.”
6. Auburn had a 4% rate of positivity from reentry testing
- Auburn University’s mandatory reentry testing for the coronavirus ended on August 21, and they’ve released the data that shows there was a 4.03% positivity rate for students.
- There was a total of 859 positive cases out of the 21,315 tests, and the university has said that most cases were “asymptomatic or exhibited extremely mild conditions.” Those who tested positive were quarantined immediately.
5. Biden shouldn’t debate Trump?
- During a press conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was asked about former Vice President Joe Biden debating President Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election, and Pelosi said that she doesn’t “think that there should be any debates.”
- Pelosi went on to say that she doesn’t want the debates to be “an exercise in skullduggery” and that she “wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with [Trump], nor a debate in terms of the presidency of the United States.”
4. Unemployment claims continue to decline in Alabama
- The Alabama Department of Labor has released new data to show that last week there were 8,676 initial unemployment claims in the state, which is the second lowest week of unemployment claims since the week of March 14.
- The most recent data is a 21% decrease from the previous week of 11,048 unemployment claims.
3. Governor Kay Ivey approves aid to Wisconsin
- Governor Kay Ivey has authorized 350 military police through the Alabama National Guard to be sent — if needed — to Wisconsin to help with the civil unrest that’s taking place. Wisconsin has already sent in some of their own National Guard members.
- President Donald Trump has previously said that “he will be sending in federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!” as civil unrest continues to take place in the wake of Jacob Blake being shot by police.
2. Trump formally accepts the nomination
- Last night at the Republican National Convention, President Donald Trump formally accepted the GOP nomination in the 2020 Presidential Election with protestors screaming into the void while a petulant American media fretted over the event taking place on the White House lawn and without the proper social distancing.
- With all of this as a backdrop in their attempt to keep the message from being front and center, President Donald Trump made his case for reelection by imploring Americans to remember, “They are coming after me, because I am fighting for you, that’s what’s happening.” He warned Americans that Vice President Joe Biden is a trojan horse for the American far-left, “Make no mistake, if you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will defund police departments all across America. They will pass federal legislation to reduce law enforcement nationwide. They will make every city look like Democrat-run Portland, Oregon.”
1. Safer-At-Home order extended
- Governor Kay Ivey has announced that the Safer-At-Home order, which includes capacity limits for restaurants and retailers and a mask mandate, has been extended until October 2, as the mandate seems to have helped slow the spread of the coronavirus.
- Since the mask mandate has been put in place statewide, there’s been a 55% decrease in coronavirus cases per day on average, and Ivey has said that she understands people “don’t want to wear the mask,” but she added that “we are seeing a significant drop in our hospitalizations and daily positive COVID-19 numbers. I don’t doubt that this is the result of our mask ordinance.”
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