Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statewide mandatory mask order Wednesday, as her state reported more than 2,100 new cases of the coronavirus overnight.
State health officials said 32 hospitals have ICUs that are “full or close to full” amid rising COVID-19 coronavirus cases. “We are almost to the point where our hospital ICU beds are overwhelmed,” Ivey said. “Folks, the numbers do not lie.”
On Tuesday, Alabama and Florida reported their respective states’ highest single-day death tolls since the coronavirus pandemic began. The Alabama Department of Public Health confirmed 40 single-day deaths.
Also Wednesday, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt announced he’s the first governor in the United States to test positive for the coronavirus and that he is isolating at home. Stitt, 48, said he mostly feels fine, although he started feeling “a little achy” Tuesday and sought a test. He said his wife and children were also tested Tuesday and that none of them has tested positive.
Stitt has backed one of the country’s most aggressive reopening plans, resisted any statewide mandate on masks and rarely wears one himself.
In yet another coronavirus-related development Wednesday, Walmart and Sam’s Clubs said customers will be required to wear protective face masks before entering any of their stores, even in locations where there are no government mask mandates.
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