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Law360 (June 23, 2020, 5:52 PM EDT ) As a regional surge in COVID-19 prompted states like Florida to step up enforcement of restrictions, over the past week other regions continued to advance reopening plans amid signs the virus' spread is slowing.
Restaurants that have made do with takeout can now resume indoor service in Massachusetts and New Jersey, and the Garden State's beloved malls can open their doors later this month. Youth and adult sports resumed in Delaware, and New York City reopened its economy, although the state's businesses will face stiffer penalties for violations of coronavirus restrictions.
Additional Pennsylvania counties joined the commonwealth's least restrictive phase of reopening, and four of its colleges received funding for coronavirus response innovation projects. In other scholarly efforts aimed at fighting the pandemic, Massachusetts health officials studied how the virus has impacted different races and ethnicities.
Here's a breakdown of some COVID-19-related state measures from the past week.
Click for state-by-state data on COVID-19 legislation and executive orders, powered by LexisNexis.
California
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed an executive order extending a waiver that allows retailers to pause in-store redemption of recyclable beverage containers.
Delaware
As of Monday, personal care services could expand their operations to 60% of fire code capacity. As of Saturday, youth and adult recreational sports tournaments were allowed to resume subject to health guidelines that include collecting contact information for players, staff, coaches and spectators for tracing purposes. The lifted restrictions were authorized per executive orders by Gov. John Carney.
Florida
In response to a surge of coronavirus cases, cities in the populous Miami-Dade County announced Monday that they're cracking down with respect to rules like mandatory face masks in public. Three restaurants learned this the hard way after officials shut them down last week for noncompliance with coronavirus safety mandates.
Massachusetts
As of Monday, the state entered the second phase of its reopening plan. Phase Two allows for indoor dining at restaurants, the use of retail dressing rooms by appointment and the opening of offices at 50% capacity.
On Friday, the state Department of Public Health's COVID-19 Health Equity Advisory Group released data and recommendations with respect to the differences in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths for different races and ethnicities.
New Jersey
As of Sunday, outdoor visitation with residents of long-term care facilities could resume.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that indoor dining could resume at restaurants subject to a 25% capacity limit, with a maximum of 100 persons. He also raised the outdoor gathering limit to 250 people and said outdoor religious services and political activities will continue to have no limits.
On Thursday, Murphy and State Police Superintendent Patrick Callahan announced that indoor shopping malls could reopen on June 29.
New York
As of Monday, New York City, the nation's biggest coronavirus hotspot, was cleared to enter the second phase of the state's reopening plan. Phase Two allows certain nonessential businesses to operate, while gyms and indoor entertainment facilities must remain closed and restaurants must limit operations to takeout service and outdoor dining.
On Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced strengthened enforcement initiatives for those who violate coronavirus orders, including the immediate loss of liquor licenses and shut down orders for businesses.
Pennsylvania
As of Friday, eight more counties were authorized to enter the "green," or least restrictive, phase of the state's phased reopening. Those counties are Dauphin, Franklin, Huntingdon, Luzerne, Monroe, Perry, Pike and Schuylkill. Currently, 54 of the commonwealth's 67 counties are in the green phase.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University, the University of Pittsburgh and Villanova University were awarded $174,603 through the Manufacturing PA Innovation Program COVID-19 Challenge, which addresses the commonwealth's response to the pandemic.
--Editing by Breda Lund.
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