List of States With Emergency Declaration Due to COVID-19

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Many state governments have each started declaring a state of emergency in anticipation of a rise in confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

That disaster proclamation is “an operational procedure” in part allowing the federal government to reimburse costs related to the state’s response, and making State Disaster Relief Fund dollars available.

With West Virginia’s declaration on Monday, all 50 states have now formally declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 threat — Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa (“disaster”), Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas (“disaster”), Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. There are individual counties and cities that have made their own declarations independent of the state government.

West Virginia is the only state still without a confirmed case of COVID-19. West Virginia finally confirmed a case on March 17 (Tuesday).

On January 31, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II declared a public health emergency (PHE) for the United States to aid the nation’s healthcare community in responding to COVID-19.

A notable declaration of a PHE was for the H1N1 flu in April 2009. The Zika virus also merited a PHE in August 2016.

FEMA is planning for the possibility that the federal government will declare a nationwide emergency, beyond a PHE. On March 13, President Trump announced a national emergency to deal with the COVID-19 situation.

* Because this is fast-breaking news, the information below will be updated with details as soon as they become available.

* The District of Columbia (D.C.) declared a state of emergency on March 11 (Wednesday). Mayor Muriel Bowser said the emergency declaration is largely administrative and allows her to more easily request federal disaster, mandate medical quarantining and make price gouging illegal. There are 10 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in D.C.

Alabama

Gov. Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency on March 13 (Friday) and closed public schools for two-and-a-half weeks as the state reported its first cases of coronavirus.

Alaska

Gov. Mike Dunleavy declared an emergency on March 11 (Wednesday).

Arizona

Governor Doug Ducey declared a public health emergency in Arizona on March 11 (Wednesday) in response to the spread of the coronavirus.

Arizona has seen nine cases of COVID-19, with two confirmed positive and seven others diagnosed as presumptive positive cases.

Arkansas

Declared.

https://governor.arkansas.gov/our-office/executive-orders/

Mayor Frank Scott Jr. declared a state of emergency for the city of Little Rock on March 12 (Thursday).

The City of Fayetteville declared a state of emergency on March 13 (Friday).

California

California governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on March 4 (Wednesday).

Los Angeles County declared a state of emergency on March 4 (Wednesday).

Orange County declared a state of emergency on February 26 (Wednesday).

The City of San Francisco declared a “public health emergency” on Feb. 26 (Wednesday). The mayor is London Breed.

Sonoma County declared a “state of emergency” on March 2 (Monday), after a resident was declared presumptively positive.

Nevada County declared a local health emergency related to COVID-19. There are no known cases of coronavirus in Nevada County currently. Nevada County is in the Sierra Nevada of California.

Colorado

Governor Polis declared an emergency on March 10 (Tuesday).

There are eight (8) presumptive positive COVID-19 cases as of March 6.

Connecticut

Gov. Ned Lamont declared a state of emergency on March 13 (Friday).

At least one employee of a Connecticut hospital has tested positive, with 11 other samples are waiting to be tested.

Delaware

Declared.

Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a State of Emergency on March 1 (Sunday). Two Florida residents have tested positive for the virus as of Sunday.

Two Florida residents have died from COVID-19, as of March 6 (Friday), bringing the USA death toll to 17.

Georgia

Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on March 14 (Saturday).

Two cases in Fulton County were confirmed March 2 (Monday)

A third Georgian tested positive on March 6 (Friday).

Hawaii

Governor Ige issued an emergency proclamation on March 4 (Wednesday).

The mayors of Maui, Kauai, and Oahu also issued emergency proclamations on the same day.

Hawaii confirmed its first case on Friday. It’s an Oahu resident who last month traveled on the cruise ship Grand Princess, which has been linked to more than two dozen cases of COVID-19.

Idaho

Declared on March 13 (Friday).

Lawmakers earlier approved the transfer of $2 million to an emergency fund for COVID-19.

Illinois

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on March 9 (Monday) announced he has issued a state of emergency decree in response to the novel coronavirus threat.

The Chicago area saw its first case on January 24.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) are advising individuals to isolate themselves for two weeks after returning from Italy, Japan, Iran, China, or South Korea.

Indiana

Gov. Eric Holcomb declared a public health emergency on on March 6 (Friday). The state has one confirmed case.

Iowa

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency on March 9 (Monday). This initiatied the disaster response and recovery aspects of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s Iowa Emergency Response Plan. The proclamation permits state agencies to apply resources including personnel, equipment and facilities to carry out activities needed to prevent, contain and lessen the effects of the COVID-19 virus.

Gov. Kim Reynolds said on March 7 (Saturday) that she’s ordered a “partial activation” of a state emergency operations center.

Kansas

Declared

Kentucky

Gov. Andy Beshear declared a public health emergency on March 6 (Friday).

Louisiana

On March 11 (Wednesday), Governor Edwards held Louisiana’s second Unified Command Group meeting about the coronavirus. Following the meeting, he declared a Public Health emergency in Louisiana related to COVID-19.

As of Friday, March 13, 2020, at 8 a.m., the state of Louisiana has confirmed 33 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the state.

Maine

Gov. Janet Mills declared a civil emergency on March 15 (Sunday).

Maine has seven confirmed positive tests of the coronavirus with another five likely cases over four days, including a couple that lives in a Falmouth retirement community.

Maryland

Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency on March 5 (Thursday) after three Marylanders tested positive.

Massachusetts

Governor Baker declared an emergency on March 10 (Tuesday).

Michigan

Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency on March 10 (Tuesday) after two cases of coronavirus were confirmed.

Minnesota

Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime state of emergency on March 13 (Friday).

Mississippi

Gov. Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency March 14 (Saturday), a move he said will expedite Mississippi’s response to the spread of the new coronavirus as neighboring Louisiana saw a large spike in cases.

Missouri

Declared.

Montana

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on March 12 (Thursday) signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency in Montana in response to the coronavirus.

Task force formed. The state has $2 million in its emergency fund.

There is no confirmed case in the state, though a part-time Montana resident traveling in Maryland was diagnosed with the virus Wednesday.

Nebraska

Gov. Pete Ricketts declared a state of emergency on March 13 (Friday).

Nevada

Gov. Steve Sisolak declared a state emergency on March 12 (Thursday).

A person in Clark County tested presumptively positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, marking the first case of the virus in the state. The patient, a male in his 50s, is hospitalized and currently in isolation.

Note that Nevada County, which declared a local health emergency on March 4, is in the state of California.

New Hampshire

Declared by Gov. John Sununu

New Jersey

Governor Phil Murphy declared an emergency on March 9 (Monday).

New Mexico

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a public health emergency on March 11 (Wednesday).

New York

Declared by Governor Cuomo on March 7 (Saturday).

Emergency operations center activated in the state capital of Albany.

North Carolina

Gov. Roy Cooper declared an emergency on March 10 (Tuesday).

Has at least one confirmed case.

North Dakota

Gov. Doug Burgum has declared a State of Emergency on March 13 (Friday).

Ohio

Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency on March 9 (Monday).

The state has three cases — all in their 50s and from Cuyahoga County.

Two of the Ohioans with coronavirus are a married couple who were on a cruise on the Nile River. Of that couple, one person was hospitalized and one was not.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt declared a state of emergency for all 77 Oklahoma counties on March 15 (Sunday).

Oregon

Governor Kate Brown declared a state of emergency on March 8 (Sunday). At least 14 people have so far tested positive for the COVID19 in the state.

Clackamas County declared a state of emergency on March 2 (Monday).

Pennsylvania

Pa. Gov. Wolf signed an emergency declaration on March 6 (Friday) after two cases were confirmed.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island’s governor declared a state of emergency on March 9 (Monday).

Gov. Gina Raimondo said the order allows the state to access additional resources even though the risk of contracting the virus in Rhode Island remains low.

South Carolina

Gov. Henry McMaster announced he will declare a state of emergency for South Carolina on March 13 (Friday).

The governor also said he will order all schools to close in Kershaw and Lancaster counties, where the virus is spreading from person-to-person in the community.

Schools there will remain closed for 14 days.

South Dakota

Gov. Kristi Noem declared a state of emergency on March 13 (Friday).

Tennessee

Gov. Bill Lee declared a state of emergency on March 12 (Thursday).

The state has at least 18 detected cases of COVID-19.

Texas

Gov. Greg Abbott declared on March 13 (Friday) that COVID-19 is a statewide public health disaster.

The governor has the authority under state law to declare a disaster during a disease outbreak and to “control ingress and egress to and from a disaster area” — effectively giving him the power to place a city under lockdown.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg on February 29 declared a state of disaster and public health emergency for the City of San Antonio.

Bexar County joined San Antonio’s declaration on March 2nd. San Antonio is the county seat of Bexar County.

Utah

State declared on March 6 (Friday).

Salt Lake City declared on March 11 (Wednesday).

Vermont

Gov. Phil Scott declared a state of emergency on March 13 (Friday).

Virginia

Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency on March 12 (Thursday).

West Virginia

Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency for all 55 of West Virginia’s counties on March 16 (Monday).

To date, no cases of coronavirus have been reported in West Virginia. The Department of Health and Human Resources reports 84 people have been tested. Of those, 80 were negative and four results are still pending.

Gov. Justice announced that all schools would be closed until March 27.

Wisconsin

Gov. Tony Evers has declared a public health emergency on March 12 (Thursday).

Wyoming

Declared

Washington

Governor Jay Inslee declared a State of Emergency on February 29 after one death.

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