COVID-19 cases in Colorado’s corrections system have shot up in recent weeks, putting the rate of infections inside prisons, jails and halfway houses far above the rate for all other Coloradans while a previously unreleased state report predicts the virus will cause hundreds of deaths in Colorado prisons.

WASHINGTON — Many laid-off workers who lost health insurance in the coronavirus shutdown soon face the first deadlines to qualify for fallback coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Elected officials, businesses and others are depending on coronavirus testing and infection-rate data as states reopen so that they will know if a second wave of contagion is coming — and whether another round of stay-at-home orders or closings might be needed.

The numbers reported by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment on Sunday, May 24.

U.S. Sens. Cory Gardner and Michael Bennet dig live music in D.C., if you mean government aid for music venues.

In an email to members Saturday, the trade group said it would ask for a bill to allow establishments with on-premise liquor licenses to sell alcohol for off-premise consumption via takeout and delivery until at least July 1, 2022.

Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order Friday to boost the amount of state money available to local firefighters.

Lime, the company that operates scooter- and bike-sharing programs, will redeploy bicycles in Denver’s “food deserts,” which are most typically low-income neighborhoods, beginning on Friday.

“Our USPS is only as strong as the health of dedicated employees allows,” DeGette wrote in a letter to Postmaster General Megan Brennan Friday. “I ask you to work closely with the DDPHE to help resolve this matter in a responsible, public health focused way."

Restaurants, gyms, churches and Park Meadows mall could all reopen soon, after the executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment granted a variance request for the county Friday night.

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn is leading a call for liability protections for churches if their congregants contract COVID-19 while congregating there.

On Thursday night, the Joint Budget Committee made its final cut to balance the 2020-21 budget by turning to K-12 education, and it was the biggest of all: as much as $724 million, although that figure could be reduced down to $577 million in the coming days.

The CARES Act $500 payment — and $1,200 to adults — was based off of the 2019 tax year, meaning that newborns are not counted.

Nationally, 54% of businesses that obtained loans through the federal Paycheck Protection Program expect to receive full forgiveness by keeping workers on payroll during the pandemic.

Making the most recent shot in an ongoing tiff, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis called Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez a hypocrite on the radio Friday.

Lawyers for Colorado Concern argued Friday morning that Gov. Jared Polis violated the state constitution when he meddled in the state election process a week earlier.

One Colorado will show its Pride online this year. Thursday, the state's largest gay rights advocacy organization announced it would observe Pride week next month with an online event.

With time running out to find the money to balance the 2020-21 budget, the Joint Budget Committee did what it hoped it wouldn't have to do: recommend a major cut in funding to K-12 education.

"I'm excited," Polis told restaurant owners during an online town hall. "Finally, we're nearing a time where you guys are going to be able to have customers and be open."

Regular unemployment claims declined for a fifth straight week last week but Colorado is paying record jobless benefits as the result of economic restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the state labor department said Thursday.

Richard Lawson, a dean at the Episcopal Church, told Denverite that “Everybody who’s been camping here is God’s child and is doing the best they can….They’ve found a home here and a refuge here.”

Passengers of the Regional Transportation District view riding buses or trains as a relatively risky activity during the pandemic, and would like to see mandatory face masks, a decrease in coronavirus cases, or a vaccine in order to feel safe, according to a the results of a survey.

Facilities housing seniors “have been the epicenter of both outbreaks and deaths in Colorado and across the country,” reads the letter, organized by U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, to agency Administrator Peter T. Gaynor. “COVID-19 linked deaths in Colorado’s senior living facilities continue to be the single largest contributor to COVID-19 fatalities in our state, representing approximately 61% of total deaths.”

Food pantries across Jefferson County are seeing families who never relied on food assistance before the pandemic now comprising 30-40% of their customers, the county reported.

WASHINGTON — More than 2.4 million people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the viral outbreak that triggered widespread business shutdowns two months ago and sent the economy into a deep recession.

Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday signed an executive order to activate alternate care sites for COVID-19 patients who do not require hospitalization but still need medical care and observation while recovering from the disease.

WASHINGTON — As Americans confront a crisis unlike any in modern times, the Senate, which prides itself on being the world's greatest deliberative body, is doing almost anything but deliberate the coronavirus.

The bill — dubbed the Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards a Recovery in Twenty-twenty (RESTART) Act — would rework the $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program to give businesses hit hardest by the pandemic more time to use emergency funds while still qualifying for loan forgiveness, according to a summary provided by Bennet's office.

The Public Health Emergency Privacy Act would clarify that data collected for public health reasons be limited in its use, and that use of such data for discriminatory or commercial purposes is prohibited.

The disease — multi-inflammatory syndrome in children, or MISC — surfaced in western Europe a couple of weeks ago, Polis said. Three children who were treated at Children's Hospital had the ailment. For privacy reasons, no further information will be provided on those cases, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy.

Eight local news organizations and two nonprofit groups will receive $50,000 total for their efforts to provide accurate information about COVID-19 to communities of color and non-English speakers in Colorado.

As more restless Americans call for states to reopen, "herd immunity" has been tossed out as a purpose for less regulation. But the state's top health official on Wednesday said that for herd immunity to even be effective in Colorado, 70% of the population would have to get sick and more would die.

It works like this: seniors 65 and older and who have been in a primary residence for 10 years can have property taxes waived for 50% of the first $200,000 of actual property value. The program also applies to disabled veterans.

Gov. Jared Polis issued draft restaurant reopening guidelines on Tuesday that, although still a work in progress while the state gathers stakeholder feedback, provide insight into what the new normal may look like when eating out.

Lawmakers voted to go much farther than JBC staff had been suggesting. At the beginning of the budget-cutting exercise on May 4, the staff had presented 10% and 20% across-the-board cuts, and on Tuesday, they offered information on what a 30% general fund cut, or $246.8 million, would look like.

The Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday voted to close the men's-only Skyline prison in Cañon City, a 252-bed facility, effective January 2021. They also voted to gut higher ed general fund support by 58%, or $493.2 million, the largest budget cut to date.

Gov. Jared Polis on Monday distributed more than $1 billion in federal dollars from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, but drew ire from Republicans and Joint Budget Committee members for leaving them out of the process.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton said Tuesday that the governor's plan to spend stimulus money "directly contradicts what he previously told me."

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Colorado will be among the states where families whose children received free or reduced-price meals at schools will receive extra food assistance during the pandemic.

On March 31, an inspector at a Greeley facility noted that there was no request for the residents to wash their hands prior to eating. At a third facility near Denver, an employee did not wash her hands after assisting with a dirtied bedpan.

The goal of protecting K-12 education funding was forced to fall by the wayside Tuesday as the Joint Budget Committee continued to search for massive cuts to the 2020-21 general fund budget.

Residents have fallen ill with the new coronavirus in both the Worcester, Massachusetts, nursing homes where Kwaku Tsibo Bondah works. Protective equipment is in short supply, he said, and many of his colleagues have tested positive or are calling in sick because they’re afraid to come to work. 

WASHINGTON — A small, overlooked federal agency is shouldering a massive relief effort for the nation’s small businesses and their workers left reeling by the pandemic.

The news on testing is a change from a month ago, when a critical lack of supplies meant testing was reserved for health care workers, those in hospitals for the virus or first responders. Back then, the advice was if someone exhibited flu-like symptoms, they should self-isolate for 14 days. 

The Joint Budget Committee, facing a multi-billion dollar shortfall for 2020-21 and the following year, has made a somewhat unusual decision.