Local leaders are delivering America's communities through this crisis. That's why Bloomberg Philanthropies created the City Hall COVID-19 Update, to elevate the critical information city leaders need to respond to and recover from the challenges at hand.

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America's mayors pivot from 'reopening' to 'reclosing'

Just a few weeks after many cities eagerly took the first steps toward reopening, the U.S. on Wednesday marked its biggest single-day rise in new cases. That’s 52,000-plus new infections in one day, which represents an 80-percent increase in two weeks. No wonder many mayors across the country are taking another look at their reopening plans and taking note that any good reopening strategy must also include steps for reclosing as new caseloads demand. Here’s how a number of cities are shifting focus.

DATA TRACKER

Johns Hopkins' confirmed U.S. COVID-19 cases as of 8 a.m. EDT on July 2.

TOTAL CONFIRMED CASES

2,686,587

TOTAL DEATHS

128,062

Find more up-to-date case counts and other critical information from the Johns Hopkins University's situation report and interactive map.

Human-centered design helps Seattle double down on testing

Ever since Seattle became one of the first U.S. cities to be hit by COVID-19, its actions to combat the virus have served as valuable examples for city leaders across the country. That’s especially the case now that the city has more than doubled its daily testing capacity by bringing online two new facilities that were designed with user experience as a top priority. Here’s how Seattle did it, and what other cities can learn from its success.

CITY ACTIONS

A roundup of responses to the coronavirus crisis. See the
COVID-19: Local Action Tracker for more.

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS
As businesses reel from months of disruptions and face possible reclosures, mayors are implementing innovative measures to bolster their local economies.

Phoenix unveils a new grant program to help local businesses cover utility costs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signs the Essential Workers Protections Act, which protects employees who speak out about unsafe working conditions during COVID-19.
Seattle offers free sidewalk and curb space permits for small businesses recovering from COVID-19 and launches a new COVID-19 education and outreach team designed to help local businesses safely reopen.

NEW SAFETY MEASURES
As caseloads continue to spike, cities make new mask mandates and prepare overflow healthcare capacity.

Savannah, Ga., Mayor Van Johnson mandates masks be worn in the city, explaining the move in a letter to Governor Brian Kemp: “Savannah is experiencing thousands of visitors on our streets, in our establishments, and most of them are not wearing face coverings.”
Just weeks after the Republican National Convention moved from Charlotte, N.C. to Jacksonville, Fla., in response to social distancing measures in North Carolina, Jacksonville mandates people wear face masks indoors and in public spaces when they can’t stay six feet away from others.
Police in Nashville will issue citizen-advisory notices to people not wearing face coverings.
San Antonio, Texas, equips Freeman Coliseum with 250 hospital bed to care for non-COVID patients should hospitals reach capacity. The city is also requiring indoor business to check customers’ temperatures before they can enter.

GLOBAL OUTLOOK

Leicester, England reinstates its shelter-in-place order after a recent spike in cases.
Toronto Mayor John Tory expresses support for a mask mandate in the city.
Mayor Tri Rismaharini of Surabaya, Indonesia, kneels down and cries over the rising number of COVID cases.

Mayor Dan Horrigan: In his own words

To help address the racial disparities, Akron, Ohio, Mayor Dan Horrigan says his city is ramping up new testing sites in areas that need it the most. “We’ve got to save people and the people look to mayors,” Horrigan explains in this video. “Don’t be afraid to try new things and bust through some of the institutional scar tissue to help people. Because that’s our charge.”

How has your city pivoted in response to the COVID-19 crisis? We'd love to know. Post a selfie video like Mayor Horrigan's and tag @BloombergCities.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES

Find more COVID-19 resources for city leaders here. Please suggest new resources to include here.

EVENTS

Join Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Dr. Joshua Sharfstein to discuss key issues for cities in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and how to use decision-making metrics on Monday, July 13, at 3:30 p.m. EDT. Register here.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Bloomberg Philanthropies and NACTO are offering grants of $25,000 to ten member-city transportation agencies that are partnering with community-based organizations to reimagine streets, implement ideas, and support ongoing community efforts that meet the needs of populations disproportionately harmed by COVID-19. Apply here by Friday, July 10.

RESOURCES

COVID-19 Management Metrics for Cities (Johns Hopkins University) Access webinars on using data and this metric set to tackle COVID in your community.
See how social distancing measures may have influenced trends in COVID-19 cases and deaths in every state. (Johns Hopkins University)
Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery (NACTO)
COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs in Ten Localities (Local Housing Solutions)
COVID Racial Dataset (The COVID Tracking Projec t)
Free course on contact tracing (Johns Hopkins University)
Partnership for Healthy Cities COVID-19 Response Center (Bloomberg Philanthropies)
Transportation Response Center (NACTO)
Communication tools and resources for advancing social and behavior change (Johns Hopkins University)

CDC'S LATEST GUIDANCE FOR: