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A federal judge in Cincinnati has again ruled restrictions on elective surgeries in Ohio during the coronavirus pandemic do not apply to some surgical abortions. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Barrett issued a preliminary injunction Thursday allowing surgical abortions to be performed if the provider determines on a case-by-case basis delaying that delaying the abortion would push the patient past the point of "viability" under Ohio law. (Borchardt, 4/23)

Confirmed coronavirus cases in Wisconsin increased by more than 200 for the second day in a row, as the state prepared for the stay-at-home extension to begin and ease some restrictions on businesses. The new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday, a spike attributed to an outbreak in Brown County, pushed the state's total above 5,000, and public health officials said those numbers will continue to rise as testing capacity increases. (Luthern, 4/23)

The process can help identify outbreaks and causes of clusters early. State and local officials have said robust contact tracing that starts within 24 hours of a confirmed case is a key to reopening businesses and relaxing public health orders. Gov. Tony Evers has called for training at least 1,000 more people to work on contact tracing as part of his Badger Bounce Back plan to reopen the economy. (Luthern and Spivak, 4/23)

A Des Moines hospice agency has set up a special wing for COVID-19 patients, underlining the gravity of Iowa's coronavirus epidemic. The EveryStep agency plans to open a six-bed hospice unit Monday at its east-side Des Moines headquarters. The unit will be tailored for patients dying from the new coronavirus. As of Thursday morning, the state had reported 96 deaths related to the disease. (Leys, 4/23)

The Bay Area’s collection of health orders was extended to require masks or some type of face covering over the mouth and nose by Wednesday in six counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Sonoma and Marin. Santa Clara, Solano and Napa counties have urged but not required wearing masks. Face coverings do not eliminate the need for social distancing or frequent handwashing, health officials say. The mask mandates are a stark contrast to earlier advice from health experts that masks were only necessary for health care workers and are an indication of how the advice and rules have evolved as scientists learn more about the virus. (Cabanatuan, 4/23)

Zoe Kipping, a 30-year-old Sacramento resident, is among the many California renters who find themselves heading toward a historic precipice that threatens to ruin their finances for years to come. Her job doing door-to-door political campaigning ended in March when the governor ordered California to shelter at home to avoid mass infections and deaths from the fast-spreading coronavirus. Kipping’s backup plan, working for the U.S. Census, washed away with the social distancing edict as well. (Bizjak and Clift, 4/23)

When Robert Rowe Jr. was discharged from the hospital this month after testing positive for the coronavirus, he needed a place to stay so he would not put his 84-year-old father at risk. New York City health officials put him up at a three-star hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The room was provided under a city program that was intended to protect recovering patients’ families and roommates. Case workers are supposed to check on the patients twice a day by telephone. (Southall and Stewart, 4/24)

Even before the state announced the latest count of coronavirus cases and deaths, Governor Charlie Baker on Thursday called the cumulative toll “staggering.” “We must remember the people behind these numbers,” he said at his daily press briefing. “They’re our friends and our neighbors, and these people have families and loved ones whose worlds have been shattered by this ruthless virus.” Nonetheless, Baker stressed that the state’s health care system has not been overwhelmed by patients and urged residents to continue to go to hospitals if they need treatment for other serious ailments. (Finucane, Andersen and Moore, 4/23)

Day care providers in Massachusetts, already ordered closed since March 23, could struggle to ever reopen unless they can get more aid, according to early childhood advocates. Gov. Charlie Baker announced that schools and non-emergency day care programs would remain closed through June 29. Even as it's the necessary decision for public health, advocates say lengthening the closure puts a strain on an already fragile system of care with thin operating margins. (McNerney, 4/23)

A record-shattering number of Massachusetts residents obtained medical marijuana cards over the past month, a spike that followed Governor Charlie Baker’s decision to deem recreational cannabis stores “nonessential” and close them amid the coronavirus pandemic. From March 23 to April 21, 7,235 new patients obtained a doctor’s recommendation and registered with the state’s medical marijuana program, according to new data provided to the Globe Thursday by the Cannabis Control Commission. (Adams, 4/23)

Dr. Monica Bharel first thought the aches and pains she started feeling in late March were due to a lack of sleep and the long hours she was putting in as Department of Public Health commissioner in the midst of a pandemic. When her husband told her their daughter had a fever, Bharel started thinking about her own symptoms and was tested for COVID-19 that night, March 26. The next day, as she worked from home, the results came back and the department announced Bharel had tested positive for the respiratory disease. (Lannan, 4/23)

A bill filed Thursday by US Representative Earl Blumenauer and a collection of bipartisan cosponsors would provide small marijuana businesses with access to federal coronavirus relief funds that are available to companies in other industries. The bill — titled the Emergency Cannabis Small Business Health and Safety Act — would make marijuana firms eligible for three Small Business Administration (SBA) services: the Paycheck Protection Program, Economic Injury Disaster Loans program, and Economic Injury Disaster Loans Emergency Grants program. (Jaeger, 4/23)

A Bryant University poll released Thursday shows that 84 percent of Rhode Island voters trust the information Governor Gina M. Raimondo is providing about the coronavirus outbreak, compared to 35 percent who trust what President Donald Trump is telling them. The poll also found that more than three-quarters of Rhode Island voters have taken some financial hit from the COVID-19 outbreak. (Fitzpatrick, 4/23)

Outbreaks of the novel coronavirus continued to take a toll this week on several state-run medical centers that serve people with chronic conditions, mental illness, and intellectual disabilities. Two men — one in his 60s, another in his 70s — died from the coronavirus at Hogan Regional Center in Danvers, state officials said Thursday. Both had underlying health conditions. (Rocheleau, 4/23)