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The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a Nevada church's request to block the state's cap on attendees for religious services amid the coronavirus pandemic. The court voted 5 to 4 against the request, filed by Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the liberal-leaning justices. The decision keeps in place a limit of 50 people in houses of worship due to the pandemic. The church had argued the cap was an unfair attack on its First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion. (Choi, 7/24)

But the court’s four most consistent conservatives made their objections clear in three lengthy dissents. “The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges,” Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote. “But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel.” (Barnes, 7/24)

Bar owners are pushing back against government mandates enacted to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Colorado Tavern League, which represents over 200 bars and restaurants across the state, is suing Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to block an order to stop selling alcohol at 10pm. The group is also seeking to overturn limits on capacity. (Mulholland, 7/23)

[Kyle] Gregory is one of about 3,500 Georgians who have died so far from the coronavirus. Amid a sustained spike in new cases and hospitalizations in Georgia, health experts have been guarding for the inevitable rise in deaths. That rise, those experts said, appears to have arrived. Georgia reported 327 deaths in the seven days ended Saturday, a weekly record, and an increase of 90% from the week of July 12. (Trubey, 7/26)

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on Friday announced that all visitors arriving in the District on nonessential business from hotspot areas will now need to quarantine for 14 days, as the country continues to see a surge in COVID-19 cases. The restriction goes into effect Monday and affects D.C. residents who are traveling to places that are a hotspot for the virus as well as non-D.C. residents traveling from such an area. (Johnson, 7/24)

A Los Angeles firefighter died Saturday from complications of COVID-19, the first in the department to die from the disease, fire officials said. Firefighter-paramedic Jose J. Perez was 44 and had been with the LAFD for more than 16 years, officials said. (7/25)

Two state prison inmates have died while being treated for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, according to the Arkansas Department of Correction. One inmate, a man in his 80s serving a sentence at the Ouachita River Unit in Malvern for sexual assault, died at a Hot Springs hospital and the second, a man in his 40s serving a burglary sentence at the East Arkansas Regional Unit at Brickeys died at a hospital in North Little Rock, the department said Friday. Both men, whose names were not released, died Friday, the department said. (7/25)

After a surge in coronavirus deaths in the Jackson [Miss.] area, officials are now bringing in a refrigerated cooler to help store bodies awaiting autopsies. Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart said told the Clarion Ledger earlier this week that the area is facing an influx of not only coronavirus patients, but victims of homicides, car crashes and other fatalities. Both hospital morgues and private facilities are at capacity, the coroner said. (7/25)

More than two dozen lifeguards from two New Jersey beach towns have tested positive for the coronavirus after having been together socially, authorities said. Officials said the lifeguards are from Harvey Cedars and Surf City, neighboring boroughs on Long Beach Island. (7/26)

South Dakota has recorded its first case of human West Nile virus of 2020.The state Health Department said Friday the virus was detected in a McCook County resident. State epidemiologist Joshua Clayton says South Dakotans need to protect themselves against the mosquito-borne virus, especially during evening outdoor activities. (7/25)