Local leaders will deliver America's communities through this crisis. That's why Bloomberg Philanthropies created the City Hall Coronavirus Daily Update, to elevate the critical information city leaders need to respond to and recover from the challenges at hand.

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New website tracks cities’
Covid-19 actions in real time

Cities and towns across the country are taking bold action in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and now Bloomberg Philanthropies, in partnership with the National League of Cities, is identifying, cataloguing, and tracking these actions in real time. The groups’ Local Action Tracker, which launched this morning, will document the rapidly expanding ways that cities are responding, enable city leaders to quickly understand what their peers are doing, and feature timely analyses about city responses.

LATEST CITY ACTIONS

A roundup of responses to the coronavirus crisis
 

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS

• Mayors in Des Moines, Iowa, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Seattle are curbing enforcement of parking rules and fines.  
• The mayors of Big Bear, Calif., and Vail, Colo., have tested positive for Covid-19, while the mayor of Traverse City, Mich., is self-isolating after traveling to Puerto Rico. 
• San Francisco extends the hours of emergency childcare for the children of healthcare workers, Department of Public Health staff, and clinic employees. Chicago, meanwhile, partners with website Sittercity to connect first-responders and health-care workers with volunteer sitters.

COMMUNICATIONS

• A team of 1,000 Boston city employees is hand delivering Covid-19 information, printed in seven languages, to every home in Boston. 
• Columbia, Tenn., launches a free text-alert system to deliver Covid-19 updates to residents.  

CANCELLATIONS, CLOSINGS & SOCIAL DISTANCING

• The mayor of Miami-Dade, Fla., closes all hotels in the county. 
• Twenty-five mayors from around Portland call for an Oregon-wide “stay at home” order.
• Austin, Texas, orders business that remain open, including grocery stores, to require social distancing among patrons. 
• Boise, Idaho, Mayor Lauren McLean closes all playgrounds in the city’s parks.
• Washington, D.C., enlists police and the National Guard to help keep crowds from the city's Tidal Basin and its cherry blossoms. 
• Las Vegas’ mayor pushes back against the Nevada governor’s order to shut casinos. 
• Nashville Mayor John Cooper declared Sunday a “day of prayer” and, in neighboring Lebanon, Tenn., the Crossroads Fellowship held “drive-in” church services, where people worshipped from their cars, that were parked in a field near the church.
• Los Angeles deems cannabis businesses essential and authorized to stay open under the mayor’s “Safer at Home” order. 

VULNERABLE POPULATIONS

• Honolulu’s Mayor Kirk Caldwell announces a coalition of catering and food truck operators who will deliver free meals to Oahu’s elderly or kupuna. 
• Anchorage, Alaska, turns two sports arenas into temporary homeless shelters after determining that its existing shelters don’t meet CDC requirements for social distancing.

TESTING & MEDICAL

• Tuscaloosa, Ala., Mayor Walt Maddox announces that more than 500 Covid-19 test samples were spoiled; Maddox also welcomes the local newspaper inside the city's incident command center. 
• Los Angeles' senior citizens and residents with underlying health conditions can now register online for testing.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES

• NEW Forbes is curating a list of Covid-19 small business relief programs.
• NEW Facebook is offering small businesses cash grants and advertising credits.
• NEW Here's a U.S. map of local foundations that are setting up Covid-19 response funds in their communities. Local United Way efforts are being tracked here.
• The U.S. Small Business Administration is relaxing criteria on Economic Injury Disaster Loans of up to $2 million for impacted small businesses. Coordinate with your governor's office.
• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is distributing $560 million to state and local jurisdictions to support Covid-19 response.
• For K-12 schools, Zoom is temporarily lifting the 40-minute time limit on its basic videoconferencing service.

• NEW Clinicians on therapeutic options
• NEW Children and coronavirus
• NEW Travelers returning from cruise ships and river cruises
• NEW Checklist for older people
• NEW How to protect yourself
• NEW Caring for someone at home
• UPDATED Mass gatherings and large community events
• UPDATED Retirement communities and independent living
• UPDATED Community- and faith-based organizations
• Emergency medical services and 911 operators
• What law enforcement personnel need to know
• Health care facilities
• Long-term care facilities & nursing homes
• Homeless shelters
• K-12 schools and childcare centers
• Businesses and employers
• Higher ed & student travel
• Cleaning and disinfection of rooms and community facilities
• Disinfecting your home if someone is ill

• NEW Resources for hospitals and healthcare professionals preparing for patients (CDC) 
• NEW What mayors need to know (Mayors Innovation Project)
• NEW Resources for Colorado cities (Colorado Municipal League)
• NEW Resources for California cities (League of California Cities)
• NEW Local Government Response and Resource Bank (What Works Cities)
• NEW Crowdsourced local government response resources (ELGL)
• NEW Support for public servants (Apolitical)
• Resources for local leaders (National League of Cities)
• What mayors need to know (US Conference of Mayors)
• Fact sheets, posters & free communications resources (CDC)
• State response trackers (NCSL) (AEI)
• Resources for nonprofits (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
• 50-state school closure tracker (Education Week)