7. Beaches are closing

• On Friday, all public Alabama beaches closed at 7:00 a.m. due to large crowds that were still gathering amid the coronavirus outbreak. Florida has not issued a similar order, but several beaches will be shut down as well.
• Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said that they’re hoping to have the beaches reopen on April 6, but their goal is “to protect our local citizens who are scared to death but also to protect the public that comes here.”

6. U.S. Senators dumped stock after learning of the coronavirus outbreak

• As many as four lawmakers are accused of selling off stocks that would be impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. The report names U.S. Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), Dianne Feinstein, (D-CA) and James Inhofe (R-OK).
• Burr sold his stocks after he wrote a Fox News op-ed saying the United States was “better prepared than ever before to face emerging public health threats.” and Loeffler and her husband reportedly sold the stocks on January 24, which was the exact day she was in a Senate Health Committee received a briefing about the coronavirus from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Anthony Fauci from the National Institutes of Health.

5. Sessions wants a debate

• With the Alabama runoff primary being delayed until July, there’s even more time for a debate between U.S. Senate candidates Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville, and Sessions is making it known that he wants a debate.
• Tuberville has been polling ahead of Sessions, but Sessions is focusing on the issues, saying, “Maybe he can learn a few things between now and July. But we’ve got some issues to ask about — something that a United States Senator has to be able to do and know.”

4. Amazon still hiring

• As a shutdown of the American economy brings havoc to workers, the Amazon facility in Bessemer is on its way to fulfill its 1,500-job requirement by looking to hire 600 more people.
• Once the facility is running at full capacity, Amazon is expecting to put out about 100,000 orders a day.

3. Huntsville the latest community to get coronavirus drive-thru testing

• Friday, the first drive-thru testing for coronavirus will open in Huntsville at the Huntsville Hospital, and anyone wanting to be tested must first get a “physician order” to be tested, according to Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers, joining Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile in communities with testing.
• Spillers would also like to remind people that if you don’t have symptoms you don’t need to be tested. Currently, they have about 400 test kits, and Spillers is confident that they’ll be able to continue supplying tests as needed.

2. Not everyone is going to get money

• While speaking on the floor of the Senate, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) discussed the stimulus package being considered to send $1,200 to adult Americans, saying that the money would go to people no matter if they’re already receiving social security benefits, employed or unemployed.
• The only people who would miss out on a check from the government would be those above the middle class, but everyone “from the middle class on down” would receive financial help. McConnell emphasized that this is something they “want to do right away.”

1. Ivey trying to flatten the curve with strict rules

• Governor Kay Ivey has announced that in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, there’s now a Public Health Order that prohibits gatherings of more than 25 people, eating or drinking in the dining room of bars and restaurants, and all elective medical procedures are to be delayed.
• Also included in the order is the closing of all daycares and preschools and ending of visitation to hospitals and nursing homes. Ivey said, “[W]e want to ensure that Alabama is doing our part to flatten the curve.”