1. Ivey: state workers should stay home if possible

• Gov. Kay Ivey on Sunday said that state government agency directors should advise employees to work from home if possible starting today.
• Ivey’s announcement comes as schools and colleges across the state close in response to the new coronavirus. As of Sunday evening, Alabama had 22 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
• Directors should consider implementing telework, flexible work schedules and other techniques for accomplishing necessary functions while minimizing employee exposure to COVID-19, a memo from Ivey said.
• If working from home is not feasible, the employee should remain away from the workplace and practice social distancing, as appropriate, for the next several weeks.
• Alabama has more than 29,000 state employees, not including K-12 school and college and university staff. More than 10,000 of them work in Montgomery County.
• Read the full story from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

2. Postpone the election?

• Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is seeking an emergency opinion from Attorney General Steve Marshall on whether the state’s March 31 runoff election can be postposed.
• Currently, neither the Code of Alabama nor the Constitution of the State of Alabama allow for the suspension, delay, or postponement of an election once the date has been set, Merrill said in a letter Sunday night.
• “The health and well-being of the people of this state are of paramount importance,” Merrill’s letter said. “In order to effectively practice social distancing, as recommended by the President of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Alabama Department of Public Health, etc., the March 31 runoff election must be postponed.”
• Merrill’s announcement Sunday night reflects a rapidly developing response in Alabama to the spreading coronavirus. Earlier Sunday, Merrill told Alabama Daily News “nothing has changed” in his earlier statements that the March 31 election would go on as planned.
• The biggest race on that runoff ballot is the GOP U.S. Senate contest between former U.S. attorney general and senator Jeff Sessions and former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville.
• Both men’s campaigns on Sunday evening said they were continuing on the campaign trail, but acknowledged an unprecedented scenario that’s subject to change.
• Read the full story from ADN’s Mary Sell HERE.

3. Superintendent issues school closure protocol

• State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey on Sunday said that schools should make “every effort” to provide meals for all children who need them, no matter their families’ income status, during the school closures due to the new coronavirus.
• Mackey wrote to school administrators and educators in a letter detailing what protocols should be followed to ensure children’s safety and providing ideas on how to continue learning during the three weeks all Alabama K-12 public schools are to be closed.
• “This is an unprecedented event in our lifetime,” Mackey wrote. “This public health emergency is evolving rapidly, and we will continue to inform you as quickly as information becomes available.”
• Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced that all public schools will be closed after Wednesday March 18 with the goal of reopening on Monday, April 6. Some schools have decided to close starting today.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved Alabama’s waiver to provide meals in non-congregated settings and Mackey said in the letter that children can receive meals no matter their income level or status in the free and reduced lunch program.
• Read the story, including the letter itself, from ADN’s Caroline Beck HERE.

4. Trump: don’t hoard food, supplies

• President Donald Trump is calling on people to stop hoarding groceries and other supplies as one of the nation’s most senior public health officials urged Americans to act with more urgency to protect themselves and others against the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci said he would like to see aggressive measures such as a 14-day national shutdown.
• “You don’t have to buy so much,” Trump said at a news conference. “Take it easy. Just relax.”
• Trump assured Americans, after speaking with leading grocery chain executives, that grocers would remain open and that the supply chain remained healthy. Speaking at the same White House news conference, Vice President Mike Pence urged Americans to buy only the groceries they need for the week ahead.
• The comments from the president came Sunday after the government’s top infectious disease expert said he would like to see Americans hunker down even more to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
• Still, Fauci said travel restrictions within the United States, such as to and from hard-hit Washington state and California, probably would not be needed anytime soon.
• Officials in Washington were preparing for what was expected to be a long-haul effort to try to stem the virus that has upended life around the globe.
• “The worst is yet ahead for us,” Fauci said. “It is how we respond to that challenge that is going to determine what the ultimate endpoint is going to be.”
• Read more about the federal government actions HERE.
• Read more about how the coronavirus spreads and infects people HERE.

5. Biden: I will nominate a female VP

• Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders debated each other last night in the latest Democratic debate, each seeking to cast themselves as best-positioned to lead the nation through a global pandemic.
• Biden pledged Sunday to deploy the United States military to help with recovery efforts and warned that a federal financial bailout may be necessary to stabilize the economy. Sanders leaned into the same domestic policy proposals that have dominated his campaign, arguing that the government-run health insurance system he has long championed would allow the U.S. to respond faster to a health crisis.
• The former vice president appeared determined throughout Sunday’s contest to keep his focus on the general election, making direct overtures to Sanders’ loyal supporters and committing for the first time to select a woman as his running mate if he becomes the Democratic nominee. After Biden’s announcement, Sanders said he would “in all likelihood” do the same.
• Read the full story from Julie Pace and Alexandra Jaffe and watch the debate in its entirety HERE.

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