• A statewide stay home order went into effect last night, as Alabama officials took their most aggressive step yet to stop the spread of the new coronavirus.
• As of this afternoon, there were 1,739 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alabama with 45 reported deaths, 31 of which are confirmed to have died from the illness. A total of 231 have been hospitalized statewide.
• Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday ordered Alabama residents to stay home except for essential needs, imploring citizens to take the new coronavirus seriously and distance themselves from others.
• “COVID-19 is an imminent threat to our way of life and you need to understand that we are past urging people to stay at home,” Ivey said during a news conference at the State Capitol. “It is now the law.”
• The order requires Alabamians to stay in their places of residence unless traveling to obtain necessary supplies like food or medicine, or for those in the “essential workforce.” The order went into effect on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
• At the news conference, Todd asked the governor what had changed from earlier in the week when she had resisted a full stay home order. Ivey said there were two reasons: a large spike in the number of virus cases and data that showed folks were not heeding the state's call to stay home.
• That cell phone location data, which was shared with Alabama Daily News, shows that Alabamians did reduce their travel habits in mid-March as the first shock of the pandemic took hold. But travel had started to tick back up in recent days, almost to normal levels.
• See that data and read more about the order in our story HERE.
• Read the AP’s update on the situation HERE.
• ADPH also released a frequently asked question pamphlet and one for businesses as well.

• Explore Alabama’s history from the comfort of your couch! With schools and businesses closed and social distancing required, the Archives has launched a new website, www.alabamahistoryhome.org. It features links to free resources from more than twenty organizations across the state. 

• The site includes links to virtual tours and exhibits, recorded public programs, documentaries, educational materials, digital collections, research databases, publications, and more. New content is added frequently. 

• Alabama History@Home helps make staying home and protecting our communities a little easier. 

• President Donald Trump is warning that the country could be headed into its “toughest” weeks yet as the coronavirus death toll mounts, but at the same time he expressed growing impatience with social distancing guidelines and said he’s eager to get the country reopened and its stalled economy back on track.
• “There will be a lot of death, unfortunately,” Trump said Saturday in a somber start to his daily briefing on the pandemic, “There will be death.”
• Joining Trump were Vice President Mike Pence, virus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s foremost infection disease expert. Each stood far apart from one another on the small stage.
• Trump added a twist on his familiar push for a drug that hasn’t been clearly shown to work to stop the virus — he said he may start taking it as a preventative measure after consulting with his doctor, even though there’s no evidence to show it works for that, either.
• Read more about the President’s statements HERE.

• Just as the new coronavirus was declared a global pandemic, gym members in New York City frantically called the fitness center where Rahmell Peebles worked, asking him to freeze their memberships.
• Peebles, a 30-year-old black man who’s skeptical of what he hears from the news media and government, didn’t see the need for alarm over the virus.
• “I felt it was a complete hoax,” Peebles said. “This thing happens every two or four years. We have an outbreak of a disease that seems to put everybody in a panic.”
• Peebles is among roughly 40 million black Americans deciding minute by minute whether to put their faith in government and the medical community during the coronavirus pandemic. Historic failures in government responses to disasters and emergencies, medical abuse, neglect and exploitation have jaded generations of black people into a distrust of public institutions.
• “I’ve just been conditioned not to trust,” said Peebles, who is now obeying the state’s stay home order and keeping his distance from others when he goes out.
• Some call such skepticism the “Tuskegee effect” — distrust linked to the U.S. government’s once-secret study of black men in Alabama who were left untreated for syphilis. Black people already suffer disproportionately from chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease and are far more likely to be uninsured.
• How the government and medical community responds to the crisis will be especially crucial for outcomes among black Americans, civil rights advocates and medical experts say.
• Read more from Aaron Morrison and Jay Reeves HERE.

• Multiple different colleges and universities across the state are doing there part to help fill the need for resources to fight the coronavirus in Alabama.
• Some are using their engineering schools to 3D print personal protective equipment and others are donating large amounts of food that is going unused on campuses.
• Others are using their science department and professors to help produce more hand sanitizer.
• It is a much-needed show of support right now during this difficult time and will help mitigate the possible worse effects that are yet to come because of this virus.
• Read more about the ongoing efforts from ADN’s Abby Driggers HERE.