The benefits of cracking down early and hard against COVID-19 are becoming even more clear.

Early in the coronavirus pandemic, some states — mainly those in the northeast experiencing early case surges — decided to implement tough lockdown measures and mask mandates to control their spreads. And on the whole, they're avoiding recent major outbreaks seen in states that didn't take as much action, a New York Times analysis of Oxford's COVID-19 government response tracker shows.

New York saw one of the earliest and worst spikes in COVID-19 cases back in the spring, and implemented lockdowns, mandatory quarantines, and other measures to stop the spread. It curbed its outbreak before the summer, and while cases are on the rise again, New York is shutting down schools and businesses as positivity rates remain in the single digits.

In contrast, many Midwestern states implemented barely any containment measures throughout the spring and summer — North Dakota and Iowa only just implemented a mask mandate a few days ago, and South Dakota still hasn't. As of Nov. 16, North Dakota has seen an average of 175 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the state, while South Dakota has seen about 65 people hospitalized for every 100,000.

Compare every state's coronavirus measures with its case counts and hospitalizations at The New York Times. Kathryn Krawczyk

Juan Williams, one of the co-hosts of the Fox News talk show The Five, confirmed to The Hill on Thursday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

Williams said he has been tested weekly, and on Thursday, he was notified that his Monday test came back positive. A second test conducted on Thursday also came back positive. Williams told The Hill he is experiencing flu-like symptoms, including chills and headaches, and is isolating at a hotel in Washington, D.C.

On Wednesday, Williams taped a live episode of The Five from the studio in New York, with the co-hosts all sitting about seven feet apart. A Fox News spokesperson told The Hill that the network "will continue to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our staff, including broadcasting The Five via home studios for the foreseeable future."

The spokesperson added that Fox News has implemented "strict company-wide protocols adhering to all CDC and state guidelines, including regular testing of all in-studio, on-air personalities, mask mandates, and daily health assessments for all employees entering the building." Catherine Garcia

As recently as this summer, the Department of Justice investigated the roles of Elliott Broidy, a Republican fundraiser, and Abbe Lowell, a lawyer for President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, in an alleged scheme to pay a bribe in exchange for a pardon, two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times.

On Tuesday, redacted court documents were unsealed that showed the existence of the investigation into possible unregistered lobbying and bribery. People familiar with the case told the Times that Sanford Diller, a billionaire real estate developer from the San Francisco area, solicited help from Broidy and Lowell in an attempt to get clemency for Hugh Baras, a psychologist from Berkeley who received a 30-month prison sentence after being convicted of tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits.

The Times reports that Diller was set to make "a substantial political contribution" to an unspecified recipient in order for the pardon to be made, and the court documents state that as part of the effort, the White House Counsel's Office was approached by someone who wanted to make sure the "clemency petition reached the targeted officials." Diller died in February 2018, and the Times says there is no evidence that the plan moved ahead following his death.

No one has been charged in this inquiry, and a Justice Department official said no member of the government is "currently a subject or target of the investigation disclosed in this filing." Reid Weingarten, a lawyer for Lowell, confirmed to the Times that his client did represent Baras, who never received clemency. Broidy's attorney, William Burck, told the Times his client was asked by Diller to assist on a clemency petition, and it was not a lobbying effort. Both Weingarten and Burck downplayed the investigation, with Weingarten saying it was "much ado about precious little."

Broidy was a top fundraising official for Trump's inauguration and later became the deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee. In October, he pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act in connection with another case involving an attempt to influence the Trump administration on behalf of Chinese and Malaysian interests. Catherine Garcia

Alyssa Farah, the White House communications director, resigned on Thursday.

Farah, a former spokeswoman for the conservative House Freedom Caucus, was part of the Trump administration for more than three years, starting as press secretary under Vice President Mike Pence before moving over to the same role at the Defense Department. She became White House communications director in April.

Farah, 31, submitted her resignation letter on Thursday, The Washington Post reports, and wrote that being able to work in the White House was "the honor of a lifetime." Farah also said she is "deeply proud of the incredible things we were able to accomplish to make our country stronger, safer, and more secure." Farah, whose last day is Friday, plans on launching a consulting firm. Catherine Garcia

President-elect Joe Biden said when it comes to the Department of Justice, he is "not going to be telling them what they have to do and don't have to do."

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were interviewed by CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday, and the discussion turned to reports that President Trump is contemplating preemptively pardoning his adult children, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Biden said this "concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks [at] us as a nation of laws and justice."

Biden promised that he is "not going to be saying, 'Go prosecute A, B, or C,' I'm not going to be telling them. That's not the role, it's not my Justice Department, it's the people's Justice Department. So the persons or person I pick to run that department are going to be people who are going to have the independent capacity to decide who gets prosecuted, who doesn't."

Harris, who once served as California's attorney general, added that the administration will assume that "any decision coming out of the Justice Department ... should be based on the law, it should not be influence by politics, period." Catherine Garcia

President-elect Joe Biden is going to make a request to the American people on his first day in office.

During an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday, Biden said he will ask Americans to wear masks during his first 100 days, in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus. "Just 100 days to mask, not forever," Biden said. "100 days. And I think we'll see a significant reduction." While many states do have statewide mask mandates, several others, including Alaska, Arizona, and Florida, do not.

Biden told Tapper that he will impose a standing order making masks mandatory in places where he has authority, like federal buildings, and shared that he has asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, to also serve as a chief medical adviser and member of Biden's COVID-19 response team once his administration begins.

Over the last day, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have all pledged to publicly receive the coronavirus vaccine in order to show it is safe, and Biden said he will be "happy" to do the same thing, adding that this is "important to communicate to the American people." Catherine Garcia

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced on Thursday he is imposing a regional stay-at-home order, which will kick in when a county sees its hospital intensive care units fill to more than 85 percent of capacity.

"The bottom line is, if we don't act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed," Newsom said during a press conference. "If we don't act now, we'll continue to see our death rate climb, more lives lost."

Based on current projections, 23 counties in Southern and Central California — including Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura, and Imperial — could be required to implement the new restrictions as early as Friday, the Los Angeles Times reports. Under the order, nail and hair salons, playgrounds, and family entertainment centers must close and restaurants will only be able to serve take-out food. Retail businesses will only be allowed to have 20 percent of customer capacity inside.

The rules are designed to stay in place for at least 21 days, and state health officials said after those three weeks, the decision to reopen any closed services and restart activities will be based on four-week projections of a region's ICU capacity, the Times reports. Newsom said the new order is "fundamentally predicated on the need to stop gathering with people outside of your household [and] to do what you can to keep most of your activities outside."

California has averaged nearly 15,000 new coronavirus cases a day over the last week, triple the rate in the last month, and COVID-19 hospitalizations have also tripled over the same time period, the Times reports. Over the last week, the daily death rate has also jumped up 60 percent from mid-November. Catherine Garcia