Brendan J. Lyons is reporting for the Times Union the office of state Attorney General Letitia James has issued nearly 1,700 cease and desist orders during the coronavirus pandemic to businesses accused of price gouging, labor issues, violating passenger transportation rules or marketing products as cures for COVID-19. The department has also examined more than 3,400 labor and employment inquiries, including complaints from workers alleging their employers directed them to return even though the business was not deemed essential. Many of those issues were handled by the AG staff calling businesses and explaining that if they are not essential they must shut down all in-person work. If the company continued operating, a cease and desist order was issued. More than 1,500 of the cease and desist orders issued involved price gouging. The AG's office could not immediately say whether any of the cases have been pursued with court action or prosecutions. Read the full story in the Times Union.