Across Virginia
From the Virginia Department of Health: Today, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced that an adolescent resident in the Southside Health District who tested positive for COVID-19 has died. This is the first reported COVID-19 death of a child in the Commonwealth. VDH will disclose no further information about the teenager to protect privacy and out of respect for the patient’s family.
“We were extremely saddened to learn of the loss of the state’s first adolescent with COVID-19. On behalf of all of us at VDH, I extend sincere condolences to the teenager’s family and loved ones,” said State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, M.D., M.A. “No age group is immune from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this unfortunate event, along with the increasing numbers of coronavirus cases we are seeing in some areas of the Commonwealth, is a reminder that we all need to do our part to help slow the spread of virus in the community.”
Congressional candidates vying for a chance to represent Virginia’s 5th District — which includes parts of Bedford County and all of Franklin County — are discussing topics including police reform. WFIR’s Clark Palmer explains.
The November election will involve far more absentee ballots than ever before, and it all begins tomorrow. Four years ago, about 566,000 Virginians voted absentee, about half of that number by mail. Governor Northam says this year, close to 800,000 voters have already requested mail-in ballots. Northam says Virginians should not have concerns about whether or not their mail-in absentee ballots will be counted. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
According to the latest numbers released this morning by The Virginia Department of Health there are 33 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases being attributed to the Roanoke Valley. State health officials report 19 new cases in Roanoke City, 10 new cases in Roanoke County, 2 new cases in Botetourt County and 2 new cases in Salem. No new hospitalizations are being reported in the Roanoke Valley.
According to the latest numbers released this morning by The Virginia Department of Health there are 9 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases and 1 new hospitalization being attributed to the Roanoke Valley. State health officials report 3 new cases in Roanoke City, 5 new cases and 1 new hospitalization in Roanoke County, and 1 new case in Botetourt County.
According to the latest numbers released this morning by The Virginia Department of Health there are 757 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases in the Commonwealth bringing the state’s overall case count to 134,571. Case counts in the Roanoke Valley: Roanoke City 1,391 Roanoke County 710, Botetourt County 277, and Salem 252.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy led police on a pre-dawn high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle, Virginia state police said.
Police said a state trooper patrolling Interstate 64 East in Chesapeake saw a 2016 Dodge Caravan pass his marked vehicle just before 3:15 a.m. Sunday. The driver was going 114 miles per hour in a 55 miles-per-hour zone, police said in a news release.
The trooper attempted to make a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop, police said. The vehicle had been reported stolen in Norfolk.
The pursuit continued through streets in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Norfolk before the vehicle reentered I-64 West. Once on the interstate, the vehicle struck a police vehicle, causing the Caravan to spin out of control.
A 14-year-old male driver was taken into custody, along with five other juveniles who were passengers in the vehicle.
The driver was charged with reckless driving, felony eluding, felony possession of a stolen vehicle, and three counts of felony assault on a law enforcement officer. The other five juveniles were released to the custody of their parents.
None of the juveniles were injured. One trooper suffered non-life threatening injuries after being struck by the suspect’s vehicle.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Two inmates at a Virginia prison who tested positive for COVID-19 died on Saturday as the state struggled with an outbreak of more than 400 active cases at a prison that houses many older and ailing male inmates.
Lisa Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, said in a news release that 407 inmates at the Deerfield Correctional Center in Capron currently have the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Kinney said a total of six Deerfield inmates have died from COVID-19, the most deaths at any prison in Virginia.
Virus testing is ongoing throughout DOC facilities. Deerfield recently tested the entire population of approximately 925 inmates. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that 22 inmates at Deerfield are currently hospitalized.
Virginia prison officials say more than 10% of the state’s 27,000 inmates have now tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 19 inmates have died.
The DOC said most offenders being tested have no symptoms; the DOC is conducting point prevalence testing to catch cases before there are any symptoms. That early testing of asymptomatic offenders is helping to keep the virus from spreading throughout the prison system.
“The doctors, nurses, and medical staff at the DOC are working around the clock to test and provide care to offenders during this pandemic,” Kinney said.
The Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women — the state’s largest prison for women — recently reported its first major outbreak of 41 cases.
The Department of Corrections said it has followed CDC and state Department of Health guidelines in taking measures to stop COVID-19 from entering the prisons and limiting its spread inside.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the highly contagious virus can cause severe symptoms and be fatal.
Photo: Justin Fairfax Facebook
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax formally kicked off his campaign for governor Saturday, a year after facing two allegations of sexual assault.
Fairfax delivered a campaign speech at the Old Court House in Fairfax in northern Virginia.
In February 2019, Fairfax faced calls for his resignation from fellow Democrats after two women publicly accused him of sexual assault.
Meredith Watson, who attended Duke University with Fairfax, said he raped her in 2000. Vanessa Tyson, a California professor, said Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex when they both attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.
Fairfax has denied the allegations and accused the women of being part of a “smear campaign” to end his political career.
“The voters are incredibly smart. They see through this kind of destructive, politically motivated kind of politics. And they are ready to move to higher ground,” he told The Associated Press this week.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Debra Katz, Tyson’s attorney, renewed calls for a public hearing by the General Assembly on the allegations. Democrats have previously rejected those calls.
“Apparently Lt. Governor Fairfax believes that the citizens of the Commonwealth have forgotten about the serious and credible allegations of sexual assault made against him by Dr. Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson and about his deplorable treatment of them after they came forward,” Katz said in a statement.
Fairfax, the second African American elected to statewide office in Virginia, has repeatedly likened the accusations against him to the lynching of African Americans during the Jim Crow era, and said they are a product of ongoing systemic racism.
On Sunday, Fairfax is scheduled to speak at Fort Monroe in Hampton, where in 1619 the first enslaved Africans in English North America arrived 401 years ago.
Fairfax was elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor in 2017.
The sexual assault allegations against Fairfax were made soon after Gov. Ralph Northam faced calls for his resignation over the disclosure of a racist photo in his medical school yearbook. Northam says he was not in the image, but acknowledged he had worn blackface for a Michael Jackson costume when he took part in a 1984 dance contest in Texas.
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s largest school system has been hacked and the attackers are seeking a ransom payment to keep them from disclosing stolen personal information.
WRC-TV in Washington reports that the internet hacking group Maze posted some of the data stolen from Fairfax County Public Schools, including student disciplinary records and grades, to prove its hack was successful.
The school system confirmed the hack and said it is investigating and working with law enforcement.
Tina Williams, president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, said in a statement that she was shocked by the hack and that it is “deeply alarming for our community.”
Unrelated, the school system reported that it experienced technical difficulties Friday as students completed the first week of online schooling. The school system blamed the problems on internet provider Verizon, but Verizon said it did not experience any service outages.
The school system said on Twitter that there “will undoubtedly be bumps in the road throughout the distance learning period, but it’s important that students, staff, and families continue to work together as we work through challenges as a team.”