Across Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Eight more residents of a Virginia long-term care facility who tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the death toll amid the outbreak to 28, the facility’s administrator said Monday.
Deaths at the Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in Henrico County have continued to mount since health officials tested every resident last week due to the scope of the outbreak. That testing showed roughly two thirds of the residents had the virus.
“Our hearts go out to the families of those who have passed, and we deeply feel the loss within our community,” administrator Jeremiah Davis said in a statement Monday.
Thirty-four residents were experiencing symptoms ranging from moderate to mild, and 54 of the residents who tested positive were showing no sign of being ill, the statement said.
Across Virginia, the Virginia Department of Health reported nearly 2,900 confirmed cases and 54 deaths Monday, figures that state health commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver said at a news conference were “almost definitely an underestimate” to due a lack of widespread testing. The health department’s totals are also reported with a lag time that means they likely would not include all of the Canterbury deaths.
The announcement came the same day the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association reported that 11 hospitals would be experiencing difficulty in obtaining or replenishing PPE within the next three days.
Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran described the $27 million purchase as “substantial” but said Virginia’s need still “clearly” surpasses it.
The number of COVID-19 cases among inmates and Department of Corrections workers also continued to rise. Nineteen offenders, eight employees and one contractor have tested positive, the department reported Monday.
Governor Northam says Virginia has ordered a major shipment of much-needed personal protective equipment – PPE’s – but it is not scheduled to arrive from Asia for another week. In the meantime, he urges all Virginians to wear masks when heading out, even if they have to make the coverings themselves. But this call also comes with a word of caution, as WFIR’s Evan Jones reports:
AAA NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND, VIRGINIA (Monday, April 6, 2020) Today’s national gas price average is $1.92. That is nine cents cheaper than last Monday, 48 cents less than a month ago and 81 cents less expensive than a year ago. On the week, pump prices continued to push less expensive with gasoline demand registering at its lowest point since 1993. In Virginia, prices are even lower than the national average. Regular unleaded is selling for $1.79, down six cents from a week ago, 39 cents from a month ago, and 71 cents from this time last year. Drivers in numerous Virginia communities are finding average gas prices in the $1.30-$1.50 range. Cumberland County once again has the cheapest average gas price in the state. Regular unleaded is selling for $1.05 per gallon in that community.
The latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) weekly report puts demand at 6.7 million b/d – a nearly 30 year low – and it’s likely to push lower as Americans are urged to stay at home at least until the beginning of May or later.
“This week, market analysts are watching crude oil prices, which started to increase at the end of last week,” said Morgan Dean, AAA spokesperson. “However, given the low demand readings, increases in crude aren’t likely to have an impact on gas prices in the near-term.”
In addition to crude oil, market analysts are also watching refinery rates. The U.S. refinery utilization average is down to 82%, a low not seen since September 2017. Given the drop in crude oil and gasoline demand, which is expected to push even lower, refineries are reducing production in hopes this could help to balance the amount of gasoline supply in the country.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Three more residents diagnosed with COVID-19 have died at a Virginia long-term care facility, the center disclosed on Sunday, bringing the death toll from one of the nation’s worst coronavirus clusters to 20.
The administrator of Canterbury Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center in suburban Richmond have announced three additional deaths since Friday.
More than 90 Canterbury residents have tested positive and are receiving treatment at the hospital or at the center, according to administrator Jeremiah Davis. Another 35 residents have tested negative, while 25 health care workers at the center also have tested positive.
Data from the Virginia Department of Health showed more than 2,600 positive COVID-19 cases statewide and at least 51 deaths as of Sunday morning. There are well over 400 hospitalizations.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, and the vast majority survive. But for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause pneumonia or death.
Government offices in Montgomery County are now closed for two weeks to both workers and citizens because two employees have tested positive for COVID-19.
The decision to shut down the entire Montgomery County government center in Christiansburg came shortly after Friday’s announcement that the entire 68-person Department of Social Services was under quarantine for a week because a worker had tested positive, The Roanoke Times reported. News of a second government worker testing positive came late Friday, county spokeswoman Jennifer Harris said Saturday.
Montgomery County Public Safety and other government functions located outside of the government center will continue to operate, Harris said. Water and sewer services, trash pickup and some animal will continue. But others inside the center — the local voter registrar, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue among them — will be shut down.
The number of confirmed Roanoke Valley COVID-19 cases increased slightly in the last 24 hours, and the statewide total now tops 2,600. The Virginia Department of Health reports 2,637 cases across the state, an increase of 230 in one day. The VDH reports 51 deaths, which is one less than the number reported Saturday; a department spokesperson says “This is due to a change in the code for reporting deaths due to COVID-19. One of the previously reported deaths that occurred in a patient is not attributed to COVID-19.” The death total remains about 2% of confirmed cases.
In the Roanoke region, there are 15 reported COVID cases in Botetourt County, 10 in Roanoke City, 10 in Franklin County, 6 in Montgomery County, 5 in Roanoke County 4 in Bedford County, and 1 in Salem.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Virginia state government is offering $2.5 million to localities so they can provide shelter to 1,500 homeless people so the spread of the new coronavirus can be curtailed. It’s an idea that Virginia’s largest city has been carrying out recently, with some success.
Gov. Ralph Northam announced the emergency funding, which can be used for hotel vouchers, food, cleaning supplies and other items to people lacking housing.
“People experiencing homelessness are more likely to have chronic health conditions that go untreated, and are among the populations most vulnerable to the spread of COVID-19,” Northam’s office said in a statement Friday.
Health officials who toured the city’s center for homeless residents recommended the population be cut in half to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, the newspaper said.
Virginia’s health department said on Saturday that the number of confirmed cases in the state now exceed 2,400, a jump of almost 400 compared to Friday. There are 52 confirmed deaths, compared to 46 on Friday. Nearly 400 people are hospitalized.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause pneumonia or death.
The lodging so far has cost about $50,000 at two hotels, said Andy Friedman, the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Department director. The costs had been expected to be covered by city emergency funds, but now state and federal money will pay for them, Friedman said.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Anxiety among family members of inmates in Virginia prisons skyrocketed this week, after the state Department of Corrections announced that four inmates, four staff members and a nurse tested positive for the coronavirus.
Families and inmate advocates fear this could be just the beginning of a massive outbreak in prisons across the state. They’re particularly worried about women’s prisons, including two that already have confirmed cases and another that houses inmates with serious health issues but has a history of providing inadequate medical care.
“None of those ladies signed up for a death penalty,” she said.
Virginia’s top public safety official has said law enforcement across the state is doing all it can to respond to the pandemic. But inmate advocates are calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to step up efforts to reduce the inmate population at Virginia’s 41 state prisons, 72 local and regional jails, and nine juvenile facilities. Combined, the facilities house more than 60,000 people.
“When you look at the conditions people are being housed in — literally on top of each other in bunk beds, multiple people in a room, sometimes dozens sharing a single toilet and shower — to think that you will be able to prevent the spread through that population, that’s just not going to happen,” said Shannon Ellis, an attorney in the Legal Aid Justice Center’s Civil Rights and Racial Justice program.
The center has asked Northam to use his executive clemency powers to grant pardons to high-risk inmates and those who are close to their release dates. Advocates are also asking the Parole Board to expedite the early release of certain inmates.
Fears of an outbreak are heightened at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, where some of the state’s most seriously ill female inmates are housed. A federal judge last year issued an injunction against DOC officials, saying the department didn’t live up to eight of 22 standards established under a 2016 settlement in a lawsuit that alleged pervasive deficiencies in medical care.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause pneumonia or death.
Inmates’ families say the Department of Corrections has not responded quickly enough to the emerging threat. Although the department halted inmate visitation quickly, other preventative steps took weeks to put in place.
DOC spokeswoman Lisa Kinney said corrections officers have been going through a written and verbal virus screening for several weeks, but acknowledged that doing daily temperature checks and wearing face masks did not become mandatory for DOC employees until this week.
Kinney said the DOC is giving each inmate two bars of soap per week so they can wash their hands frequently.
DOC also said inmates who live in dormitory-style housing have been instructed to sleep head-to-toe to increase breathable space between them. To promote social distancing, the department is also working on a plan to allow inmates to temporarily keep their medications instead of waiting in the usual pill line.
Jeremy Wiley, whose mother is incarcerated the Virginia Correctional Center for Women, said he is worried because his mother has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“It’s almost her time to get out — she has about another six months — so we’re hoping it doesn’t spread through the prison,” he said.
allow inmates to temporarily keep their medications instead of waiting in the usual pill line.
Jeremy Wiley, whose mother is incarcerated the Virginia Correctional Center for Women, said he is worried because his mother has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“It’s almost her time to get out — she has about another six months — so we’re hoping it doesn’t spread through the prison,” he said.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is instituting a hiring freeze of state employees and is telling agency heads to look for ways to cut budgets in response to the coronavirus.
Northam chief of staff Clark Mercer told agency heads in a Thursday memo obtained by The Associated Press that a recession is coming and the state revenues will be far below “even our most pessimistic forecast” from last year.
On top of that, Mercer said, the state is having to spend heavily on fighting the virus, including buying medical supplies and on efforts to help vulnerable populations.
Northam’s actions are not surprising.
The coronavirus is pounding state governments around the country with a financial one-two punch, costing them millions to try to contain the disease just as businesses are shutting down and tax revenue is collapsing.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine announced freezes on state-government hiring and new contract services. He also told cabinet members to look for immediate budget cuts of up to 20%.
Northam’s administration has not directed agency heads to come up with a specific figure, saying the total financial impact of the virus is not clear. Mercer also warned that the recently passed federal stimulus, which directs billions to state governments, will not be a cure-all.
“We cannot rely upon temporary federal funding to address our ongoing budget concerns,” Mercer wrote.
Lawmakers passed a two-year, $135 billion state budget early last month, just as the impact of the coronavirus was beginning to be felt. Northam will now offer suggested changes to the budget, which lawmakers are set to take up during a one-day legislative session later this month.
A booming stock market had boosted state tax revenues and helped give lawmakers plenty of new money to spend during the most recent budget writing process. New spending that Northam and lawmakers will now have to reconsider includes raises for teachers and state employees, in-state tuition freezes at public universities, and expanded social services benefits.
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Nearly 115,000 Virginians filed for unemployment benefits last week, more than doubling the already unprecedented figures from the previous week as the coronavirus continues to stall economic activity.
The jobless claims over the last two weeks now equal those filed over a full three months during the worst stretch of the Great Recession more than a decade ago.
The numbers released Thursday by the Labor Department show that 114,104 Virginians filed jobless claims in the week ending March 28. That more than doubles the 46,277 claims filed the week ending March 21.
The volume of claims is overwhelming the Virginia Employment Commission, which is charged with processing the claims. Callers to a toll-free number set up to process claims either can’t get through or wait for hours on hold. Applicants are urged to file their claims online, but that system is showing strains as well. A message on the employment commission’s website assures applicants that their claims are being processed even though the system is not providing confirmation of a submitted claim as it’s supposed to.
The commission says it’s also in the midst of revamping its online form to try to conform the more liberal filing rules approved by Congress as part of a $2 trillion stimulus package.
The huge spike in jobless claims largely mirrors the national trend, where roughly 10 million people have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks.
Jeannette Chapman, an economist at George Mason University, said Thursday that the regional economy around Washington, D.C., including northern Virginia, should expect to see essentially the same type of recession as the rest of the country.
In past economic cycles, the region’s heavy reliance on government jobs has insulated the region from the worst of a recession. In some cases, she said, like the federal budget battles and sequestration of 2013 and 2014, restrictions on federal spending caused a mild recession in the region while the rest of the country was growing.
In this case, though, the government jobs provide little insulation, she said, because while federal workers may still have their jobs, they are largely working from home and unable to spend money because they are staying at home.
Chapman discussed the results of a study she conducted on the virus’s impact on the regional economy at an online conference Thursday sponsored by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
In Virginia, the numbers released by the state health department Thursday show more than 1,700 people have tested positive for coronavirus across Virginia, up from nearly 1,500 a day ago. Forty-one deaths have been reported.
The number of new cases reported has held roughly steady for the last three days in Virginia.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
The vast majority of people recover.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia gun-rights group is protesting Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to shut down the state’s indoor shooting ranges as part of a series of business closings aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.
Northam’s order, issued on March 23, closed dozens of “recreation and entertainment” businesses — including theaters, museums, fitness centers and bowling alleys — because they are considered “non-essential.” Indoor shooting ranges were included in that category.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League is asking Northam to remove indoor ranges from his order, citing an advisory issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 28 that designated the firearms industry — including gun ranges — as part of the country’s “critical infrastructure” during the coronavirus outbreak.
“People want to be able to protect themselves. Well, where can they go to learn how to use a gun safely? That would be an indoor shooting range, or an outdoor range, if they can find one,” he said.
Van Cleave said there are about 80 indoor shooting ranges in Virginia, including one at the headquarters of the National Rifle Association, based in Fairfax. Northam’s order does not apply to outdoor ranges.
Northam’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Brian Moran did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Virginia was the epicenter of the nation’s gun debate after Democrats took full control of the General Assembly last year on an aggressive gun control platform. Tens of thousands of gun owners from around the country rallied against new gun restrictions at the state Capitol in January. Lawmakers ultimately approved legislation requiring universal background checks on gun purchases as well as several other bills backed by Northam.
In its advisory, the Department of Homeland Security said it was not issuing a mandate, but merely guidance for cities, towns and states as they weigh how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The new guidance prompted Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva to abandon an effort to shut down firearms dealers. Villaneuva, who was sued by gun-rights groups, on Monday called the DHS memo “persuasive” and said his department won’t order or recommend closing businesses that sell or repair guns.
Van Cleave said he expects the VCDL’s board of directors to vote Tuesday on whether to sue the state over the range closures.
Gun control groups called the advisory from the DHS a move to put profits over public health.