Across Virginia
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — A former Virginia police officer has been indicted on charges stemming from his attempts to produce child pornography, receiving images and trying to access it on a cell phone, a federal prosecutor said.
Nathan Allen, Jr., 33, was indicted on Thursday by a federal grand jury, said Raj Parekh, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Allen is specifically charged with attempted production of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and access with intent to view child pornography.
Court documents say Allen, who had been a police officer at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg and with the Hampton Police Department, allegedly tried to produce child pornography using a minor on separate dates in 2019 and 2021, when she was then 11 and 12 years old.
The indictment also alleges that Allen received images of child sexual abuse material on various dates, and accessed child pornography on a cell phone earlier this year, according to a news release.
If convicted, Allen faces up to 30 years in prison on the production charges and up to 20 years in prison on the receipt charges, prosecutors said, adding that he could also receive up to 20 years on the access with intent to view charge.
The Virginia Department of Health this morning is reporting 4,255 new confirmed and probable cases, which marks the largest single day case spike since February, and 18 new confirmed and probable deaths in Virginia. Health officials are reporting 177 new cases across Roanoke City, Salem, and Botetourt and Roanoke counties.
FULL BREAK DOWN:
Roanoke City: 64 new cases
Roanoke County: 59 new cases
Salem: 29 news cases
Botetourt County: 25 new cases
The Virginia Department of Health this morning in reporting 3,407 new confirmed and probable coronavirus cases and 19 new confirmed and probable deaths in Virginia. Health officials are reporting 99 new cases and 1 new hospitalization across Roanoke City, Salem, and Botetourt and Roanoke counties.
FULL Breakdown:
Roanoke City: 44 new cases, 1 new hospitalization
Roanoke County: 23 new cases
Salem: 17 new cases
Boetourt County: 15 new cases
The VDH today is reporting 3,520 new coronavirus cases statewide, which is the largest single day case spike since February 11th, and 40 new virus related deaths from around the Commonwealth, which marks the largest single-day death spike since April 6th. State health officials are reporting 122 new coronavirus cases, 2 new deaths, and 3 new hospitalizations across Roanoke City, Salem and Botetourt and Roanoke counties.
State health officials say the numbers of childhood vaccines being administered in Virginia has fallen significantly in the last year and a half, and they urge parents to get their children immunized, especially as a new school year begins. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more. Everyone seems to agree on the reason for the lower numbers: with many children not at school for much or all of the last 18 months, childhood vaccinations took a back burner in many homes. Some speakers at a National Immunization Month event in Richmond acknowledged that the mistrust over COVID vaccines that has developed in some quarters over the last has spilled over to childhood immunizations. More from WFIR’s Evan Jones:
Virginia’s statewide SOL tests results took a nosedive this spring. State education officials say it was an anticipated result that reflects upheavals COVID-19 had on classroom learning. There were no SOL tests given last year, but since the last ones two years ago, math pass rates fell from 82% to 54%. Reading dropped from 78% to 69% percent., and science pass rates also fell from 81% to 59%.
Math pass rates in Roanoke City fell even more than statewide — from 78% 40%. In Roanoke County, the drop was less precipitous — 89% to 71%.
The Virginia Department of Health is now breaking down its daily count of COVID-19 cases by vaccination status. The goal is to show how many infections, hospitalizations, and deaths occur among those who are fully, partially or not vaccinated. The department reports from mid-January through mid-August, well under .3% of the 4,700,000 fully vaccinated Virginians have later tested positive for the virus.
NEWS RELEASE: (Richmond, Va) – The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) updated its COVID-19 Cases by Vaccination Status dashboard on Monday, August 23, 2021, to more accurately represent the impact of vaccinations on infection rates in the Commonwealth.
The primary change will be reporting rates of infection, hospitalizations, and deaths by vaccination status — fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated. The new dashboard will allow comparison of the rate of persons with COVID-19 who are fully, partially, and not vaccinated. Counts of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths of people who are fully vaccinated, called vaccine breakthrough, will also be available at the state and health region levels.
Between January 17 and August 14, 2021, 252,938 people developed COVID-19 symptoms or tested positive. Almost all of these were among unvaccinated people; only 10,712 infections have been reported during the same time among the 4.7 million Virginians who have been fully vaccinated. Unvaccinated people developed COVID-19 at a rate 12.5 times higher than fully vaccinated people.
VDH will be reporting an increase in vaccine breakthrough infections, hospitalizations, and deaths this week because of an improvement in data processing. This improvement now allows for COVID-19 cases from the Virginia Electronic Disease Surveillance System (VEDSS, where COVID-19 cases including hospitalizations and deaths are collected) to be automatically matched with immunization records in the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS, where all COVID-19 vaccinations are recorded). Previously, VDH staff were performing the match by hand to determine vaccination status, which took additional time. Please note, all COVID-19 data are preliminary and subject to change and will be updated as quality assurance activities are completed.
For more information, see three new posts VDH published on its Data Insights blog describing COVID-19 attacks rates and trends by age groups, vaccine breakthrough infections, and vaccine effectiveness in more detail.
For more information on COVID-19 in Virginia, visit the VDH Coronavirus website. Anyone age 12 or older can find free vaccination clinics near them by visiting Vaccinate.Virginia.gov or by calling 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users may call 7-1-1).
ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) — Hundreds of Afghan refugees are staying at a northern Virginia campus as they await relocation to a more permanent destination.
After arriving at Dulles International Airport Friday night, refugees spent the night at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, newsoutletsreport.
A college spokesperson said the refugees will stay at the campus anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Many refugees are destined for Fort McCoy in Wisconsin, Fort Bliss in Texas and Fort Lee in Virginia.The Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management set up more than 500 cots in ballrooms and community rooms. As word of the refugees’ arrival spread, volunteers from the region’s Afghan community brought food, clothes, toiletries and other supplies and offered service as interpreters.
Some refugees described how they had to leave other family members behind. A man who fled with his 18-month-old son had to leave his wife and daughter behind because they lacked the proper paperwork.Many who spoke to reporters declined to give their names for fear that their family members in Afghanistan would face retaliation.
Photo: UVa
More than 200 University of Virginia students who didn’t comply with the school’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement have been disenrolled ahead of the fall semester. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the school disenrolled 238 students, including 49 who were enrolled in fall courses. University spokesperson Brian Coy says that may mean that “a good number” of the remaining students “may not have been planning to return to the University this fall at all.” Coy says the students were disenrolled after “receiving multiple reminders via email, text, phone calls, calls to parents that they were out of compliance.” They can re-enroll if they comply with the vaccine requirement or file an exemption by Wednesday.
About 96.6 percent of students have been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to a news release. The university granted 335 permanent vaccine waivers for students with religious or medical exemptions. The university also granted 184 temporary vaccine waivers for students who couldn’t get vaccinated but intend to get a vaccine once on campus. Exempt students must be tested weekly and wear a mask in indoor and outdoor common spaces.
Virginia’s unemployment fell to 4.2% in July, down from 7.9% one year earlier. The largest over-the-year job increase occurred in leisure and hospitality with 46,000 new jobs statewide, an increase of more than 15%.