Across Virginia
According to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health there are 81 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, 3 new hospitalizations, and 3 new deaths being reported in the Roanoke Valley. 34 new cases , and 1 new hospitalization in Roanoke City, 36 new cases, and 2 new deaths in Roanoke County, 5 new cases, 1 new hospitalization and 1 new death in Salem, and 6 new cases and 1 new hospitalization in Botetourt County.
PRESS RELEASE FROM VDH :(Richmond, Va.) — Virginia is making it even easier for people to be notified of potential exposures to COVID-19. Last week, the Virginia Department of Health launched COVIDWISE Express, a new app-less exposure notifications technology for iPhone users in Virginia who do not already have the COVIDWISE app installed. Anonymously sending and receiving exposure notifications has never been easier. Since launching, COVIDWISE Express already has more than 504,000 users in Virginia.
COVIDWISE Express, which is available in both English and Spanish, will work solely on iPhones that have not installed COVIDWISE. When an iPhone user enables Exposure Logging on their smartphone, their device will automatically use the app-less experience, if the user hasn’t already downloaded COVIDWISE. The Express version of COVIDWISE works by communicating with a test verification server and the national key server at specific times, all while protecting the user’s privacy and location data. Android users, and iPhone users who already have the app, will continue to use COVIDWISE.
“COVIDWISE Express provides an additional option to help Virginia expand its existing exposure notifications and contact tracing operations without compromising user privacy or security,” said State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA. “This technology will notify you if you’ve likely been exposed to another smartphone user who anonymously shared a positive COVID-19 test result. Knowing your exposure history allows you to self-quarantine effectively, seek timely medical attention, and reduce risk of exposing others.”
COVIDWISE launched on August 5, 2020 and has surpassed 994,000 downloads, making it one of the two most downloaded exposure notification apps in the United States. The free app, which is available through the App Store and the Google Play Store, alerts users if they have been in close contact with an individual who anonymously reported their positive COVID-19 test result.
On December 10, COVIDWISE began using the Association of Public Health Laboratories’ National Key Server, which allows COVIDWISE to work across D.C. and 19 states that have similar exposure notifications systems. This helps to ensure users receive exposure notifications, if exposed to persons from a participating jurisdiction.
VDH remains steadfastly committed to COVIDWISE privacy protections and continued adoption and widespread use of exposure notifications as a tool to support the public’s health and reduce the spread of the virus.
To learn more about COVIDWISE options, or to download the app, visit www.covidwise.org.
For more information on COVID-19 in Virginia, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus and www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.
According to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health there are 102 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, 4 new hospitalizations, and 4 new deaths being reported in the Roanoke Valley. 85 new cases , 2 new hospitalizations, and 4 deaths in Roanoke City, 1 new hospitalization in Roanoke County, 4 new cases and 1 new hospitalization in Salem, and 13 new cases in Botetourt County. The VDH is also reporting 22 less cases and 1 less death in Roanoke County, and 1 less death in Salem. This comes after just 14 new cases were reported in the Valley .
Del. Sam Rasoul
Roanoke Democratic Delegate Sam Rasoul has introduced a package of bills titled the “Virginia Marshall Plan for Moms.” Since he is also still running for Lt. Governor, he’s released an AD featuring Roanoke College Professor Ivonne Wallace Fuentes — who is a mother of two:
She says it also includes raising the minimum wage, paid parental leave, and incentives to hire women who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Fuentes will also be joining Rasoul for a Facebook discussion on the Marshall Plan for Moms Thursday evening at 7:30. You can read the full press release on Virginia’s Marshall Plan for Moms below.
From Delegate Sam Rasoul’s Office: ROANOKE – On Tuesday, Del. Sam Rasoul (D-11) announced that as Lieutenant Governor he would take bold action to get Virginia moms and families back on their feet with a Virginia Marshall Plan for Moms.
Rasoul’s plan comes as national data shows women, and particularly moms, are bearing the brunt of job losses during the pandemic. In July, almost one in three mothers ages 25 to 44 reported they were not working due to child care related issues. More than four times as many women as men lost their jobs last September, and a Bureau of Labor Statistics report found women accounted for all of the job losses in December 2020, with Black and Latina women being hit the hardest.
Rasoul is committing a senior staff member of his Lieutenant Governor’s office to be a Director of Mothers Advocacy, whose focus will be working with the Governor and General Assembly to enact these policies.
Following a movement led by mothers and their advocates calling for a National Marshall Plan for Moms, Rasoul is calling for a package of policies aimed at addressing the disproportionate challenges faced by Virginia moms and families, including:
Child care for all
Ensuring all workers have paid family and medical leave
Creating a caregiver income tax credit for $1000 in expenses incurred by an individual caring for a family member
Expanding access to sick leave
Increasing the minimum wage
Instituting fair scheduling to require that businesses have predictable schedules for their employees
Helping employers support moms through employer incentives for targeted career development that allow moms to make up lost ground
Read the Virginia Marshall Plan for Moms.
“Even before this pandemic, our economy did not work for families. We cannot accept any longer a status quo where having and raising children is a leading cause of poverty,” said Rasoul. “The way out of this problem, made much worse by the pandemic and economic crisis, is by following the data. And the data says: Invest in moms. Investing in moms is the surest, quickest path to economic recovery, and to creating a stronger, fairer economy than we had before.”
“Families thrive when mothers thrive. All of the data backs this up,” said Roanoke College Professor of History Ivonne Wallace Fuentes. “A Marshall Plan for moms is an opportunity to reimagine what a Virginia that works for mothers, and therefore works for families and works for children, might really look like.”
On Thursday, February 11, the Sam Rasoul for Lieutenant Governor campaign will host a discussion with Virginia moms, moderated by Roanoke College Professor and mother of two, Ivonne Wallace Fuentes, on our Facebook page starting at 7:30 p.m.
According to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health there are 14 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, and 1 new hospitalization, being reported in the Roanoke Valley. 4 new cases in Roanoke City, 6 new cases in Roanoke County, 2 new cases and 1 new hospitalization in Salem, and 2 new cases in Botetourt County.
According to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health there are 166 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, and 7 new deaths, being reported in the Roanoke Valley. 61 new cases, and 3 new deaths in Roanoke City, 92 new cases,and 4 new deaths in Roanoke County, 3 new cases in Salem, and 10 new cases in Botetourt County.
Two men running to be their respective party’s candidate for Governor roll out plans to improve the lives of students in Virginia. WFIR’s Clark Palmer has that story.According to the latest numbers released this morning by the Virginia Department of Health there are 129 new confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, 4 new deaths, and 3 new hospitalizations being reported in the Roanoke Valley. 38 new cases, and 2 new deaths in Roanoke City, 60 new cases,3 new hospitalizations, and 2 new deaths in Roanoke County, 19 new cases in Salem, and 12 new cases in Botetourt County.
Photo: Virginia House GOP
Press Release: Former Virginia House of Delegates Speaker, retired teacher, and 2021 candidate for Governor Kirk Cox on Thursday called for aggressive and unprecedented steps to attack learning loss and get Virginia Students back on track after extended remote learning throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cox outlined ten specific proposals, all of which could be paid for with federal relief funds, to help students recover after suffering through unnecessary extended remote learning. Cox’s plan would mobilize current, former, and substitute teachers to provide an unprecedented level of one-on-one and small group tutoring to students through the rest of this school year and this summer to address learning loss suffered over the last six months. The plan calls for increased investments in direct tutoring, additional stipends for teachers, tax incentives for retired and substitute teachers, direct reimbursements to parents for supplemental learning programs, and extended summer remediation opportunities for all students.
“Last July, I joined a number of fellow legislators in urging Governor Northam to prioritize five days of in-person learning. He didn’t listen, and for months our school buildings sat shuttered while students languished in virtual and remote settings that did not meet their needs, despite the best effort of Virginia’s hardworking teachers” said Cox, a 30-year retired government teacher. “We need to get students back in the classroom now, and I am glad that the Governor, President Biden, and other Democrats are finally starting to follow the science. That does not, however, excuse them from being held accountable for the damage their failed leadership has done.”
According to the latest data available from the Department of Education, 69% of Virginia school divisions have returned to some form of in-person or hybrid instruction. More are planning to return to in-person instruction in the coming weeks.
Cox continued, “Every single school division needs to return to five days of classroom learning for those who want it as quickly as possible, but we also need to recognize that going back to the classroom is simply not enough. We need a plan to attack the learning loss and get every child in Virginia back on track, regardless of their zip code or their background. And we need to reward the teachers who go above and beyond to make it happen. The General Assembly’s focus, and the focus of Virginia’s next Governor, must now turn to addressing the damaging effects caused by extended remote learning and making sure no child falls behind permanently. A lost year cannot become a lost generation.”
Cox specifically called on the General Assembly to take the following actions to attack learning loss immediately:
Provide additional state funding for one-on-one and small group tutoring on a personalized level through local school divisions for the rest of the 2021 school year and the summer
Create the READ Fund to directly reimburse parents for supplemental learning opportunities, supplies, and additional tutoring
Open summer remediation programs to all students through opt-in program, with costs covered by federal relief funds
Require DOE to issue statewide guidance on remediation best practices, with an emphasis on math and reading, no later than March 31, 2021
Require DOE to develop a statewide screening process for school divisions no later than March 31, 2021, that will help identify the specific learning losses and academic recovery needs of their students
Provide overtime and supplemental stipends for teachers willing to work with students after hours in in-person small group settings
Increase teacher compensation for participating in summer school programs and make that compensation tax free for 2021
Mobilize retired and substitute teachers to serve as temporary instructors for tutoring and summer schools by allowing them to earn tutoring and summer school compensation state-tax free for 2021
Partner with universities to allow teaching students to earn credit toward student teaching requirements for serving as tutors and summer learning instructors
Provide flexibility and streamline re-enrollment process for students returning to public schools this fall
“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the best strategy for addressing learning loss and remediating students is direct, one-on-one or small group tutoring. We need to make sure every student has access to personalized tutoring, small-group learning, or summer remediation programs. To do this, we need to mobilize every available educator in the Commonwealth and direct every available resource to getting our students back on track. There is not one penny of new state spending more important than this task,” said Cox.
Cox concluded, “My sincere hope is that the General Assembly will recognize this is a bipartisan opportunity to lead, but if the Governor and Democrats try to shirk their obligations to our students, we will take this message to every corner of the Commonwealth and hold them accountable for their failures. I spent 30 years teaching in our classrooms, and I’m personally prepared to go back in the classroom this summer to help our students. It’s what we have to do. Our students and families deserve it and more importantly, need us fighting for them now.”
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – One out of five Virginians (19%) say they will never get vaccinated against COVID-19, while 46% say they will get the shot as soon as it is available and 35% plan to wait after the vaccine is available to them, according to a survey released today by the Wason Center for Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University. The results show a clear partisan divide in views about the pandemic.
“COVID doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, but party affiliation clearly affects how people feel about getting vaccinated, reopening schools or even the risk of contracting the virus,” said Dr. Quentin Kidd, Wason Center academic director. “You can bet that the candidates for governor on down will make it an issue in this year’s election.”
Democrats are more willing to get the vaccine as soon as it is available than Republicans (56% to 37%). While 47% of Virginians overall say it is everyone’s responsibility to get vaccinated to protect others, Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to hold that opinion (60% to 32%). While 45% overall say K-12 schools are opening too quickly, Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to take that view (57% to 28%). While 78% overall are concerned or very concerned that they or their family members may become infected, more Democrats express that concern than Republicans (90% to 69%).
In addition, Black Virginians are significantly less willing than whites to get the vaccine as soon as it is available (29% to 51%) and were more likely than other groups to say they would never get vaccinated (26%). “This is consistent with concerns within the Black community that stem from historical mistreatment in medical research and health care,” said Dr. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo, research director of the Wason Center. “To reach herd immunity through vaccination will require concerted efforts to win the trust of the Black community.”
Overall, two out of three Virginians (67%) personally know of someone who has contracted COVID-19, and 29% know of someone who has died from the disease. Two out of three Virginians say it could be a year (38%) or longer (29%) before COVID-19 is contained enough that the U.S. economy can return to normal and businesses can fully reopen, while 9% say that can already happen.
Even if restrictions were lifted now, most Virginians would not be willing to attend large sporting events or concerts (63%), go to a gym (57%), or attend an indoor party (56%) or a wedding (58%). Many, but not a majority, would be willing to get a haircut (49%), dine in a restaurant (47%) or go to a public beach (43%), while 36% would attend church in person, 34% would go to a movie theatre and 34% would fly on an airplane.