Following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control, Gov. Ralph Northam urged people to wear masks when leaving the house to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
At a press conference in Richmond Monday, Northam said wearing a mask doesn’t mean social distancing measures can be relaxed.
“No one should assume that if they wear a face covering, they are safe and can go about their business as usual,” he said.
Northam, a pediatric neurologist, said wearing a mask helps prevent droplets from sneezing or coughing from being released into the air and onto surfaces. He said the masks don’t have to be medical grade — a bandana or cloth and some rubber bands will do.
Here’s what you need to know Tuesday:
Closings and cancellations due to the coronavirus outbreak
Here’s where children can get free meals while schools are closed
Here’s what you need to know about living through the coronavirus crisis in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads hospitals roll out in-house tests for the coronavirus
Tracking reported COVID-19 cases in Virginia
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8:37 p.m.: Virginia Beach City Council votes to suspend meal taxes to reduce takeout bills during coronavirus pandemic
Starting in May, anyone ordering takeout from a Virginia Beach restaurant will see a 5.5% decrease on the bill.
During its second virtual meeting since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Virginia Beach City Council voted 9-2 on Tuesday evening to suspend the meals tax for May and June in an effort to encourage more people to support local businesses.
While Virginia Beach and many other cities in Hampton Roads have deferred penalties and interest accrual on meals and hospitality taxes to help ease the financial strain caused by the pandemic, Virginia Beach is among the first cities in the region to temporarily waive the city’s meals tax.
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6:30 p.m.: ODU announces rebates for housing, meals and parking
Old Dominion University announced it would be granting nearly $8.4 million worth of rebates to students for housing, meals and parking for the spring semester.
The value of the rebates will vary based on each student’s specific dining and housing plan. The rebates will be credited to student accounts “in the coming weeks,” according to the letter from ODU President John Broderick.
The university also said it would designate $1.6 million to keep students who work part-time on-campus jobs employed. These jobs may continue through telework or participation in the Learning and Earning Professional Development program, which gives students the chance to continue their employment safely when teleworking isn’t possible.
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6:10 p.m.: Chesapeake sheriff wants to use temporary building to house inmates in Hampton Roads with coronavirus
A temporary building at the Chesapeake city jail could be used to house inmates in the region who test positive for coronavirus.
Chesapeake Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan has asked the state Board of Corrections for permission to use the building, which is vacant, to isolate sick inmates from the general population.
No Chesapeake inmates have tested positive for the illness, but O’Sullivan said he wants to be prepared. The jail has only two “negative pressure” cells, used to sequester inmates with infectious diseases. The temporary building would provide more space for more people.
O’Sullivan said other cities could send inmates there if they enter into a “memorandum of understanding” with the sheriff’s office. He said he’s open to taking in state prisoners, too, if there’s a need.
The Board of Corrections is scheduled to vote on O’Sullivan’s request at an emergency meeting Friday.
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5:52 p.m.: Velocity urgent care centers offer drive-up testing for coronavirus
A chain of urgent care clinics in Hampton Roads is now offering drive-up screening for the coronavirus.
Velocity Urgent Care has designated two sites, one in Virginia Beach and another in Newport News, for the service. All 14 of its locations in Eastern and Northern Virginia are also administering tests inside the offices.
Beginning Wednesday, the Velocity drive-ups could be the only such operations in the region where people can get tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, from their cars. Sentara Healthcare suspended its drive-thrus, which sprung up at different locations around the region beginning in March, and is instead focusing on providing in-house testing to patients at its hospitals.
Drive-up testing hours will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Fridays.
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5:11 p.m.: Cox suspends in-home visits
Cox Communications sent an email to customers announcing the company would be suspending in-home visits during the coronavirus pandemic.
Technicians will provide support through remote assistance and video calls.
The company also reduced its store hours and has asked customers to use its online self-help services for paying bills and managing service.
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4:56 p.m.: 7-Eleven offers free car washes for Virginia Beach, Norfolk medical staff and first responders
Medical staff and first responders in Norfolk and Virginia Beach will be eligible for free car washes in April at 7-Eleven.
Medical staff and first responders will be able to show a professional ID or badge to receive the car wash code. The offer is only valid at participating stores in Virginia Beach and Norfolk.
The promotion is to thank the medical staff and first responders for “all they’re doing to keep our country safe during this unprecedented crisis,” according to a news release from 7-Eleven.
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4:25 p.m.: The Helpers: USS Bataan sailors wrote letters about low morale. A Norfolk nonprofit is sending care packages
In recent weeks, the Norfolk-based nonprofit Troopster Donations received more than a dozen letters from sailors and Marines aboard the USS Bataan.
“They told us about the difficulties they were facing, especially due to COVID-19,” said Chelsea Mandello, the group’s founder and CEO.
They’re unable to make port visits and are thousands of miles away from family members quarantined at home.
“The letters we received were very heartbreaking. Overall the morale on board is very low. They’re all very scared.”
So she sprang into action the best way she knows how: preparing to send care packages to the service members.
Troopster, which launched in 2015, is run by military veterans including Mandello. It helps family, friends and communities send care packages to troops no matter where they’re stationed — 12,000 packages across 20 countries to date.
Norfolk is the homeport of the Bataan amphibious assault ship, which is currently in the Persian Gulf.
For the next two weeks, the nonprofit is virtually raffling off baskets full of goodies donated by Hampton Roads businesses. Winners get to take home the basket, and the money raised will go toward shipping packages for the ship.
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1:38 p.m.: Virginia Attorney General asks SCC to extend order barring utility disconnections
Attorney General Mark Herring is asking the State Corporation Commission to extend an order barring utility disconnections through at least June 10, which is when Virginia’s state of emergency is currently scheduled to end.
The commission halted utility disconnections for non-payment and suspended late charges last month in response to a petition from Herring.
Herring is also asking the commission to order reconnections for customers whose service was cut off before the suspension order, as well as suspending late fees and waiving any requirements that make it harder to reconnect service.
“It is clear that this extension is needed to make sure that all Virginians have access to water, power and gas during the entirety of the state of emergency,” Herring said.
The commission ordered a 60 freeze on disconnections on March 16.He said an extension was particularly important for Virginians whose employment has been hit by social distancing efforts and stay at home orders, and told the commission the extension was needed to protect public health and safety.
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12:25 p.m.: Here’s how to still shop local in Hampton Roads during the coronavirus
Whether it’s buying a gift card to Push Theater to enjoy a laugh later or concierge shopping services for a new work-from-home uniform, here are some of the Hampton Roads businesses you can still shop with during the spread of the coronavirus. Some require an appointment during our social-distancing times (furniture stores). Others have gone entirely online (virtual running shoe fittings). Many offer pickup if you know what you want to order ahead of time (indoor and outdoor plants) or local delivery for a reduced rate (chocolate-covered apples).
We asked retailers to fill in a form about what they’re doing at the moment to stay in business and compiled a database.
It’s not too late to add your store to our database by filling out the form at bit.ly/HRshops. You just have to be a local retailer or service (not a restaurant or bar — there’s a separate database for that, and restaurants and bars can fill out the form here: http://bit.ly/HRCVTakeoutForm).
Check back here often to see what’s been added to the list.
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12:08 p.m.: Williamsburg’s volunteer fire department faces funding problem with coronavirus pandemic
As coronavirus cases in the Peninsula Health District continue to increase, the volunteer firefighters in Williamsburg face a new challenge: they can’t go door to door to ask for donations.
In the age of social distancing and working from home, the Williamsburg Volunteer Fire Department has been unable to solicit the nearly $40,000 it asks for every year from residents to supplement the professional firefighters in the city’s department. The volunteer force has existed in Williamsburg for 266 years.
“We can’t go door to door … and introduce ourselves again,” volunteer fire department president Troy Lapetina said. “Whether it’s a hurricane or a snowstorm or the coronavirus, 365 days a year the volunteers are here helping.”
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12:02 p.m.: With shoppers concerned about grocery stores, farm stands across Hampton Roads open early to sell fresh fruits and veggies
John Cromwell’s farm stand usually opens in mid-May, when his fields are bursting with pea pods. Until then, he’s busy supplying local restaurants with his hardy winter crops — beets, kale and collards.
But with eateries across the country cutting back or closing entirely as a result of the coronavirus, Cromwell found himself last month with plenty of ripe vegetables and no where to sell them. So, he said, he opened his stand on New Bridge Road early to peddle his crop directly to the public.
“When they shut the restaurants, I said: ‘What the heck, I hate to plow it up,'” Cromwell said.
Several growers in Hampton Roads are sweeping the dust out of their farm stands and opening early this season, but they’re taking precautions to keep themselves and their customers safe.
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11:12 a.m.: Cheseapeake Regional Medical Center offers free virtual screenings
Cheseapeake Regional Medical Center has partnered with Amwell, a telehealth company, to offer free virtual screenings for people experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus.
From there, providers will refer people to get tested for the virus, if necessary.
You can sign up on your computer at chesapeakeregional.amwell.com or by downloading the Amwell app on your phone. Chesapeake Regional has more information on its website chesapeakeregional.com.
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10:47 a.m.: “It’s our time”: Navy Reserve calls up Hampton Roads doctors to help fight coronavirus
Dr. David Zelinskas got the call Thursday night: be ready to go within 72 hours to help fight the coronavirus.
“We all kind of had the feeling it was a matter of time,” said Zelinskas, 37, who works at Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group and lives in Virginia Beach.
He’s part of the Navy’s Reserve Forces and was being called on for the first time since he left active duty in 2017.
Zelinskas is one of 190 reservists from Hampton Roads and among 500 medical professionals nationwide who are headed to New York to help alleviate its outsized impact from the pandemic. There are now more than 68,000 cases in the city.
“This enemy, this mission, is directly the fight for us medical professionals,” Zelinskas said Friday. “It’s our time to step up to the plate and serve.”
Nearly a quarter of all Navy reservists who have been activated in the battle against the virus are from Hampton Roads, according to Lt. Cmdr. Ben Tisdale, a spokesman for Navy Reserve Forces Command based in Norfolk. About 850 citizen-sailors total are engaged in the fight, he said in an email.
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10:40 a.m.: Working from home, completing schoolwork and surviving quarantine without internet. How are rural communities coping?
Pulling into the King William High School’s parking lot, Holly Sill shuts off her car and waits as her two children connect to the school’s Wi-Fi and begin their daily coursework.
With a 3-year-old, two high schoolers and herself, the car becomes cramped. The remaining space is quickly filled as notebooks and papers sprawl across unclaimed territory. With laptops resting in their laps, it is a necessary balancing act.
Like many in the region, Sill and her family do not have adequate internet access. In order to finish their schoolwork they make the drive nearly every day, sitting for long periods of time in the parking lot.
“We had been going to my parent’s house in Henrico to do school work,” Sill said. “We haven’t done so in over a week because I am afraid of putting my almost 70-year-old parents at risk.”
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10:02 a.m.: Chesapeake front yard sign business thriving during coronavirus
Under the cloak of darkness Sunday night, the signs were delivered to Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. Signs with emoji faces — some smiling, others covered in surgical masks — were skewered into the lawn facing the main drag. Other signs in the shape of red hearts were posted nearby along with clip art images of doctors and nurses.
Behind the images, in big yellow letters, read the phrase: Heroes work here.
The message along Battlefield Boulevard was meant to surprise the healthcare workers whose field has been besieged across the globe by the deadly coronavirus pandemic. With 77 known cases of coronavirus, Chesapeake is among the cities across the country who’ve seen the impact firsthand.
“It made my morning,” Stephanie Cribb, a nurse who’s worked at the hospital for 12 years, said. “It’s all I’ve been talking about this morning. It was so beautiful and gave me chills knowing people are thinking about us like that.”
Cribb didn’t know who put the signs up, but she wanted to say thank you.
Those thanks go to Janice Wilke, a Chesapeake resident who runs Front Yard Friends from her home. The small business owner has had the lawn decorating business for the last 17 years.
Usually, they’re busiest from April through September, especially around high school graduation.
“We have a saying,” said Janice’s husband, Ken, who helps out with graphic design, “grad week is our Black Friday.”
But with Virginians staying at home, ordered to avoid large groups, Front Yard Friends is in the middle of a new heyday.
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9:59 a.m.: Lidl re-purposes food truck to deliver groceries to retirement homes in Hampton Roads
Lidl this week began using its food truck, normally seen handing out samples, to deliver groceries directly to several retirement communities in Hampton Roads.
The German grocer, whose U.S. operations are based in Arlington, is doing the deliveries only in Hampton Roads. It’s where the company had an agreement with an event agency, Red Peg, to offer food samples in the region from the truck before the virus interrupted those plans.
The deliveries don’t include any fees, and customers of participating communities order from a printed menu that includes essentials (toilet paper, hand soap, multi-surface cleaner, bread, milk, eggs) and some non-essential items (chocolate bar, tortilla chips, salsa) at set individual prices.
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9:36 a.m.: Hampton Roads food banks see surge in demand, drop in donations
Darlene Palacious had been working at a temp agency in Virginia Beach when everything changed due to the spread of coronavirus.
As Gov. Ralph Northam issued stay-at-home orders, job opportunities vanished. Her need for food did not.
The 54-year-old Hampton resident joined hundreds of others in need on Friday and pulled her sports utility vehicle into a long line at Darling Stadium to try to get a box of provisions from the Virginia Peninsula Food Bank.
She arrived at 8 a.m., but others had beaten her there. She waited two hours to be one of the lucky ones to get food, but the food bank ran out after serving 480 households. Police had to turn back many people waiting in line, including Palacious.
As measures to slow the spread of the virus crippled the economy, the demand for food has grown so rapidly that local food banks say they can’t keep up. The thousands of volunteers that food banks rely on each year are largely being kept away from food bank headquarters to minimize exposure, resulting in full-time staffers being stretched thin.
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9:34 a.m.: York County courthouse closed, sanitized after three deputies got coronavirus
The York County courthouse was closed for deep cleaning on Monday after three sheriff’s deputies in the building tested positive for the coronavirus, the sheriff’s office said.
The first deputy left work on March 25, and was tested the next day. The results came back Saturday confirming COVID-19, York-Poquoson Sheriff’s spokeswoman Shelley Ward said.
The deputy has since fully recovered, she said, but is still quarantining at home.
Positive test results later came back for two other deputies who also had symptoms, confirming they also have COVID-19, Ward said Monday. They and a civilian courthouse employee with symptoms are likewise out of work on quarantine.
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9:05 a.m.: More than 450 new coronavirus cases reported
In the past 24 hours, the Virginia Department of Health has reported 455 newly confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
There are now 3,333 confirmed cases in the commonwealth. Nearly 4,000 more people were tested, for a total of 28,645 in Virginia since the pandemic began.
Sixty-three Virginians have died, as of Tuesday morning, an increase of nine since Monday morning. The northern region has 22 deaths, 18 in the eastern region, 16 in the central region, four in the northwest region and three in the southwest region.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported Tuesday that there are now 1,183 hospitalizations related to the coronavirus. Of those, 589 patients have tested positive for the virus and 594 have COVID-19 symptoms serious enough to require hospitalization but are pending final test results.
In Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach has the highest number of cases with 200. James City County has 119, Chesapeake has 80, Norfolk has 72, Newport News has 57, Hampton has 43, Portsmouth has 36, Suffolk has 30, York has 25, Isle of Wight has 23, Gloucester has 15, Williamsburg has 14, Accomack has 11, Poquoson has four and Northampton has two cases.
Of the 3,333 confirmed cases, 1,718 are women,1,563 are men and 52 people did not report their gender.
The age bracket with the highest number of cases is 50-59-year-olds, with 660 of the cases, or 19.8%. Sixty-eight children under the age of 19 have confirmed cases.
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8:50 a.m.: 28 people have now died at 1 Virginia nursing care facility
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.
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7:55 a.m.: USNS Comfort crew member diagnosed with coronavirus, report says
A member of the crew of the USNS Comfort, the Norfolk-based hospital ship sent to New York, has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report from ABC News.
The crew member did not come in contact with patients, so it’s likely the person was asymptomatic when the Comfort left Norfolk on March 28, according to ABC. The ship arrived in New York on March 30.
It began treating patients from New York who do not have the coronavirus, but reversed course Monday.
Crew members who had contact with the infected person tested negative, the Navy told ABC. But they will remain in isolation regardless of test results.
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7:50 a.m.: Businesses look beyond their own problems to help others affected by coronavirus
While local businesses are fighting to stay in business because of the coronavirus outbreak and front line workers are desperately fighting to save lives from the pandemic, many businesses are offering signs of gratitude.
Read more about what’s being offered here.
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Army corps engineers: contractors set to begin building alternate care facilities soon
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Norfolk said Monday it is seeking contractors who will build three alternate care facilities — one of which will be in Hampton.
Construction on these facilities is expected to begin within 48 to 72 hours of contract awards, according to a release from the USACE, Norfolk District.
The facilities ? the Hampton Roads Convention Center in Hampton, Dulles Expo Center in Loudoun County, and one in Richmond’s convention center — will be converted into medical care space providing needed hospital bed capacity for the state.
“We will continue to build upon the momentum that USACE has built in delivering the needed hospital bed capacity in an unprecedented amount of time,” said Col. Patrick Kinsman, Norfolk District commander.
The 344,000-square-foot Hampton Roads Convention Center could hold up to 360 acute beds or 580 beds for less serious cases. The facility has been vacant since last month’s order to close all public facilities.
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Doctors are seeing patients online during coronavirus — and it could change medicine forever
Michael Jara, 7, showed up for his regular physical therapy appointment in Virginia Beach on Wednesday, feeling a bit shy but excited to move around for an hour.
He greeted physical therapist Lindsey Pauley with a smile and a wave, his mother standing nearby.
They started with some movement to warm up — frog jumps, inch worms, crab walks — then did yoga together before working on the exercises he’d done dozens of times before.
“Alright, big jumps!” Pauley said as she watched him squat and hop like a frog, guiding him to do the exercises correctly. “Don’t go too fast! Slow down!”
There was one difference between this appointment and the ones Michael had been attending twice weekly for the past six months: Instead of being inside Southeastern Physical Therapy’s colorful gym, surrounded by exercise balls and hopscotch mats, he was in the carpeted hallway of his house nearby, following Pauley’s instructions via a live video on a phone screen.
Telehealth has rapidly taken off in hundreds of health care offices since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the United States, forcing people to isolate at home instead of taking a risk for a routine visit to the doctor. Practices like Southeastern Physical Therapy, which had planned to slowly pilot a telemedicine program over the next year or so, have had to quickly ramp up the offering as an option for those no longer able to leave their house.
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United Way, Hampton Roads Community Foundation make $500,000 available to nonprofits in need
Just as the spread of coronavirus has impacted for-profit businesses, nonprofits and charities have seen their resources stretched thin. In response, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and the United Way of South Hampton Roads are pledging half a million dollars, $250,000 each, to help nonprofits that are addressing “urgent and essential needs of people impacted by COVID-19.”
The groups said the first priority is to direct money to groups providing food, emergency housing, household essentials and mental health to those in need. Applications submitted by April 13 will be considered for the grants, but the organizations said they’ll be accepting later applications on a rolling basis.
A nonprofit must be a 501(c)(3) registered in Virginia and serving residents of Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. According to the request for proposals, groups that would be considered ineligible for funding are “organizations that require religious participation by clients/participants, political or fraternal organizations, national or international organizations or purpose, and hospitals and similar health-care facilities.”
