The June 9 congressional primaries will be postponed by two weeks, and the May municipal elections could be moved to November, Virginia’s governor said Wednesday.
Holding the elections as scheduled would put voters’ and election officials’ health at risk during the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Ralph Northam said at a news conference in Richmond.
He is using his executive power to postpone the June primaries. Chapter 24.2 Section 603.1 of the state code says he can issue an executive order to postpone primaries during a state of emergency, which he declared on March 12. The election will now be held on June 23, with the deadline to request an absentee ballot online or by mail moving to June 16.
But Northam doesn’t have the power to move May city elections. So he’s asking the General Assembly to postpone them to November. Lawmakers could vote on the proposal when they come back to Richmond on April 22 to consider any bills vetoed by the governor and any budget amendments. The change will likely be made through an amendment to the current fiscal year’s budget.
Chesapeake, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News and Williamsburg all have city council, school board or mayor elections in May. If the General Assembly moves them to November, all absentee ballots already cast will be discarded, and Virginians will have to vote again in November.
Here’s what you need to know Thursday:
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
Tracking reported COVID-19 cases in Virginia
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6:08 p.m.: New Journal and Guide suspends print production because of challenges during coronavirus pandemic
The publisher of the New Journal and Guide announced Thursday that the newspaper would be suspending its publication until further notice because of challenges during the coronavirus pandemic.
“For the New Journal and Guide, a small business with a dedicated mission, it is not business as usual,” Brenda Andrews, owner and publisher, said in an email.
Andrews said the advertisers have canceled payments, and some of the publication’s distribution locations — small businesses and churches — have closed.
The April 16 issue will be the last one released until further notice. Andrews said she hopes to resume publication on or before June 4.
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4:45 p.m.: Port of Virginia begins screening temperatures of workers, employees who enter terminals
The Port of Virginia began testing the temperatures of anyone coming on to its restricted facilities Thursday, including the port’s two biggest container terminals.
Anyone whose temperature is 100.4 degrees or above will be denied entry, along with anyone who declines to take the infrared, no contact temperature screening.
The Virginian-Pilot could find no other port on the East Coast that has taken such a step.
The screenings could impact thousands of people: port employees, harbor pilots and ocean carrier representatives, along with the large number of International Longshoremen’s Association workers who report to the port every day. They will be screened at Norfolk International Terminal and Virginia International Gateway. There was no set end date.
Truck drivers will not be screened as no physical interaction happens when they are working on the port, according to a post on the port’s website.
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2:58 p.m.: HRT suspends fare collection
Hampton Roads Transit will temporarily stop collecting fares beginning Friday, its latest effort at social distancing in response to the coronavirus.
The suspension will remain in effect until June 10, which is when Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home directive is set to expire.
HRT will use emergency state and federal coronavirus funds to cover the sums its six member cities would contribute over the free-fare weeks. Those sums are based on ridership in the cities. Not requiring fares means riders won’t need to interact with a driver, or to touch the fare box, which it among the items people touch most often.
At the same time, HRT is encouraging riders to get on and off by the rear doors of its buses, if possible. People who need to the bus to kneel for easier access can still board at the front. HRT is also asking riders to wear face masks.
HRT has already reduced services to core routes that connect major employment, shopping and medical centers, though it is running its buses less often on most routes. It also blocked off some seats, as a way to keep people at a safe distance from its drivers.
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1:47 p.m.: Coronavirus could strike more U.S. Navy ships at sea, general says
Pentagon leaders anticipate that the coronavirus may strike more Navy ships at sea after an outbreak aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific infected more than 400 sailors, a top general said Thursday.
Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said one member of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt was hospitalized Thursday in intensive care on Guam, where the carrier has been docked for more than a week. He said 416 crew members are now infected and that 1,164 test results are pending.
“It’s not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue,” Hyten told a Pentagon news conference. “We have too many ships at sea. … To think that it will never happen again is not a good way to plan.”
The Navy’s top officer, meanwhile, said the biggest problem is the inability to test enough people quickly, including those aboard the USS Nimitz, the next U.S.-based aircraft carrier due to deploy out to sea.
“The challenge that we have now, is having that type of capability where we can test in volume and at speed,” Adm. Mike Gilday told a small number of reporters Thursday. “I really don’t have a good estimate right now on when that testing capability might be available in the kinds of quantities we would like to see.”
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1:29 p.m.: Contractor tests positive for COVID-19 at the Chesapeake Correctional Center
A contractor at the Chesapeake Correctional Center has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a news release from the Chesapeake Sheriff’s Office.
It’s the facility’s first case, and the contractor is being quarantined, the release said.
“We have infectious disease protocols in place for exactly these types of situations,” said Sheriff Jim O’Sullivan in the release. “Our top priority within the correctional facility is the health and safety of our staff and the inmates in custody.”
The release said there are no confirmed cases among the inmates, and on March 20, the facility increased its cleaning and sanitation rounds, implemented temperature and symptom checks for everyone entering the facility, mask-wearing, and put all new inmates in quarantine for 14 days before they joined the general population.
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1:18 p.m.: Evicted during a pandemic: At some motels, tenants are being illegally tossed out
Noon was approaching and Omayra Acevedo had a choice: make rent at the extended stay motel where she’d been living with her fiance for six months, or risk becoming homeless in the middle of a pandemic she feared would kill her.
Acevedo and her fiance, both 47, had paid $338 a week in rent for the first three months they were at the InTown Suites on Battlefield Boulevard in Chesapeake, and $295 a week since. They both had jobs and got paid on opposite weeks, which meant they had money coming in every Friday when rent was due.
Then the coronavirus hit. Acevedo lost her job as an office assistant, which paid $1,800 a month before taxes, two-thirds of their joint income. She had filed for unemployment and, late last month, knew she would get a check soon, but wasn’t sure when.
Acevedo and her fiance, Michael Gordon, said they tried for several days to let InTown Suites know they wouldn’t be able to make rent on March 27 — by telling the on-site manager multiple times and asking her to reach out to the regional manager, as well as reaching out to corporate through the company’s website.
They heard nothing by the time they came back from the food pantry — a maiden trip forced on them by coronavirus and unemployment — to their room at 11 a.m. Friday.
They were locked out, an hour before rent was due.
Acevedo and Gordon aren’t alone. The Virginia Poverty Law Center has seen a spike in the number of tenants in extended stay motels being illegally evicted or threatened with it, even though the courts aren’t processing eviction cases, said Phil Storey, a staff attorney at the center.
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12:30 p.m.: Hampton launches small business loan program, extensions on tax bills to those affected by coronavirus
For those hit hardest by the pandemic, Hampton is offering some people more time to pay their tax bills and a loan forgiveness program for small businesses.
The Hampton City Council — voting unanimously during an electronic meeting Wednesday night — approved a loan and grant forgiveness program that will be managed by the Economic Development Authority, City Manager Mary Bunting said.
Bunting, noting that small businesses “are a strong part of the fabric of our community,” said the city’s EDA will allocate $500,000 from its budget to fund the program.
Eligible independent businesses – those with financial losses directly related to the pandemic who make less than $1 million annually and have at least one location in Hampton – can apply for a loan of as much as $10,000.
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12:01 p.m.: First coronavirus-related death in Dare County reported
An elderly person with ties to Dare County died Thursday after contracting the coronavirus, the first such death to be reported by the county.
The person, who was more than 90 years old, died from complications associated with the virus, according to a county news release. The patient had several underlying medical problems.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Dare County had reported ten positive test results for the virus. Five people have recovered, three did not show symptoms, one was recovering and one was hospitalized outside of the county. The release did not say if the person hospitalized is the one who died. No other information was given about the victim.
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11:33 a.m.: Two Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office deputies and another York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office deputy test positive for COVID-19
Two deputies with the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office and a York-Poquoson deputy have tested positive for COVID-19, according to news releases from both offices.
One deputy in Virginia Beach has already recovered and been cleared by a physician and occupational health to return to work, and the other is on leave. Per the Americans with Disabilities Act, the VBSO declined to provide information about their work assignments.
“No one at the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office has been hospitalized because of COVID-19,” the office said in its release. “The Virginia Department of Health and Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office Internal Safety Officer are investigating these individuals’ direct contacts so that they can take appropriate steps to ensure their health and safety.”
The office implemented a 24/7 cleaning program for the correctional center in mid-March, as well as mandatory wellness screenings of all appointees and contractors before reporting to work each day. That includes taking their temperatures and answering questions about symptoms.
All appointees and contractors have to wear face masks whenever they are within 6 feet of another person at work.
In York County and Poquoson, four deputies and one civilian who all work in the courthouse have tested positive, the office said.
The first deputy left work on March 25 and was tested the next day. The deputy has fully recovered but is quarantining at home. Positive test results later came back for the other two.
The most recent deputy to test positive is currently home and has been quarantined since Friday. None of them will return to work without clearance from a medical professional, the office said.
The York County courthouse was closed for deep cleaning on Monday after the first three sheriff’s deputies in the building tested positive for the coronavirus.
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11:30 a.m.: William & Mary students encouraged to opt for pass/fail rather than letter grades for the semester
Peter Atwater, alumnus and adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary recommended Wednesday that students move to “pass/fair” for their classes this semester away from the traditional A-F grading system.
Participating in the third virtual conversation with W&M President Katherine Rowe, Atwater, who founded Financial Insyghts and is an expert in decision-making, said “when confidence fails (we) necessarily have to choose what’s important … right now and right here.” He told students not to wait until May regarding grades, do it now.
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11:27 a.m.: Hampton Jazz Festival is latest event to be canceled in wake of coronavirus
The Hampton Jazz Festival is the latest of many events that just won’t happen this year.
The Hampton Coliseum announced Thursday that the 53rd Annual Hampton Jazz Festival, scheduled for June 26–28, won’t go on this year. The would’ve-been lineup included fan favorites KEM, Charlie Wilson and Anthony Hamilton.
The three-day fest will not be rescheduled for this year, and will return in June 2021.
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9:55 a.m.: 10% of American workers, 7% of Virginians, now have lost their jobs in the past 3 weeks
With a startling 6.6 million people seeking jobless benefits last week, the United States has reached a grim landmark: Roughly one in 10 workers have lost their jobs in just the past three weeks.
The figures collectively constitute the largest and fastest string of job losses in records dating to 1948. They paint a picture of a job market that is quickly unraveling as businesses have shut down across the country because of the coronavirus outbreak. More than 20 million Americans may lose jobs this month.
In Virginia, another 149,758 people filed initial claims last week on top of 112,497 the week before and 46,277 the week before that. The number amounts to nearly 6.9% of the state’s civilian workforce.
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9:51 a.m.: Deaths up 45 percent in Virginia since Wednesday
In the past 24 hours, 34 new deaths related to the coronavirus were reported, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health. The number of deaths in Virginia rose from 75 to 109 in a 24-hour-period — a 45 percent increase.
In the central region, 41 people have died, 34 in the northern region, 22 in the eastern region, and six each in the southwestern and northwestern regions.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported Wednesday that there are now 1,296 hospitalizations related to the coronavirus. Of those, 669 patients have tested positive for the virus and 627 have COVID-19 symptoms serious enough to require hospitalization but are pending final test results.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 397 since Wednesday morning, bringing Virginia’s total to 4,042 cases, according to the VDH.
There have been 33,026 people tested for the coronavirus in Virginia.
In Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach still has the highest number of cases, with 219 as of Thursday morning. James City County has 123, Chesapeake has 101, Norfolk 84, Newport News 64, Hampton 53, Portsmouth 44, Suffolk 31, York 25 and Isle of Wight 24. Williamsburg and Gloucester each have 16, Accomack County on the Eastern Shore has 11, Poquoson has five and Northampton County has two cases.
Of the 4,042 cases, 2,053 are women and 1,930 are men, while 59 had no reported gender.
The age bracket with the highest number of cases remains the 50-to-59-year-olds with 808 cases, or 20%. Eighty-nine children under the age of 19 have confirmed cases.
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8:03 a.m.: The Helpers: Chinese-American families rally to find medical supplies for Hampton Roads hospitals
First, the virus ravaged their homeland on the other side of the globe. Then it came for their neighbors in Hampton Roads.
Through the devastation, they’ve formed alliances to help both places.
“We’re all in this together,” said Elizabeth Tai, a former longtime librarian in Poquoson who has organized local efforts that altogether have raised more than $30,000 worth of personal protective equipment from Chinese Americans living in the area to help medical staff tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic. “Almost all of (the equipment) is from China, but some is from home reserves.”
Tai is a member of the Peninsula Chinese American Association, which months ago worked to send desperately needed personal protective equipment to Wuhan, China, where the virus first reared its head.
As officials there tamped down on infection rates and COVID-19 crept toward Virginia, Chinese American organizations like Tai’s reversed course and began asking friends, business associates and government officials in China to send donations back. So far, the Peninsula Chinese American Association has collected more than $16,000 and more than 10,000 of the items.
On the south side, Norfolk residents obtained 2,000 medical-grade masks, 500 non-medical clothing shields and 500 goggles from Ningbo, its Chinese sister city.
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8:01 a.m.: Black Virginians could be in greater danger from the coronavirus, but the state lacks data to know for sure
State officials said Wednesday they were worried the coronavirus pandemic could be disproportionately impacting black Virginians, but that they lacked key data to truly understand what was happening.
Elsewhere, evidence has emerged showing the virus was devastating minority communities. In Louisiana, roughly 70% of the COVID-19 patients who died are black, even though African Americans make up just 32% of the state’s population. In Illinois, 43% of people who died are black despite the group making up only about 14% of the state’s population.
Here, however, Virginia officials acknowledge their data is incomplete. The state lacks information regarding the patient’s race and ethnicity in more than half of its 3,645 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
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7:03 a.m.: Businesses give bonuses to employees to show their appreciation during pandemic
As the nation continues to battle the coronavirus, numerous industries that cannot step back from their duties are recognizing employees monetarily for their dedication.
Here are companies giving raises and bonuses.
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6:57 a.m.: During cleaning supplies shortage, Virginia Beach company steps up
A small machine used to manufacture disinfectant cleaner for medical camps in Africa during the Ebola epidemic is now helping Hampton Roads businesses and consumers fight the coronavirus outbreak.
With cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer in short supply, the Virginia Beach military and police supplier Matbock is making and selling a concentrated chlorine cleaning product and donating the disinfectant to local medical facilities.
“It was an easy way that we could help out the local community here in Hampton Roads,” said Matbock co-founder Sean Matson.
The machine that makes the solution — a collection of tubes, wires and containers stored in a laptop-sized carrying case — mixes salt and water to make the chlorine at a rate of 1.3 gallons an hour. Matbock employee John Bottoms set up the machine based on his work in Africa battling in Ebola and other disaster relief efforts.
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Worker at Cox-linked facility in Chesapeake tests positive for coronavirus
A facility in Chesapeake that processes and ships Cox Communications equipment was closed temporarily this week after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, a Cox spokeswoman confirmed.
The employee, who works for a company that Cox contracts with, was at home and self quarantining after testing positive on Monday, according to an internal recording heard by The Virginian-Pilot.
The facility closed Tuesday for deep cleaning and was back open Wednesday, Cox spokeswoman Margaret-Hunter Wade wrote in an email.
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Small businesses, their banks race to secure some of $349 billion in federal coronavirus loans
It’s a modern-day gold rush, except the picks to break down mountains have been replaced with the clicks to apply online for what is bound to be free money for many in need.
Small business owners in Hampton Roads have raced to claim some of the nearly $349 billion pledged by the federal government through the Paycheck Protection Program to help save them and their employees from financial ruin before the money runs out. At the same time, private banks have enlisted hundreds of employees to field thousands of applications for the loans since Friday.
The program — part of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, signed into law on March 27 — allows small businesses with fewer than 500 employees to seek a forgivable loan worth 2.5 times its average monthly payroll costs. It’s the banks lending their own money. If the businesses do what they agree to do at the end of eight weeks, including using 75% of the funds to maintain their payroll, the loan would be forgiven and the federal government would pay back the banks, with 1% interest plus fees. If the borrower goes out of business before then or defaults on the loan, the federal government is on the hook to pay. The loans require no personal guarantee or collateral from the business.
While $349 billion sounds like a lot of money, there are about 30 million small businesses in the country, and most if not all could claim that their livelihoods have been damaged by COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. If every small business was granted an equal slice of the pie, each would get about $11,600. The loan depends, though, on a business’s payroll costs, and the federal government has indicated the funds will be divvied out first come, first served.
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Virginia restaurants can now serve cocktails for delivery and takeout
The last shoe finally dropped on restaurant alcohol sales. Takeout and delivery cocktails will be legal in Virginia as of Friday for the duration of the coronavirus crisis.
“All Virginia restaurants that remain open are now takeout or delivery only,” Northam said Wednesday. “Allowing them to sell mixed beverages with takeout or delivery orders will help them augment their revenue streams so they can continue to operate and employ Virginians.”
“As of midnight, Thursday, April 9, mixed beverage restaurants, limited mixed beverage restaurants, distillers and limited distillers with an agreement with ABC will be able to sell product samples and cocktails to go or for delivery, subject to limitations imposed by Virginia ABC,” wrote the ABC on its Twitter account after the media conference.
The governor also announced that ABC license renewal fees for restaurants would be deferred by 90 days past the original expiration date, for businesses with licenses expiring in March, April, May and June.
