• Audio from Governor Northam's March 9, 2021 press conference
• Audio from President Joe Biden's March 11, 2021 address
• Audio from UVA Health System, March 12, 2021 press briefing 
• Audio from Dr. Danny Avula's March 12, 2021 press briefing

• Support my research by making a donation through Patreon
• Sign for a subscription to Charlottesville Community Engagement, free or paid
• Pay me through Venmo

1) Sign for a subscription to Charlottesville Community Engagement, free or paid

2) Support my research by making a donation through Patreon

3) Pay me through Venmo

• August 10, 2020 UVA Community Town Hall in full 
• UVA's Return to Grounds page
• Community Engagement Newscast
• Please consider a Patreon subscription to support the outlet that creates this show

Resources:

• Albemarle's emergency ordinance
• Charlottesville's emergency ordinance

The number of new cases of COVID-19 in Virginia increased by just over 1,500 according to released by the Virginia Department of Health on July 28, 2020. That’s the highest one-day total for all of July. Later on that day, both the Charlottesville City Council and Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted to take steps to try to slow spread before University of Virginia students begin to return. 

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I’m Sean Tubbs, the creator of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network, and your host for this program and others that may soon be happening. Since March, I’ve been putting this show together to capture as much as I can of what’s going on during this pandemic. At an Albemarle School Board forum tonight, there was still this question.

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On today’s show, coverage of the Supervisor and Council meetings, as well as a quick drop-in on the Albemarle School Board’s third and final forum. Thanks for listening, and let’s get going.

*

First, a quick update on some information. 

The Virginia Department of Health reported another 1,505 cases of COVID-19 on July 27, the highest one-day total for all of July. The 7-day average for positive tests is at 7.5 percent for the fourth day straight. In the Thomas Jefferson Health District, another 48 cases were added on July 27.

Governor Northam will speak at 2 p.m. today at a press conference to give updates on Virginia’s response to COVID-19. He last held such an event on July 14. Northam was in Hampton yesterday to unveil a $70 million grant package for small business that comes from the federal CARES Act. The Rebuild VA program will help up to 7,000 applicants to cover costs associated with the pandemic. 

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“This grant program will provide up to $10,000 for small businesses and nonprofits to help them meet existing or unpaid expenses such as back due rent or utility payments,” Northam said. ”The funding can also be used to prepare for and respond to this this new environment,  whether that means purchasing PPE or hand sanitizers for employees or pivoting to a new business model to better serve their customers.” 

To be eligible, businesses must not have received federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or other such initiatives. (press release)

The University of Virginia will reopen its Aquatics and Fitness Center (AFC) and other athletic facilities on August 3, according to a report on the Cavalier Daily. Members of the AFC will need to reserve a space and space will be limited. Other areas that will reopen are the Snyder Tennis Courts and the Artificial Turf Fields at the Park. (UVA rec website)

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And now, our main feature today.

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council have both voted to limit occupancy in indoor restaurants and to require facial coverings in indoor spaces. The two resolutions were also endorsed by University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, even though the new rules are not binding on Grounds. Deputy County Attorney Andy Herrick said Albemarle’s ordinance change has three main components.

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“The first is a limit on indoor occupants at food establishments, wineries, breweries and distilleries. It would provide for a limit of 50 percent of occupancy. The second provision is a limitation on gatherings. While phase 3 statewide limits gatherings to 250 people, the proposed ordinance would limit gatherings to 50 people with certain exceptions.”

Herrick said those exceptions are for outdoor food establishments, farm wineries, farm breweries, religious exercises, weddings, and for public demonstrations.  

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“Finally section 6 of the proposed ordinance would have a face covering requirement which would require face coverings at indoor public places and outdoor public places at which six foot physical distancing is not possible.” 

Exceptions include residences, gyms, schools, religious institutions, and the county courthouSe building. The ordinance had been modified since the Board last took it up last week with input from Albemarle’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley. 

Supervisor Donna District of the Scottsville District likened the ordinance before the Board as a high-wire act. 

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“I believe as Supervisors that we have a responsibility for health and welfare as well as looking at the economic impact and that we are walking a bit of tight-rope here in trying to ensure that we take enough action without taking too much action. If we won’t take too enough action then we run the risk of our residents being infected and having spikes here that the rest of the country has seen. If we go too far then we have the potential of too much economic adverse impact.” 

Supervisor Price said she had to also weigh the impact of thousands of UVA students returning to the community. 

Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley of the Rivanna District said she had not heard any pushback the restaurant owners she had heard from. She said her goal in supporting the ordinance is to eventually reopen the economy. 

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“I think we’ve gone above and beyond to address the issues to keep our community safe but also to support the businesses and make sure they can continue thriving and hopefully if we can get everything done further we can open up everything.” 

Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District urged anyone opposed to the ordinance to read it carefully before it goes into effect at midnight on August 1.

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“And I won’t want folks to either think we’re being overly restrictive or not restrictive. Whether you’re for this ordinance or against this ordinance, I hope everybody will be mindful to read exactly what it is and isn’t doing. 

Supervisor Liz Palmer of the Samuel Miller District suggested signage be drafted for businesses so they can point to this as a county regulation. 

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“So that their personnel have something to back them up. I know it’s very, very difficult in a lot of situations for employees in these businesses to stop somebody and say you must wear a mask to come in, so with the sign it’s helping them out and they’ll see that this is a county ordinance to do this,” Palmer said. 

Supervisor Ann Mallek of the White Hall District said she would have supported a more restrictive ordinance, because she is concerned that the state is not hitting the health metrics that would guide good public policy. 

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“One set of numbers has been consistent since the very beginning and we have been told since the very beginning of this virus that falling numbers of cases for 14 days is needed before we know that we’re starting to make progress and that has been our goal. Not all these competing kinds of statistics.”

Supervisors voted unanimously to support the ordinance,  which goes into effect at midnight on August 1 it will last for a period of sixty days. Herrick said the county is still looking into a policy to allow for restaurants to open more temporary outdoor seating. 

The ordinance does not affect the school system, who held the third in a series of town hall meetings to discuss potential options for the upcoming school year. The School Board will hold a meeting on July 30 to make a final decision, as will their counterparts in Charlottesville. 

UVA President Jim Ryan sent an email to the Board and Council stating support for the ordinances. 

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“Now more than ever, we see ourselves as partners with all of you and with our neighbors in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties,” Ryan wrote. “It has become a cliché to say that we are in this together, but in our case, the actions of a few people on Grounds or in the community really can affect everyone else.  That’s why we continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis, and why we are working to make the best possible decisions under ever-shifting conditions—as I know all of you are.”

Supervisor Gallaway said he welcomed the partnership. 

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“And as I know, as students return, as he said some of the coming months could be challenging so it is important to have that partnership remain strong and we work together as we keep our community safe.” 

Less than an hour later, four of the five City Councilors met to discuss a similar ordinance. City attorney John Blair described their draft as having stricter guidelines than those put forward by Governor Ralph Northam in Phase 3, which Virginia entered on July 1. Like Albemarle’s ordinance, the city’s will also limit in-person gatherings to fifty or less. 

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“What this local ordinance would do would be to capture all indoor public spaces and it’s important to note that the ordinance itself.”

The city’s ordinance has language that covers Councilor’s desire to make sure that not wearing a mask would not be an offense that would result in incarceration. Blair said Albemarle’s ordinance states that a violation would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, which could lead up to a year of jail time. Instead it would be a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Councilor Lloyd Snook said he had been contacted by restaurant owners about the ordinance, which he supported because physical distancing rules also limit capacity by reducing available space. 

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“My suspicion is that it’s not going to hurt them, and number two, it’s going to hurt them, if they’re truly trying to enforce what the law would require it,” Snook said.

Deputy City Manager Paul Oberdorfer said Charlottesville and Albemarle will collaborate on a variety of efforts. One is an ambassador program to promote public awareness. 

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“And essentially setting up a joint effort to educate, inform, reinforce the idea of wearing masks and following the guidelines out in businesses as well as at public gatherings in place where people will be out in the public. As part of that proposal there were two elements to it. One would be a contracted service with a third party that we are proposing and the other piece of that would be using available staff within the parks and recreation department,” Obedorfer said. “They are customer service agents that are familiar with public engagement.”

Oberdorfer said it was important to have a consistent message between the two places, and the same contractor would manage the program in both localities. 

During their deliberations, Councilor Snook said the metrics in the area may not necessarily tell epidemiologists what is going on. 

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“New cases continue to rise rather quickly but they are not reflected in new hospitalizations or additional deaths and so the question I suppose, and what I’d like to be able to ask Dr. Bonds or somebody is that are we seeing a lot of marginal, technically COVID but not really symptomatic cases because we’re doing contact tracing now, and is the situation truly different from the way it was a month ago?” 

Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker was absent. The city’s ordinance also goes into effect on August 1. 

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Later on in the day, the Albemarle School Board held the last of three town halls on the county school system’s plans for the school year. Currently the plan is for students to return to class on September 8 if they choose on a hybrid model. But the county is also preparing for plans for going online only. The School Board meets on July 30 to make a final decision. Dr. Helen Dunn is the public affairs officer for Albemarle schools. 

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“Today we really want to make this about hearing your comments, hearing your concerns and thoughts and feelings about reopening schools in the fall semester, so questions, keep sending them to me, keep sending them to your school board members.” 

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Denise Bonds of the Thomas Jefferson Health District was on hand to talk about the latest statistics. She also talked about how younger people are affected by COVID-19. 

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One of the first people to speak asked what would happen if there were suddenly an outbreak in a school. Would the school be shut down? The whole school system? 

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Let’s hear one question and answer from the night. 

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And that’s it for this show. We’ll hear more about school policy in the days to come. I’m Sean Tubbs.

"I know that there has been some concern about what happens when you make complaints about an institution or a business that is not complying with the mask order, those complaints do come to us at the Health Department. To date we've had 180 complaints almost all of them related to individuals not wearing masks in restaurants or shops. Our policy right now is to inform and educate  for the first few times we get a complaint about a particular organization. If the complaint continues and its an agency that we are responsible for regulating, we do have the authority to issue more serious compliance orders with that. If it's a retail establishment that we do not regulate then we will refer those to the organization that does regulate them."  - Dr. Denise Bonds, Thomas Jefferson Health District, July 13

“This is really important funding that we can get out into the community. Eligible items are things like supporting vulnerable populations, helping homeless and homeless prevention support, emergency financial assistance, food delivery, medical related prevention supplies.” - Lori Allshouse, Albemarle budget director, July 1, 2020

• VDOT presentation on COVID-19 related decreases in traffic 
• Details on Phase 3 of Forward Virginia
• InsideNOVA article on Prince William County ending reporting practice
• June 17, 2020 Cavalier Daily article on plans for UVA to reopen in the fall

• COVID-ACT Now's page for Virginia 

• Governor Northam’s June 9 press release on reopening of schools
• Charlottesville press release on City Market moving to Darden Towe

• Governor Northam’s Executive Order 65
• Governor Northam’s Executive Order 55
• Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce MBA Endurance Fund press release
• May 12, 2020 memo from Aubrey Layne on Virginia localities share of CARES act
• GoFundMe campaign for Beer Run employees

• The death toll in Virginia from COVID-19 is 1,358 as of Friday, May 29. Testing capacity has increased significantly this week, with 46,381 samples proceeded, compared with about 26,000 samples processed over a week in late April. The percent positive has now decreased to 13.4, down from 14.3 on Monday, May 25. These numbers are being used to determine when it will be appropriate for Virginia to enter the second phase of the Forward Virginia Plan to reopen the economy. 
• The University of Virginia will reopen for the fall semester with in-person instruction beginning on August 25. That’s according to a report in the Cavalier Daily. However, the semester will end before the Thanksgiving break. Not all of the details have been revealed, but larger classes will be taught online. More information will be announced by mid-June. 
• On the day that Executive Order 63 came into effect requiring facial coverings to be work inside public spaces, Albemarle County distributed over 1,700 masks. Pick up locations were spread out all across the county. Another similar event is being planned.

Resources: 

• Cavalier Daily article on UVA returning in the fall 
• Governor Ralph Northam’s Executive Order 63

“Face coverings are an important part of the next steps and we will have more to say about that next week especially as we think about phase one and phase two. I know everyone wants to know when Northern Virginia, Richmond and Accomack County will be able to move into phase one and when the rest of the state will move into Phase 2. We are in frequent communication with officials in those localities and we’ll have more information to share next week.” - Governor Ralph Northam, May 22, 2020

“Next we have planned 44 community testing events and we anticipate that will include 17,500 tests. We’ll also be doing point prevalence surveys in approximately 15 facilities with about 6,000 tests.” - Governor Ralph Northam, May 22, 2020

Resources :

• Virginia Department of Health’s Covid Check page
• USDA’s SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot page
• Virginia Graduates Together information including submission portal
• Twitter page for Cam Thompson of CBS6 
• Local Food Hub May 18 blog post on drive-through markets
• Blue Ridge Area Food Bank's COVID-19 page

• Scottsville election results from Virginia State Board of Elections
• Jefferson Madison Regional Library COVID-19 response
• May 21 InsideNova article on requests to open up restaurants in Prince William County

Information for May 22, 2020

• The total number of deaths in Virginia has increased to 1,136, according to numbers released this morning by the state Department of Health. There have been 34,950 total cases with around 4,145 hospitalizations. There have been 223,433 “testing encounters” using a method known as PCR testing, with a 14.7 percent positive testing rate. Health districts in Northern Virginia continue to have higher rates of infection. 
  
  There has been another COVID-19 related death in the Thomas Jefferson Health District, according to numbers posted this morning. The total number of deaths here is now 14. There were seven new cases reported for a total of 401 in the district. 
   
• On Saturday, May 23, the Thomas Jefferson Health District will hold coronavirus testing clinics at two locations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. These are focused on communities of color and the events are being conducted at Mount Zion First Baptist Church and the Jefferson School City Center. There is no appointment necessary and there is a limited amount of tests. For more information, call 434-972-6261.

"In Northern Virginia we are looking forward to when we can safely move forward with Phase One as determined by our health directors. We are not expecting different rules, just a timeline that makes sense with the health data that our directors are seeing." Phyllis Randall, Chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, May 13, 2020 

Resources

• Governor Northam's May 13, 2020 press briefing
• Governor Northam's Executive Order 62

"But I also recognize that we live in a diverse Commonwealth and different regions face different challenges. That's why the Phase One restrictions are a floor but not a ceiling. While no region may move faster to ease restrictions, we're open to some regions moving more slowly. I have been speaking regularly with officials in Northern Virginia. I asked them to send us a formal letter outlining that they are  unified in requesting a delay. Uniformity across the region is critical to a successful strategy rather than having restrictions piece-meal across towns or counties."  - Governor Ralph Northam, May 11, 2020

"As we've said repeatedly, the number of cases alone does not give us an accurate picture of the disease. But we can make some comparisons across regions and Northern Virginia consistently has a significant portion of our cases statewide. In the past 24 hours, for example, Northern Virginia reported more than 700 cases. The rest of Virginia reported fewer than 300."- Governor Ralph Northam, May 11, 2020

Resources

• Governor Northam’s May 11, 2020 press conference 

"We certainly appreciate all of the physical distancing, the face coverings, and the acts that the community has done to slow the spread of COVID." - Ryan McKay, Thomas Jefferson Health District, May 8, 2020

Resources

• Charlottesville Streaming Portal to watch May 8, 2020 TJHD Town Hall
•  Donation page for CHS St. Baldrick's Foundation event for May 11, 2020

• Governor Ralph Northam's May 8, 2020 press briefing
• Guidelines for Phase 1 of Forward Virginia

Quotes 

“Two months ago we were figuring out how to rearrange our lives and our society to keep people safe. Businesses and many state employees moved to teleworking. We closed schools and banned elective surgeries. We put restrictions on non-essential retail, moved our restaurants to take-out and delivery and closed entertainment venues, hair salons, and other personal services. Back then we had one blunt tool - shutting everything down." - Governor Ralph Northam, May 8, 2020  

“I want to reassure Virginians that we are not opening the floodgates here. We are not flipping a light switch from closed to open. When the time is right we will turn a dimmer switch up just a notch. The reality is that the virus is still in our communities and we need to continue our vigilance and social distancing.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, May 8, 2020  
 

“Now we can start to move into a new phase of our response. But at the same time I want to make it very clear that this virus is still here. It has not gone away and it will not go away until we have a vaccine, and that may be hopefully at the end of this year, or another year or two.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, May 5, 2020

“One of the things that will happen is that we will continue to see cases rise. Reopening means that we have to take a very serious approach towards identifying new cases, identifying anyone who has been exposed to that new case, and isolating those folks. Putting them in quarantine if necessary. To do that will require a new workforce. We’ve already begun hiring case identifiers in the health department. We will hire several hundred of them. We are in the process of setting up to hire the 1,000 contact tracers we believe will be necessary to effectively do that kind of containment strategy and we’re quite confident we will be able to ramp this up quickly in a week or two." - Dr. Norm Oliver, May 5, 2020

“We will adjust the current stay at home order as well, emphasizing safer at home rather than stay at home. That gives us an additional two weeks to watch the data and determine if we are meeting the metrics we need to see to enter phase one.” - Governor Ralph Northam, May 5, 2020
 

Resources:

•  Governor Ralph Northam's May 5, 2020 press briefing
• Cultivate Charlottesville
   

“Less than two months ago we faced the beginning of this pandemic. Our first positive case was on March 7, less than eight weeks ago. We feared a wave of hospitalizations that would overwhelm our ICUs and our ventilator capacity. We struggled to get enough PPE as well as supplies for testing and we were planning to build alternative care facilities. I directed Virginians to stay home and maybe businesses temporarily closed or moved to telework and take-out. We stayed six feet apart and we waited to see it worked.” - Governor Ralph Northam, May 1, 2020
 

Resources:

• Virginia Department of Health testing site locator
• Governor Northam’s May 1, 2020 press conference
• Governor Northam's Executive Order 53

• Application for School of Data Science CAPSTONE project
• Daily Progress article on furloughs in UVA Health System
• Thomas Jefferson Health District interactive data portal
• Interim Guidance from CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on meat and poultry processing
• Amended Public Health Emergency Order Two 
• Charlottesville Community Restaurant Fund

• COVID-19 resources from Virginia Department of Social Services
• Donate to JABA to help support their meal delivery to seniors
• Petition for Emergency COVID-19 Support for UVa Graduate Students
• Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services receives $2 million in federal aid for substance abuse prevention

• Local Food Hub donations  for Fresh Farmacy
• SupportCville
• JABA’s Senior Helpline is 434-817-5253
• JABA’s Coronavirus Resource Page
• April 24, 2020 Northam press conference
• Charlottesville public communications portal
• Northam's Forward Virginia plan

Quotes:

“Our metrics for phase one are very clear. We need to see the percentage of positive tests and the number of hospitalizations both track downward over 14 days. We need to be sure we have enough capacity in our hospital beds and in our intensive care units. And we need to sustain our PPE supply.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, April 24, 2020

“We continue to look at innovative ways to get testing to different communities, to be able to do large-scale testing and support all of the work of the Health Department as they do as Governor Northam described as boxing people in, making sure we understand where that disease is and how we take care of it.” - Dr. Karen Remley. April 24, 2020

“The gold standard for a test was something we call a nasopharyngeal swab and you probably have heard people talk about it. It’s a skinny little swab that goes all the way back in your nose. If you’re a pediatric ER doctor like me or a pediatrician you do them every winter when kids are sick for RSV… if you’re a cardiologist, you may have never done that before.” - Dr. Karen Remley. April 24, 2020

“Contact tracing is a very labor intensive thing for every one person who has COVID-19. You have to track down all of the people that they’ve come into contact with. We understand that as we begin to move towards decreasing social distancing, we will have to increase our ability to do contact tracing because the cases will start to rise again and we want to try to contain that as best we can.”  - Dr. Norm Oliver, April 24, 2020

“Slightly more women than men have been tested positive, and we do have here the hospitalization data and you can see again that there is a predominance in the number of African-Americans who are hospitalized, 32 cases, and that is 65 percent of the individuals hospitalized.” - Dr. Denise Bonds, April 24, 2020
 

“Although we are going through some trying times, I think we’ll be able to continue to maintain our public services as well as our personal, being able to do the things we are doing in the community, but there will be some struggles,” - Dr. Tarron Richardson, Charlottesville City Manager, April 20, 2020. 

“The further we go with this, the more we’re going to learn and the more we’re going to know." Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson, April 22, 2020

Resources:

• Building Goodness video
• Albemarle County’s revised FY21 budget
• Charlottesville budget presentation from April 20
• Virginia News Twitter list

“The ability to run large numbers of tests is key to any plan to ease restrictions on businesses and gatherings. At the beginning of this pandemic, you’ll remember that testing capabilities were extremely limited around the nation. We had to use CDC tests and ship everyone of them to Atlanta and wait for results. We also didn’t have nearly enough of those tests. This has been a problem across the country as well as here in Virginia... ...Throughout this process, governors, labs, and health care systems have literally been competing for the same supply of reagents and swabs just as we have done with PPE because of limited national guidance.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 20, 2022
 

Resources:

• The National Coalition of 100 Black Women of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Area website
• Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Project Rebound
• SupportCville
• Thomas Jefferson Coalition for the Homeless
• Governor Northam's April 20, 2020 press conference

“We are making plans so we have screening, testing, tracking, and isolation options. We need resources for testing supplies, for the work force to do the tracking, apps to help with this work, and more.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, April 17, 2020

“I want to remind Virginians that even though we continue to see cases go up that doesn’t mean that social distancing is not working, because it is. The point of social distancing is to slow the spread, not eliminate it entirely.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, April 17, 2020

“We want to get to significantly higher amounts [of COVID-19 testing]. Thousands more per day to accomplish the missions that the Governor has outlined. It’s exploring how to do that when there is still just like there’s a PPE shortage, getting new machines from manufacturing so that our academic centers can produce more labs per day. We’re scouring the country looking for that equipment and helping our institutions increase testing. We just haven’t been successful because of the national shortage but we realize we need to get significantly higher testing to accomplish the missions that the governor has indicated have to be done.”  - Dan Carey, Virginia's Health Secretary, April 17, 2020 

“The Greene County Public School division continues their meal program and they have also expanded the program to include Ruckersville Elementary School. And as a reminder, meals can be picked up from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays." - Melissa Meador, Greene County Emergency Services Director, April 14, 2020

“There are certain types of meetings that the public needs to be at physically. I just one hundred percent believe that. They have to look us in the eye and they have to look us in the eye and vote accordingly.” - Louisa County Supervisor Eric Purcell, April 6, 2020 

Resources:

• Executive Order 57 on health care licensing
• Virginia Department of Health’s FAQ on COVID-19 testing
• Virginia Department of Transportation traffic volume visualization tool

“We saw in the model UVA released on Monday and in other national models that the actions we have taken as a state are having an effect. They are slowing the spread and flattening the curve. We are still seeing new cases of course and unfortunately too many deaths. But in large part these are still cases that were contracted weeks ago. So when people say it’s time to stop what we’re doing and get back to normal, they’re wrong.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 15, 2020

“I think it’s important to understand that disease surveillance including death surveillance. It’s not done in real time. It involves several steps and at each of those steps, human beings are involved. We don’t know about someone’s death in the moment that it happens. In small outbreaks that means we can catch up pretty quickly. In the situation of a pandemic it takes a longer time and that gets reflected in the lag in these numbers and periodic jumps in those numbers on our dashboard.”  - Dr. Norm Oliver, April 15, 2020

“The way forward will be deliberate and it will be careful but we will move forward and we will do this together. Our business community will be a part of this conversation. They have been so helpful working with our economic strikeforce and looking at creative ways to make sure that when we do ease restrictions, consumers like you be able to feel safe and comfortable returning to businesses.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 15, 2020

“The global pandemic has triggered a need for a strategic shift and we would like to focus on the continuity of all businesses.”  - Roger Johnson, Albemarle County's Economic Development Director, April 15, 2020

Resources:

• Child Care Resources provided by Virginia Department of Social Services
• Albemarle County’s page for businesses seeking assistance
• Cville Restaurant Fund's new page
• SupportCville
• WTJU Radio 

“If we try to rush to get our lives back to normal, the number of cases will spike higher and earlier. And we can’t afford that.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 13, 2020

“The scenario that we don’t want is for Virginia to do one thing and for Maryland to do another as far as when restaurants or bars would open. We’re only separated by the Potomac River and that’s the case with DC as well. We also have North Carolina to our south and so we are working very closely.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 13, 2020

“A lot of what makes African-Americans susceptible to COVID disease are issues that pre-existed the arrival of COVID. Increased rates of hypertension, diabetes, strokes, heart attacks, kidney disease. These are things that are linked to the structural barriers and racism, institutions that were set up a while ago, but persist nevertheless. This is an instance where we can draw a direct line between the health and safety of one community and the health and safety of another community.” - Dr. Taison Bell, April 13, 2020

“There is absolutely no way that we can cut five to ten percent of the department’s operating budget and not see some effect on services that we provide to our community every day.” - Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson, April 13, 2020

Resources:

• Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model 
• CHIME Model 
• News release on UVA Biocomplexity Institute Model
• Piedmont Environmental Council’s events page for information on April 16 Mobility and Connectivity Webinar

“A large number of people who have COVID-19 either have very mild symptoms or they don’t have any symptoms at all. And this has really lead to a couple of the safety measures that have been put in place." - Dr. Denise Bonds, Thomas Jefferson Health District, April 10, 2020

“We also want to ensure open communication between our local health departments and these facilities.” - Dr. Laurie Forlano, April 10, 2020

"This spring, we have enough to worry about so we are not going to worry about grades in Charlottesville City Schools. We are going to keep things simple with a system similar to pass-fail. We’ll call it A or Incomplete.” - Charlottesville City Schools video, April 12, 2020

“Our volunteer Medical Reserve Corps now has 13,000 people signed up to volunteer. About half of those people have medical training. We will work with our colleges and medical schools to reach out to students, especially those who are enrolled in health and medical degree programs.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 10, 2020

Resources

• Virginia Medical Reserves Corps
• City Schools meals program
• TJHD Town Hall 
• UVA Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health
• SupportCville

"It is incumbent on both the government and the private sector to be transparent and to be proactive if we’re going to get on top of this and we’re going to be able to get out of this and get back to normal." - Clark Mercer, Governor Northam's Chief of Staff, April 8, 2020

“In a pandemic such as this it is critical that everyone has much information as possible from the decision-makers to the public." - Governor Ralph Northam, April 8, 2020.

“We are seeing racial disparities in COVID cases in places like New Orleans and New York. We must be able to measure this here in Virginia. We know that long-standing racial inequities and things like access to health care, education and economic opportunities lead to differences in underlying health conditions. The existence of such inequities is one reason why communities of color including African American people are more likely to have some of the underlying health conditions that put them at a greater risk with COVID-19.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 8, 2020.

Resources

• VDH Weekly Report on COVID-19 Activities, dated April 6, 2020
• Virginia Department of Labor and Industry's Coronavirus-related page 

“I think we’ve made the point a couple of times that there are various models. They change literally every day depending on the data that is put into them and so we haven’t made any adjustments by what we’re seeing. We will certainly continue to follow the trends and if and when we need to make adjustments in our guidelines we will certainly do that. But for right now, continue to do what you’re doing. The stay at home is working. The social distancing and the frequent hand-washing, all of these things are effective. Keep doing the great work.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, April 6, 2020

Resources:

• National Public Health Week resources
• Virginia Health Information website
• Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association dashboard 
• Camp Holiday Trails

“Our sincere hope is that we will be able to be up and running and back to normal but it’s honestly too early to tell and it’s going to depend on the progression of the virus." -University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, April 2, 2020

“We are coordinating with the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County on ways that the University can help members of the broader community during the pandemic and afterwards as things get back to normal. We’ll have more to share on that in the next week.” -University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, April 2, 2020

“This is going to get worse before it gets better. We haven’t yet hit the peak here in Virginia or or in Charlottesville and models now show that that peak will occur somewhere between late April or late May so we are going to be dealing with this for some time which will make it harder and harder and we’ll see more patients in the health system with COVID-19.” -University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, April 2, 2020

"It is a beautiful weekend but you absolutely cannot, cannot violate these rules because it's nice. When that happens, the coronavirus spreads and people are more likely to die. It's a tough reality, but it's the reality we face." - Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, April 4, 2020

Resources:

• UVA Town Hall meeting from April 2, 2020
• UVA page on COVID-19 resources
• Kentucky Governor Beshear's April 4, 2020 briefing
• Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's April 3, 2020 briefing

“You need to know the truth. No sugarcoating. I know this is hard. People are isolated. You’re worried. And many of you are out of work. My strategy has always been to plan for the worst and to hope for the best.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, April 1, 2020

"I encourage all of those Virginians to apply for unemployment. That will provide at least some help. For those who have federal mortgage loans through the Virginia Housing Development Authority we’re deferring loan payments for up to three months if people need it. We’re also suspending evictions with anyone with public housing vouchers.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 1, 2020

“In the last three months of this fiscal year, the adjustments that the staff will make on the general government is reduce at $3 million. We will reduce our budget and reduce our spending by about $3 million.” Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson, April 1, 2020

"We will in just a few days be able to present a model that has Virginia specific data which will therefore be more of an accurate projection of what we can expect in the Commonwealth.”  - Norm Oliver, Virginia's Health Commissioner, April 1, 2020

Resources:

• March 16 Virginia Supreme Court Judicial Emergency
• Albemarle Supervisors Agenda for April 1, 2020 meeting
• COVID-19 update to Albemarle Board of Supervisors
• Virginia Department of Health Coronavirus page 

“The prism through which we are looking at every issue now is through a public health and public safety prism." - Charlottesville Fire Chief Andrew Baxter, March 31, 2020

"It's critically important even as we take steps to flatten the curve that we do all we can to protect our public safety and health care personnel so that they can continue to work with people who are gravely ill over the next six or seven months." - Kaki Dimock, Charlottesville's Human Services Director, March 31, 2020 

Resources:

• Charlottesville Local Business Assistance programs
• Thomas Jefferson Health District resources
• SupportCville
• Small Business Administration COVID-19 page

• Blue Ridge Area Food Bank's March 30 Press Release
• Governor Northam's Executive Order 55
• National Geographic article on 1918 pandemic
• Town of Scottsville video on business during COVID-19

Quotes:

“Everyone who is gathering in a crowd at any place around the state is putting themselves and others at risk so today I am announcing a stay at home order for all Virginians. Under this order everyone in Virginia must remain in their place of residence unless they must go out for food, supplies, work, medical care or to get fresh air or exercise.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, March 30, 2020

“What we’re seeing now is the result of how people interacted two or three weeks ago. What we will see a few weeks now will be determined by how people behave today and in the following days. We need people to be patient with social distancing. It will take time to show results. That’s why it’s so critical to do our part and stay at home.” 
 - Governor Ralph Northam, March 30, 2020

“During this period, the Food Bank will provide an exemption letter for staff and volunteers traveling on business for the Food Bank. This includes travel to and from our warehouse locations in Verona, Winchester, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg, and numerous mobile distributions.” - Blue Ridge Area Food Bank press release, March 30, 2020


 

Quotes
“This virus clearly spreads when people gather together. I can’t repeat myself enough. Virginians, you need to stay at home. If you do not have to leave your home, you should not have to leave your home. If you have to get a necessity or if you are on a job that you have to be there in person, go out to do those things. If you need air, or need to go to a local park for a job, remember social distancing and staying six feet apart.” -Governor Ralph Northam, March 27, 2020

“You could walk out of or into a grocery store while someone else is walking out of it and a sneeze that you breathe that in and then you’re dealing with a potential infection." -Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker, March 26, 2020

“What we were basically asking is to put more in place so that we would have more teeth so to speak in terms of enforcement as well as trying to provide our community with more guidelines in terms of what they should do in order for them to remain safe in these trying times.” - Charlottesville City Manager, March 26, 2020

“None of us dealt with this the last time we dealt with it as a world in 1918 so all of us, this is a new experience and we are going to be learning as we go.” -Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker, March 26, 2020
 

• Virginia Medical Reserve Corps website
• Blue Ridge Area Food Bank page on COVID-19
• Charles Owens Bandcamp page

Quotes:

“It seems to be a consensus of Council that Councilors would prefer whatever legal means are necessary to allow you to all participate electronically until this COVID-19 issue, until there’s some mitigation of that in the community that would make it safe for people to gather.” - Charlottesville City Attorney John Blair 

"One of the things we’ve done in the COVID-19 is try to limit the exposure for our drivers which is the first priority for me.” -Charlottesville Area Transit 

“We’re exploring ways to make it easier for qualified medical professionals to help out. This includes reworking our licensing procedures and considering use of medical students and others. We also will be making better use of our Virginia Medical Reserve Corps… the past month.”  - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam

“The Corps can build emergency hospital bed capacity in sites that we identify for them. We are working to assess several potential locations in regions across Virginia should the need to arise.”  - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam

“If one looks at the curves of the hospitalizations, of the increased cases that we’re seeing, not only here in Virginia but in other areas of the country, we anticipate over burdening the capacity of our current healthcare system so we see that coming and we want to prepare for that.” - Virginia Governor Ralph Northam




 

Attorney General Herring's opinion on local government

EquipCville

Quotes:

“Every decision we make is based on science and data and as your Governor I take full responsibility. The feedback I am hearing form Virginians is supportive. You understand what while these changes are difficult they are necessary. You understand that we are righting a biological war and to have economic recovery we must get through this health crisis first.”  - Governor Northam, March 24

“Business is not usual. I think that’s pretty clear. We have made adjustments as quickly as we can and as responsibly as we can to adjust our work in order to both maintain the critical serves that our public relies upon for local government in order to meet daily needs as well as to adjust to the needs being kind of put on us.” - Doug Walker, Albemarle's Deputy County Executive, March 20 

"We are in an unprecedented situation here in Greene County like so many communities around us… we’re forced to adjust to adapt to multiple changes in protocol on a daily basis and we’re going to try and do that here in Greene County as well.” - Bill Martin, Chair of Greene Board of Supervisors, March 24

“We have received the first shipment of PPE such as maps, gowns and gloves from the national stockpile and we have distributed that to health departments and other providers. We expect our second distribution next week. We know it will not be enough and this is an issue nationwide.”  - Governor Ralph Northam, March 24
 

Quotes

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam

“Non-essential retail establishments can remain only if they only allow ten or fewer patrons and adhere to social distancing and increased sanitizing procedures. Essential services like grocery stores, health services, and businesses in our supply chain will remain open but they must adhere to social distancing and increased sanitizing procedures. Gatherings of more than ten are banned.” 

“Today I’m calling our local communities, private day care providers, community child care partners and public schools to rally together to provide child care for the young children and school age children of essential personnel. Our child care providers are also essential personnel.” 

“We are moving into a period of sacrifice. Most of us already begun to experience this. Many businesses are closed already because their owners have made. I thank them for the tremendous sacrifices that they have made. There is more ahead and things are changing fast. Just last week we announced one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Today thousands, thousands of people are without work.”

 

Governor Ralph Northam

“This virus continues to spread. We talk about flattening the curve but make no mistake. We are still in the early stages of that curve rising. How high and how quickly those numbers rise is up to you and me and every single Virginian.”

“Months, not weeks. We need to begin adjusting to that reality. But the sooner we adopt these new ways of living, the sooner we will all get through this.”
 

“We know that a majority of people get sick will experience mild to moderate symptoms so as a country our priority must be to protect the people who are most vulnerable. Older people. People with underlying healthcare conditions and our health care workers themselves.”
 

“Just yesterday, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management shipped a major supply of PPE to emergency medical services, health districts, and hospitals. This includes gloves, gowns, facemasks and respirators.”

“We are also actively reaching out to companies for help making and distributing PPE. My team has been on the phone around the clock reaching out to CEOs across our Commonwealth. Our message is clear. It is time to step up.”

“Everyone of us has a job to do to fight this virus. That is why it is so critical to stay home as much as possible. Do not go into crowds. Do not have gatherings. I know that most Virginians are hearing this message and I thank you all for doing your part. But I also know that some people are not listening. And I want you to know you are putting every single one of us in Virginia at risk.”
 

“To our colleges and universities. No more fraternity parties. And for everyone, social distancing does not mean congregating on a crowded beach. This is not a holiday. This is not a vacation. Please stay home whenever possible.” 

Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker
 

“I need you all to pay attention to this social distancing a little bit more than you all are…but if I had a choice, which I don’t have the entire say over anything, just one of five votes, but if I did we would already be inside and only out for essential things because I think that the numbers are saying that we should have made that decision a while ago. And now have to deal with it but here we are. You can see the coming together of the community like supportcville.com and all of the citizens and staff members behind that.”

Elizabeth McCullough 

“I think Virginia should get on the same kind of lockdown frankly. I don’t think people are going to voluntarily stay at home. I know of people gathering in parks. Shutting down businesses isn’t necessarily enough. People have to really stay isolated and at home and stop the spread of this disease.”
 

“Think of us as being like ten or 14 days out from where you are going to be. The hospitals are getting overloaded here. They’re building field hospitals. They’re rationing their PPE’s. Unfortunately I think it’s heading your way.”


Resources:

• Virginia Department of Health's coronavirus page
• Governor Northam's Facebook page      
• Support Cville 

Quotes

Northam 

"This is a very fluid situation. It is dynamic.  It literally as you see changes hour to hour. I assess what is happening not only in Virginia but in this country hour by hour and make decisions accordingly." 

"Today we're announcing that our testing criteria will give additional priority to medical professionals who have had contact with or cared for someone who has COVID-19 and have developed any symptoms."

"We are also working to get more of the supplies. The masks and gowns that our front-line health care providers need. A shipment of PPEs, personal protective equipment, was distributed to providers yesterday." 

"But we said we are watching Virginians and I am proud of what most Virginians are doing but let's be clear. There are a few people that are not getting the message. If our restaurants, our fitness centers and theaters stay open with more than ten people with more than ten patrons, you can be charged with a misdemeanor and lose your operating permit on the spot. This is real. I am taking this seriously and I ask you to take it seriously as well." 

Dan Carey

"First and foremost we're distributing what we get from the national stockpile. I think also whether its a private practice doctor or a health system provider's, they are also using their supply chains to make sure we have as much PPE as our providers need. Second, at the Virginia Emergency Support Team, the vest logistics, they are looking at following every lead. We're getting lots of leads from people whether it's General Assembly members or folks in industry or in health care that has  some leads on where we might get additional supply and we are following those down to make sure that those are real possibility."

Northam 

"We're hearing reports of some businesses being non-compliant. Our localities have the authority to enforce the ten person limit at restaurants, fitness center and theaters and I fully expect them to use it as needed." 

"This virus, this pandemic, is affecting everyone's lives. It is forcing changes in people's routines and for many people it is affecting their jobs and their income. We are doing everything that we can to help people."  

Megan Healey

"If you think at all that you can get unemployment, we want everyone to apply. The rules change daily, maybe hourly of who can get unemployment insurance. If you are denied, we'll keep that data and if the rules change from the [U.S.] Department of Labor then we can start going back and issuing folks checks."

Resources:

• National Suicide Prevention Helpline  1-800-273-TALK
• Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Disaster Helpline - 1-800-985-5990

• Department of Social Services Child Care Guidelines
• Virginia Medicaid brochure on response to COVID-19
• Joint Statement from Public Safety Agencies in Virginia 

Other resources

• Charlottesville Press Release on tax collection changes
• Charlottesville Restaurant Community Fund Go Fund Me page
• MIchael Clemm's website

Denise Bonds  

"We are living through a very difficult time and we have never experienced this before and there are a number of sacrifices that people can take, and they must take them now."

Lori Allshouse

"We have policies that have this in mind. You have to be thoughtful that things can change. We're in something we've never been in before but we know as people who work in budgeting that things don't always turn out as you plan." 

Resources:

March 17 presentation 

Richardson's recommended Albemarle County budget