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South African COVID-19 variant case reported in Va., governor says
UPDATED 4 P.M. FEB. 5 Gov. Ralph Northam said Friday the highly contagious South African variant of COVID-19 has shown up in a case in Virginia, identified by private laboratory Labcorp on Thursday. The sample came from an adult in Eastern Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Health, which said it was “investigating this […]
Virginia House advances paid leave bill for essential workers
RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill on Thursday which would provide paid leave to essential workers. House Bill 2137, introduced by Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Woodbridge, would require essential businesses to offer paid leave to their workers, according to the bill. Employees must be offered a minimum of one paid hour […]
Health Wagon says it hasn’t received COVID-19 vaccine doses
The head of The Health Wagon, the Wise County-based free clinic system that serves more than 5,600 patients in Southwest Virginia, many with medical vulnerabilities, said in a Thursday interview on “CBS This Morning” that the clinic has not received any COVID-19 vaccine doses from the state government. According to the Virginia Department of Health, […]
Va. initial jobless claims remain high
Initial jobless claims filed last week were essentially unchanged compared with the previous week, but remain high compared with pre-pandemic levels, according to figures released Thursday by the Virginia Employment Commission. During the week ending Jan. 30, 18,177 Virginians filed initial unemployment claims (compared to 18,312 from the week prior). “Elevated levels in recent weeks […[...]
New drug cocktail appears to block COVID among people exposed to virus
The University of Virginia Health System is testing an antibody cocktail that so far has blocked 100% of symptomatic COVID-19 cases among people who were exposed to the coronavirus, U.Va. Health announced this week. New York-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals produces the treatment, which is being tested at several facilities, and also has proven to be effective […]
Va. House kills bill requiring hazard pay for essential employees
RICHMOND, Va. — Lawmakers unanimously shot down legislation this week that would have required employers to provide hazard pay to essential employees and provide protective equipment in the event of a stay-at-home order. Del. Hala S. Ayala, D-Woodbridge, said she introduced House Bill 2015 to help protect and further compensate employees required to work during […]
Winter frolic at Liberty snowballs into controversy
It’s no Falwell-sized scandal, but interim Liberty University President Jerry Prevo issued an apology Tuesday for a snowball fight that got out of hand on Sunday morning. “This past Sunday morning as I opened the curtains and looked outside, I saw a Liberty University campus covered in deep snow. Having lived in Alaska for the […]
Gannett to refinance $1.05B in debt
McLean-based Gannett Co. Inc., the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., announced Monday it will refinance $1.05 billion in debt to lower its interest rates and extend maturity on outstanding debt. Gannett, which has struggled financially during the pandemic, in November 2020 announced it had refinanced approximately $500 million in debt to more quickly repay […]
Va. hotel revenues fell 42% in December 2020
Virginia hotel revenues for December 2020 were on trend for a year that saw the hospitality industry suffer from the pandemic. Compared with December 2019, hotel revenues statewide declined by 42% during December 2020, according to data released Monday from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality […]
COVID roundup: Va. to receive more weekly vaccine doses immediately
Virginia expects to receive about 18,000 more weekly COVID-19 vaccine doses starting immediately, as the federal government‘s pledge to increase distribution by about 16% kicks in Monday. That will raise the commonwealth’s vaccine supply from 118,000 doses to 128,000 doses per week, said Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator. Meanwhile, the number of virus-related [&he[...]
Va. saw slight decline in initial jobless claims last week
Virginia saw a 13.1% drop in the number of initial jobless claims filed last week compared to the previous week, but unemployment remains high across the state, according to figures released by the Virginia Employment Commission on Thursday. The week ending Jan. 23 saw 18,312 Virginians filing initial unemployment claims, a decrease of 2,761 claimants […]
Charlottesville’s MicroGEM acquires engineering company for COVID-19 test manufacturing
Charlottesville-based molecular diagnostics company MicroGEM announced Thursday it has acquired New Hampshire-based engineering company Jump Start Manufacturing LLC. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the acquisition will allow MicroGEM to “rapidly scale” production of its SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) testing system, which is designed to detect the virus in both symptomatic an[...]
