Va. hospital systems begin receiving COVID vaccine shipments
Sentara Healthcare and Bon Secours Health System received portions of the state’s first shipment of Pfizer Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine Monday, and other health systems in the state are anticipating delivery later today or Tuesday. Vaccinations are expected to begin for health care workers by Wednesday, according to hospital officials. Virginia expects to receive 72,150 doses […]
PPP loans could make comeback in time for holidays
Congress could pass a third round of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program funding just in time for the holidays. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Monday introduced a $908 billion coronavirus relief bill, including an estimated $300 billion set aside for another round of PPP funding. In April, the first $349 […]
Virginia leads nation in COVID-19 app use
Amid grim headlines related to the coronavirus, Virginia has one piece of bright news — the commonwealth leads the nation in the percentage of citizens who have downloaded a COVID-19 app to alert users about possible instances of exposure to the coronavirus. According to a Dec. 7 report from The New York Times, a higher […]
Va. initial jobless claims nearly doubled last week
The number of initial jobless claims filed last week jumped 93.5% — its highest level since the Aug. 8 filing week, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday. For the week ending Dec. 5, 16,654 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment, nearly a two-fold increase of 8,048 from the previous week. “While one week doesn’t constitute […]
Va. hotel revenue is still down by more than 50% from 2019
Despite the fast-approaching holiday season, Virginia hotel revenues continue to decline when compared with last year, according to data from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. While COVID-19 cases spiked during the week of Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, hotel revenues in Virginia dropped by […]
Va. employment may not fully recover until 2023 to 2025
Virginia may not get back to full, pre-pandemic employment until 2023 to 2025, according to Moody’s Analytics employment forecasting, but Stephen Moret, president and CEO of Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) thinks that the commonwealth can recover sooner. “We not only want to accelerate the path back to full, pre-pandemic employment and even growing beyond, […]
Va. hotel revenues remain low during increased COVID-19 restrictions
With COVID-19 cases mounting, Virginia hotel revenues continue to decline when compared with last year, according to data from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. For the week of Nov. 22 through Nov. 28, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 34% and rooms sold declined […]
No new restrictions, but Northam urges COVID-19 caution
Gov. Ralph Northam warned Virginians about growing numbers of COVID-19 cases, especially in Southwest Virginia, which has seen higher rates for more than a month, in part because the region’s neighboring states also have seen spikes. At his Wednesday news conference, Northam stopped short of enforcing new restrictions, but encouraged people to follow physical distancing […]
Va. COVID-19 cases, deaths continue to rise
COVID-19 rates continued to climb last week in Virginia, with an increase of 16,797 cases since Nov. 23, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Nov. 30 dashboard update. The state also reported 120 virus-related deaths in the past week, raising the total number of fatalities over 4,000. As of Monday, the state has recorded […]
‘It’s not N95 or bust’
With the protective face mask market growing to meet the demand of both the general public and first responders, it’s a challenge for consumers to choose the most effective mask to purchase to stay safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Linsey Marr, the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, might […]
Labor market continued slow recovery in early November
The labor market continued its slow recovery during the week of Nov. 8, according to Virginia Commonwealth University and Arizona State University economists. Early November saw 69.9% of working age adults employed, which is still far below the 73.8% employment rate from February right before the pandemic, according to the Real-Time Population Survey conducted by […]
Virginia sees significant uptick in COVID-19 cases, deaths
As the coronavirus spreads dramatically across the nation, Virginia recorded 16,401 new COVID-19 cases and 136 deaths last week, a significant increase in both statistics compared with recent weeks. The previous week brought 11,160 new cases and 93 deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). Due to increased testing, though, the seven-day positivity […]