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Festivals hit pause
The Hampton Roads region is known for its popular festivals, from Virginia Beach’s Pungo Strawberry Festival and Suffolk Peanut Fest to the Virginia Arts Festival and the star-studded Something in the Water. “We’ve got more festivals than Nero had,” says Kurt Krause, president and CEO of VisitNorfolk. For Norfolk alone, tourism means more than $887 […]
State to allocate $10M in block grants for COVID-19 recovery
The state government is earmarking more than $10 million in federally funded Community Development Block Grants (CBDG) for COVID-19 recovery projects across the commonwealth, including some small business assistance funds, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday. “Our administration remains committed to investing in rural communities during this unprecedented health crisis and as we work to rebuild […][...]
Va. COVID-19 cases continue decline
Last week, the state saw 5,455 new COVID-19 cases and 151 virus-related deaths, continuing a statewide decline, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s update Monday, Sept. 28. Virginia’s positivity rate is 4.7%, a 1% decrease since Sept. 21. Virginia has 146,593 total cases and 3,172 fatalities as of Monday[...]
Gov. Northam, first lady test positive for COVID-19
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and first lady of Virginia Pamela Northam have tested positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement Friday from the Governor’s Office. On Wednesday evening, the Northams were notified that a member of the governor’s official residence staff, who works closely within the couple’s living qua[...]
Va. sees small increase in initial jobless claims last week
Virginia saw a marginal increase in the number of initial jobless claims last week, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday, but continued the trend of lower claims volumes seen in recent months following the peak in April. For the week ending Sept. 19, 10,582 Virginians filed initial claims for unemployment, an inc[...]
State rent, mortgage relief program expands to aid landlords
Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday the expansion of the state’s Rent and Mortgage Relief Program (RMRP) to include financial assistance for landlords. The RMRP was launched in late June with $50 million in federal CARES Act funding to assist households facing eviction or foreclosure due to COVID-19. Landlords can now apply to receive financial assistance […]
VHHA partners with new Va.-based company for medical-grade masks
The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association and its Shared Services Corp. subsidiary have partnered with a newly founded Richmond-area business to obtain domestically produced medical-grade face masks for hospitals and other health care providers in Virginia, VHHA announced Monday. Olivian’s masks are not N95 but ar[...]
Va. COVID-19 positivity rate falls to 5.7%
The Virginia Department of Health reported 6,567 new COVID-19 cases last week and an increase of 278 deaths from the virus — a larger number than most weeks because of a backlog of death data that was entered since last Tuesday, VDH said. The state now has 141,138 cases and 3,021 fatalities, as of Sept. […]
VCU scientists studying cancer drug as COVID-19 treatment
A group of scientists at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center discovered that an experimental cancer drug keeps the virus that causes COVID-19 from infecting cells and replicating. Their findings were published Monday in the Biochemical Pharmacology journal and will be tested in a clinical trial at VCU Health. AR-12 has been studied as an […]
VDH reports first child COVID-19 death in Va.
The Virginia Department of Health on Friday announced the first COVID-19 death of a child under the age of 19 in the commonwealth. The adolescent was a resident in the Southside Health District, which covers Brunswick, Halifax and Mecklenburg counties, but VDH said it would not disclose further information about the teenager due to privacy […]
Va. recovers 68K jobs in August
In August, Virginia employers recovered a total of 68,000 jobs (a 1.8% increase from July), but the commonwealth is still 212,600 jobs shy of where it was last year, according to employment statistics released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. “Despite the sizable increase in August, total employment remains way below the pre-pandemic […]
Metro considering $200M in spending cuts
The Metro Board of Directors is contemplating $200 million in spending cuts to maintain a balanced budget in the event that federal CARES Act funding runs out, which could lead to service cuts, shorter hours and layoffs. On Friday, the board for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) voted on potential servic[...]
