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Va. hotel revenues drop again
Following a small improvement associated with the Labor Day holiday weekend, Virginia hotels saw a steep decline in revenues last week, 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 Sept. 6 through Sept. 13, hotel revenues decreased by 48% […]
Va. initial jobless claims slightly drop last week
Virginia saw a slight decrease in the number of initial jobless claims last week, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday, but the number of ongoing claims has dropped to 50% from the May 16 filing week peak, when 403,557 Virginians filed for unemployment. For the week ending Sept. 12, 10,100 Virginians filed initia[...]
Smithfield Foods to contest OSHA citation
Smithfield Foods Inc. intends to contest a citation from the U.S. Labor Department stating that Smithfield failed to protect workers during an April outbreak at its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plant, where approximately 1,300 workers contracted COVID-19 and four employees died. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed fining the world’s largest […][...]
Northam: Trump’s alleged comment about veterans ‘turns my stomach’
During a brief COVID-19 update Tuesday, Gov. Ralph Northam blasted President Donald Trump’s reported reference to wounded and killed U.S. veterans as “losers and suckers.” Northam has occasionally criticized the federal government for leaving the responsibility of accessing COVID-19 tests and personal protectiv[...]
Va. restaurants report consumer spending down, costs up
Consumer spending in Virginia restaurants remained well below normal levels in August while operational costs rose, according to a COVID-19 restaurant impact survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association. The organization surveyed 3,500 U.S. restaurant operators between Aug. 26 and Sept. 1. In Virginia, 87% of restaurant operators surveyed responded that their total sales volume […][...]
Va. sees fewer new COVID-19 cases, deaths last week
Virginia recorded 6,164 new COVID-19 cases and 57 fatalities from Sept. 8-14, bringing state totals to 134,571 cases and 2,743 deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The state’s positivity rate is 7.2%, down from 7.7% last week. Several universities are reporting COVID-19 rates among students, faculty and staff members, although the universities are […]
Northam eases COVID-19 restrictions in Hampton Roads
After more than six weeks, Gov. Ralph Northam eased COVID-19 restrictions in Hampton Roads localities Thursday, citing “significantly improved” health metrics. The region will join the rest of the state in Phase Three of the “Forward Virginia” plan, effective immediately. On July 31, the governor placed a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people, […]
Don’t expect hotel revenue improvement to continue, industry says
UPDATED SEPT. 11, 2 P.M. Virginia hotel revenues saw some improvement last week, according to data released Thursday, but hotel industry representatives say it’s nowhere near enough to offset the “economically devastating” losses that the lodging sector has suffered this year due to the pandemic. For the week of Aug. 30 through Sept. 5, hotel […]
Va. saw slight increase in jobless claims last week
Virginia saw a slight increase in the number of initial jobless claims last week, the Virginia Employment Commission reported Thursday — bringing the total number of initial claims filed since mid-March to 1.136 million, or nearly 28% of the commonwealth’s pre-pandemic payroll employment. For the week ending Sept. 5, 11,[...]
COVID-19 rates stay steady statewide, with spikes at some colleges
Virginia had 7,813 new COVID-19 cases and 106 deaths from Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, according to the Virginia Department of Health, with the state’s positivity rate at 7.7%, up .3% from the previous week. The new totals are 128,407 cases and 2,686 deaths since March. Several universities have started reporting COVID-19 rates among students, […]
Virginians debate mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations
RICHMOND, Va. — Though the federal government is asking states to prepare for the possibility of a COVID-19 vaccine within months, some Virginians differ on whether the vaccine should be mandatory when it becomes available. Virginia Freedom Keepers, a nonprofit that advocates for medical freedom, gathered in Richmond this [...]
Loudoun County allocates additional $4.3M to small business grants
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has approved an additional $4.3 million in federal CARES Act funding to go to its COVID-19 Business Interruption Fund, which supports eligible small businesses impacted by the coronavirus with $5,000 grants. During the first three rounds of funding, Loudoun County disbursed $7.1 million to more than 1,000 businesses. “Even […]
