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Virginia colleges reopen with COVID-19 data available
RICHMOND — Virginia college students returning to campus amid the COVID-19 pandemic have been equipped with masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. Now, many also have coronavirus testing data available at their fingertips. Some Virginia universities have unveiled COVID-19 dashboards to track infections as students r[...]
New COVID-19 cases continue to decline statewide; deaths are up
The Virginia Department of Health has reported 113,630 COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 24, an increase of 6,209 cases in the past week. The state also saw 86 more deaths from the coronavirus last week, bringing the total to 2,471. The number of new deaths is up from the previous week’s total of 58, but […]
Va. saw slight uptick in initial jobless claims last week
More than 15,000 Virginians filed initial jobless claims last week — an increase of more than 1,800 claims from the previous week, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. “The increase in initial claims for unemployment benefits in Virginia reverses the trend of declining claims over the last two weeks,” Dominique Johnson, research associate with Old […]
Virginia Tech launches COVID-19 dashboard
Virginia Tech on Wednesday launched an online dashboard that the university will use to keep track of COVID-19 test results and the number of students in on-campus isolation spaces. “Our comprehensive plan to manage the additional cases expected as the Blacksburg campus is repopulated includes close collaboration with our campus experts and community partners,” Virginia […]
Va. hotel revenue inching upward
Hotel revenues in Virginia continued to incrementally improve last week, according to new data from STR Inc., a division of CoStar Group providing market data on the U.S. hospitality industry. During the week of Aug. 9 through Aug. 15, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 44% and rooms sold declined by 32%, compared to the […]
Montgomery County, Blacksburg, Christiansburg launch small business relief grants
Montgomery County and the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg on Wednesday launched a grant fund to support small business recovery in response to COVID-19. Eligible businesses can receive one-time grants of up to $27,500. The Small Business Recovery grant program is funded by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic[...]
U.S. hotel industry faces foreclosure wave
The U.S. hotel industry is facing an historic wave of foreclosures due to the pandemic, according to findings released Tuesday from the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), but Virginia might be an exception — for now. “We are not seeing much in the way of foreclosures or defaults as of yet,” says Virginia Restaurant, […]
State files injunction motion against Hanover seafood restaurant
Updated, Aug. 19 The state health commissioner and the Virginia Board of Health have filed a motion for an injunction against a seafood restaurant in Hanover County that refuses to close in spite of multiple public health orders alleging it is in violation of the state’s COVID-19 rules. Calabash Seafood has been “serving customers food […]
Virginia sees fewer new COVID-19 deaths and cases last week
The state has reported 107,421 COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 17, an increase of 6,672 since last Monday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The state recorded 58 deaths last week, bringing the total number of coronavirus fatalities to 2,385. These are improvements from the previous week, which saw 7,643 new cases and 109 […]
UPDATE: House and Senate Democrats, governor roll out special session priorities
Updated, Aug. 14 House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn rolled out the House Democratic Caucus’ legislative priorities for the Aug. 18 special session, a slate of coronavirus-related measures and law enforcement reforms. Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, announced in a news release Thursday that the following COVID-19 legisla[...]
Feds award $13.9M in grants to capitalize Va. small business loans
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration has awarded $13.9 million in CARES Act grants that will let city, state and regional governments in Virginia administer revolving loan funds (RLF) to assist small businesses, the department announced Thursday. According to a news release, the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority will receive a $10.2 million […][...]
Va. initial jobless claims dropped 46% last week
Initial unemployment claims in Virginia fell by 46% last week, according to a Thursday release from the Virginia Employment Commission. More than 13,000 Virginians filed initial jobless claims last week — a decrease of more than 10,000 claims from the previous week, according to a VEC statement released Thursday. For the first time since the […]
