Coverage including video at WAVY.com .
The mayor is asking people only to go to the beach to fish or exercise.
Author Archives: Tim
WHEN IT IS SAFE TO BE AROUND OTHERS: ENDING ISOLATION IN NON-HEALTHCARE SETTINGS
On Saturday, May 2nd, the boat ramp was closed to further launches at 9:20 a.m. because the parking lot was full, and traffic was gridlocked on adjoining streets by 10 a.m.
What’s going to happen this weekend?
Obviously it would be extremely challenging for first responders to use roads surrounding the Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility if this is allowed to happen again.
Governor Northam Announces Phase One Guidelines to Slowly Ease Public Health Restrictions. Phase One will begin no sooner than Friday, May 15.
View at Governor.Virginia.gov:
RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam signed Executive Order Sixty-One and presented a detailed framework for the first phase of the “Forward Virginia” plan to safely and gradually ease public health restrictions while containing the spread of COVID-19. The Phase One guidelines will be implemented when the data meets the public health criteria outlined by the Commonwealth. The new executive order modifies public health guidance in Executive Order Fifty-Three and Executive Order Fifty-Five and establishes guidelines for Phase One.
The Governor’s phased approach is grounded in science and data and includes mitigation strategies to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus through enhanced safety practices. The plan allows localities to consider delaying implementation of Phase One guidelines based on local conditions.
“I am proud of the millions of Virginians who have stayed home and helped to flatten the curve, but our work is not done,” said Governor Northam. . . .
Phase One guidelines for specific sectors are available here or at virginia.gov/coronavirus/forwardvirginia.
View the graphs and slides from the Governor’s presentation here.
City Council Sets Special Meeting on May 7
View how to engage at VBGov.com:
On Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 4 p.m., the City Council will hold a workshop to discuss the search for a city manager and the monitoring of the FY 2020-2021 budget.
Members of Council may participate via electronic communication means provided that a quorum of Council is physically present at the meeting location, and the Council member provides notice that he or she is unable to physically attend the meeting for a reason set forth in the City Council Policy for Remote Participation by Councilmembers in Council Meetings, adopted March 31, 2020 (attached).
No public comment will be taken at this meeting, however because it is expected that three or more members of the City Council will be physically present, a few seats for the public will be available in the Council Chamber that are appropriately spaced apart. Citizens are encouraged to wear protective face coverings.
This meeting will be live-streamed on VBTV (Cox channel 48 & Verizon channel 45), VBgov.com/media and Facebook.com/CityofVaBeach.
The proposed budget is available at VBgov.com/budget. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, City staff presented a revised FY 2020-21 Budget and Resource Management Plan on Tuesday, April 14. It can be viewed on VBgov.com/media and youtube.com/VirginiaBeachTV.
For the latest information, please visit emergency.vbgov.com/coronavirus and follow us on facebook.com/CityofVaBeach, twitter.com/CityofVaBeach and instagram.com/cityofvabeach.
City Council Special Meeting – 05/05/2020
Can you DONATE BLOOD to the RED CROSS ?
Learn more at RedCross.org about Plasma Donations from Recovered COVID-19 Patients donating:
In coordination with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Red Cross is seeking people who are fully recovered from the new coronavirus to sign up to donate plasma to help current COVID-19 patients.
You can also learn more about how to DONATE BLOOD, POWER RED, PLASMA or PLATELETS here:
To support social distancing, appointments are now required. With thousands of blood drives cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working hard to open new donation sites. If you don’t see available appointments near you in the near future, please search 7-10 days out. The need for blood is constant – patients need your help.
Governor Outlines Phased Plan to Safely, Gradually Ease Restrictions
View at Governor.Virginia.gov:
May 4, 2020—Governor Ralph Northam outlined a three-phase plan to ease restrictions on businesses and gatherings, when health data supports doing so.
Governor Northam said he will extend key provisions of Executive Order 53, which places restrictions on businesses and gatherings of more than 10 people, at least through next Thursday, May 14, at midnight. The Northam administration will continue to monitor health data to ensure that trends of positive cases are going downward, that hospital capacity remains steady, that testing is increased, and that hospitals and medical facilities have necessary supplies of PPE. For more information on key metrics, please see here.
Phase I of easing restrictions would continue social distancing, teleworking, recommendations that people wear face coverings in public, and the ban on social gatherings of more than 10 people. It would ease some limits on business and faith communities, and would transition the stay at home directive to a “safer at home” guideline, especially for those in vulnerable populations.
It is expected that Phase I would last two to four weeks, as would the two subsequent phases, depending on health metrics.
More specific guidance on each phase will be available in the coming days. Slides from the Governor’s briefing are available here.
Accurate, reliable information about COVID-19 can be found on the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) website.
Click to view slides from press conference.
Governor Northam Unveils Blueprint for Easing Public Health Restrictions
‘Forward Virginia’ blueprint informed by diverse health and business stakeholders, includes testing, tracing, and PPE priorities
‘Forward Virginia’ blueprint informed by diverse health and business stakeholders, includes testing, tracing, and PPE priorities
RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today presented the “Forward Virginia” blueprint, which will help guide the Commonwealth on when to safely begin easing public health restrictions. The blueprint includes a phased approach that is grounded in the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and has specific goals to contain the spread of the virus through increased testing, personal protective equipment and supplies, and medical capacity.
“We will move forward, but in a way that prioritizes public health and builds public confidence,” said Governor Northam. “Businesses know that customers will return only when they feel that it is safe to do so. Our blueprint for the path forward is data-driven and provides clear guidance, so Virginians will know what to expect and understand how we will decide to when to lift certain public health restrictions.”
Virginia is looking at a wide range of public health data. The Governor emphasized that key indicators will include a 14-day downward trend in confirmed cases as a percentage of overall tests and in reduced COVID-19 hospitalizations. While hospitalization rates have largely stabilized in the Commonwealth, confirmed cases continue to rise.
The Forward Virginia blueprint includes the following priorities:
TESTING AND TRACING
To ensure the continued safety of Virginians, the Commonwealth aims to test at least 10,000 individuals per day. Karen Remley, former Commissioner of Health and current co-chair of Virginia’s Testing Work Group, outlined a four stage approach to meet this goal prior to safe reopening. The expanded testing plan includes hiring contact tracers, who will support local health departments in identifying individuals who may be exposed to COVID-19 and helping them self-isolate.
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is critical to ramping up testing, ensuring the safety of healthcare staff, and expanding the medical workforce. Virginia’s PPE pipeline is improving, and hospitals are successfully managing their supplies. The Governor cautioned that safely easing restrictions will require an ongoing stable PPE supply chain across all sectors of healthcare, and ensuring that the supply is regularly replenished.
Virginia has ordered 17.4 million N95 masks, 8.3 million surgical masks, 17.1 million gloves, 1.7 million gowns, and 1 million face shields. This includes a contract signed jointly with Maryland and the District of Columbia for 5 million N95 masks.
Governor Northam announced that a second shipment from Northfield Medical Manufacturing is scheduled to arrive today and will be promptly distributed. The latest shipment includes 3 million nitrile exam gloves, 100,000 N95 masks, 500,000 3-ply procedure masks, and 40,000 isolation gowns.
HOSPITAL CAPACITY AND STAFF
Hospitalizations and ICU admissions are largely stable across Virginia, even as case counts continue to rise. To ensure continued capacity as Virginia move towards “Phase One” of easing restrictions, Governor Northam yesterday extended the ban on elective surgeries through May 1 and expanded the ability of physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners with two or more years of clinical experience to practice without a collaborative agreement.
The Virginia Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) continues to recruit and deploy medical and non-medical volunteers to bolster the work of local health departments, hospitals, and healthcare providers. The MRC currently has over 16,500 trained volunteers, more than halfway to Virginia’s goal of 30,000.
PHASE ONE OF EASING RESTRICTIONS
Governor Northam outlined key benchmarks Virginians can expect in the first phase, which will begin no sooner than two weeks from now to allow for a 14-day downward trend in confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Phase one includes continued social distancing, teleworking, limits on travel and public gatherings, and recommended use of face coverings. Any easing of restrictions will be informed by public health experts, members of the Governor’s COVID-19 Business Task Force, state and local officials, and other stakeholders.
The Commonwealth is developing two sets of guidance: one with broad based recommendations for all businesses, and another with industry specific recommendations for public-facing businesses like restaurants and non-essential retail. The guidance will be provided to businesses in early May.
The slides from today’s presentation are available here.
# # #
Stay home. Stay informed. Stay safe.
“Current social distancing efforts starting March 15 have paused the growth of the epidemic in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this scenario, “paused” growth means that the rate of new cases is holding steady rather than increasing.”
View yesterday’s Governor’s briefing here.
Key takeaways from infectious disease models developed by the UVA Biocomplexity Institute include:
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Current social distancing efforts starting March 15 have paused the growth of the epidemic in the Commonwealth of Virginia. In this scenario, “paused” growth means that the rate of new cases is holding steady rather than increasing.
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Current trends suggest that Virginia’s statewide hospital bed capacity will be sufficient in the near future.
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Lifting social distancing restrictions too soon can quickly lead to a second wave.
And:
“Currently, it appears as if the Commonwealth of Virginia is tracking with the pause scenario, which means that the residents of Virginia are doing an excellent job with mitigation,” said Bryan Lewis, Research Associate Professor for the Network Systems Science and Advanced Computing division for the Institute.
Additional links from Press Release includes:
RAND Healthcare Virginia COVID19 Models Initial Analysis.
Estimation of COVID-19 Impact in Virginia April 13, 2020 (data current to April 11, 2020) Biocomplexity Institute Technical report: TR-2020-048
UVA Biocomplexity Institute report includes:
BIOCOMPLEXITY COVID-19 RESPONSE RESOURCES at UVA.
CURRENT SOCIAL DISTANCING EFFORTS ARE WORKING
Marlin Bay, Gateway to Virginia Beach proposal
VDH increases graphing & data breakdowns
How Privacy-Friendly Contact Tracing Can Help Stop the Spread of Covid-19
Tips how to keep our EMS volunteers safe
Virginia Uses Genetic Technology to Combat COVID-19
“This genetic fingerprint gives us tremendous insight into this novel virus, helping us understand where Virginia cases originated and how they are being transmitted in our communities,” said DCLS Director Dr. Denise Toney. “Providing this information in real-time is unbelievably valuable for public health officials as they determine how to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in our communities.”
Birthday visits by Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad!
If your child has a birthday between now and June 10th and their birthday plans have been canceled or postponed due to COVID-19, please message us and let us know! If you live in our Shore Drive response area, spanning from First Court Rd to Cox High School in Virginia Beach, we would love to do an ambulance drive by to wish them a happy birthday.
Trash, recycling, yard waste, and bulky item services will operate on a one-day delay this week
For example, Tuesday routes will be collected on Wednesday. Wednesday routes will be collected on Thursday. Thursday routes on Friday, and Friday routes on Saturday, April 11.
“We are still in the early stages of this outbreak, but we must ensure that Virginia is ready when the surge of acute cases hits our healthcare system,”
The facilities — the Dulles Expo Center in Northern Virginia and the Richmond and Hampton Roads convention centers — will be able to provide beds for 1,107 acute patients or 1,848 non-acute patients, Northam said Friday.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 