Tag: COVID

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In brief

President Joe Biden signs the American Rescue Plan
President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law on March 11. PC: The White House

Big bucks from Biden 

Earlier this month, a slim Democratic majority in Congress passed the
American Rescue Plan, a massive stimulus package designed to restart the economy. One important component of the plan is direct cash assistance for local governments, many of which have been severely affected by the economic downturn during the pandemic. 

Local governments will have more or less free rein to use those dollars how they please. Both Albemarle County and Charlottesville City will seek public input in the coming weeks to determine how to most effectively disburse the funds. 

$1.9 trillion 

Total size of the American Rescue Plan 

$130.2 billion

Aid for local governments around the country 

$10.5 million

Aid for Charlottesville City 

$21.2 million

Aid for Albemarle County 

$113.7 million

Aid for Richmond City  

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Quote of the week

“Whether you fall into phase 1A or 1B or even 1C, we want everyone to be preregistered because we anticipate an increase in our vaccine supply in the coming weeks.”

—Kathryn Goodman of the Blue Ridge Health District, at a press conference about vaccine distribution last week

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Don’t shoot a cow, man

A Harrisonburg police officer accidentally shot a fellow officer on Saturday, as the department was in hot pursuit of a cow that had wandered out of a stockyard. Local ranchers first tried to capture the animal but injured it in the process. When the police department intervened, the cow charged the officers and gunfire ensued. The officer who was shot is in stable condition at UVA hospital. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the cow, which was euthanized.

Volleyball layoffs

UVA fired its entire volleyball coaching staff on Thursday for undisclosed reasons. The school opened a “review of a personnel matter” on Wednesday and evidently didn’t take long before gathering enough information to dismiss all four coaches and administrators—two men and two women. “While I am unable to comment on the details, I do want to commend our student-athletes for their leadership,” said athletic director Carla Williams in a statement.

PC: Eze Amos

Skills killed

Governor Ralph Northam’s office intervened this week to close a loophole in a General Assembly-approved gambling bill. The governor has ensured that “skill games,” pay-for-play consoles that have popped up in gas stations and other stores around the state, will be banned after July 1. Manufacturers claim the games reward skilled playing, while opponents insist that they’re just plain old gambling.

Keep ’em coming

Another statue from a bygone era is set to come down in Richmond—this time it’s Harry Byrd, an infamous segregationist who spearheaded Virginia’s “massive resistance” to school integration in the 1950s. Northam signed a bill this week that will remove Byrd’s statue from Richmond’s Capitol Square.

Champs no more 

UVA’s men’s basketball team was knocked out of the NCAA tournament in the first round last weekend, falling 62-58 to 13th-seeded Ohio. The formerly defending-champion Cavaliers had a difficult task this time around, after having to cancel practice for the week before the tournament due to a case of COVID in the locker room. It’s the fifth time in eight NCAA tournament appearances that Tony Bennett’s Hoos have fallen to lower-seeded opponents.

PC: Mike Comer/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Champs at last

The UVA women’s swimming and diving team took home the program’s first-ever national championship last weekend. The team won the national meet by more than a few lengths, finishing with a total of 491 points—runner-up NC State had just 354. “I’m kind of in awe of what [the swimmers] have done and how much they’ve improved here over the last couple of years,” said head coach Todd DeSorbo to VirginiaSports.com after the victory.

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In brief

Photo of Heather Heyer Way
Heather Heyer Way is an example of an existing honorary street. PC: Staff photo

Sign of the times

After months of debate over Charlottesville’s honorary street name policies, City Council unanimously approved two requests last week recommended by the Historic Resources Committee: Black History Pathway and Byers-Snookie Way.

Black History Pathway, located on Fourth Street NW between West Main Street and Preston Avenue, pays homage to the city’s rich Black history. It will cut through a former Black neighborhood known as The Hill, which was razed—alongside Vinegar Hill—during urban renewal in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, Byers-Snookie Way, located on 10th Street NW between Preston and Henry avenues, will honor Black community leaders, William “Billy” Byers and Elizabeth “Mrs. Snookie” Harrison. After becoming Charlottesville’s first Black aquatics director in the 1980s, Byers helped create the school division’s swim program, teaching many low-income Black children how to swim. Harrison worked alongside Byers and managed the Washington Park pool for decades.

Out of the dozen proposals sent to the HRC last fall, the committee also recommended that council approve street names honoring Black activist Gregory Swanson, enslaved laborer Henry Martin, and Charlottes­ville’s sister city Via Poggio a Caiano, Italy. 

The committee turned down requests for Tony Bennett Way (and Drive), largely due to the UVA men’s basketball coach’s “previous substantial national and community recognition.”

However, council decided to hold off on approving additional proposals until March. The HRC is also still ironing out the details of the honorary street names policy.

The committee recommends waiving the application fee, substituting the application’s essay section with simple short questions, allowing applicants to choose between a temporary or permanent street marker, requiring two to three letters of support per nomination, and providing historical context on honorary street signs and a website. 

To better handle future honorary street name proposals, the committee advises City Council to create a special naming commission that includes members from related committees.

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Quote of the week

“We’ve come to a strong compromise that reimagines our criminal justice system…to provide a clean slate for Virginians who have paid their debt to society.”

—Virginia House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria) on the passing of legislation automatically sealing the criminal records of people convicted of certain misdemeanors

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In brief

City offers rent relief 

The City of Charlottesville has distributed $181,000 in rent relief funds in recent weeks, according to City Councilor Michael Payne. The program, initiated to combat the effects of the pandemic, was put together in a short period of time and has already helped 467 local households. 

Credit where it’s due 

Charlottesville Commonwealth’s Attorney Joe Platania has confirmed that Mayor Nikuyah Walker is not under criminal investigation for her use of city credit cards. Speculation about a possible investigation arose in recent weeks after acting City Attorney Lisa Robertson sent a memo to City Council reminding the mayor that “Even a small unauthorized purchase can have serious legal consequences.” However, Platania wrote in a February 22 letter that he has long been “extremely concerned about the lack of consistency and clarity surrounding the city’s credit card policy,” and that he won’t prosecute any cases of potential violations until the policy is rewritten. The credit card policy is just another thing on the already long to-do list of new City Manager Chip Boyles.

Joe Platania PC: Supplied photo

Picture this

Earlier this month, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 99-0 to make the “dissemination of unsolicited obscene images of self to another” a misdemeanor—in other words, they made it illegal to send dick pics without consent. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, not to the Virginia Senate, where eight male senators in a 14-person subcommittee killed the legislation, citing constitutional and enforcement concerns. 

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Poking along

Although supply of the vaccine is beginning to slow, the Blue Ridge Health District currently has one of the highest vaccination rates in the state. In Charlottesville, about 30 percent of the city’s 50,000 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Courtesy Virginia Department of Health.

By Geremia Di Maro

With the one-year anniversary of COVID-related shutdowns just a few weeks away, many people in the area and around the country have a pressing question on their minds: When will we be vaccinated?

Though distribution in the commonwealth began slowly, Virginia now ranks seventh out of 50 states in percent of citizens who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to The New York Times. 

As of Monday, nearly 900,000 Virginians—or about 10 percent of the commonwealth’s total population—have received at least one dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, with an average of 35,811 vaccines administered per day in the state during the past week. About 200,000 of those Virginia residents have also received the necessary second dose of the vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated. 

Closer to home in the Blue Ridge Health District, which includes Charlottesville and Albemarle, Nelson, Greene, Louisa, and Fluvanna counties, per capita vaccination rates rank among the highest in the state—especially in Charlottesville, where roughly 30 percent of the city’s 50,000 residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health. 

Across the district, nearly 70,000 total vaccine doses have been received by local health departments, hospitals, and other care providers since the rollout began. About 50,000 of those doses have been administered, although mostly as first doses thus far. In Charlottesville, almost 4,000 individuals have been fully vaccinated with two doses out of roughly 11,000 across the health district. 

Ryan McKay, director of policy and planning and COVID-19 incident commander for the district, says that the health district has led the state thanks to logistical success in the distribution process. In an area with so many health workers, it can quickly recruit vaccinators and form partnerships with local governments and hospitals, such as UVA Health and Sentara Martha Jefferson. 

At one vaccination event held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center last week, McKay says more than 700 individuals were vaccinated, including many local teachers as well as Charlottesville and Albemarle County staff members. 

But McKay also notes that the average number of vaccines allotted to the district by the VDH—approximately 2,850 on a weekly basis at the moment—is constraining faster progress in getting shots into arms. The district’s weekly dose allocation is based solely on population. 

“What’s really limiting us right now is the allotment that we get from VDH,” says McKay. “We had a big push last week to clear the inventory that was on hand, but that just makes it a little more difficult to provide greater access this week.”

The Blue Ridge Health District is currently overseeing vaccinations for individuals in Phase 1A, which includes frontline health care workers, and limited groups of individuals in Phase 1B, such as law enforcement, fire and other emergency personnel, corrections and homeless shelter employees, as well as teachers and other educators. Individuals 65 years of age and older are also currently eligible to receive the vaccine, and most of that population will be vaccinated by UVA Health. 

McKay says Phase 1A has been mostly completed, adding that significant progress has been made in recent weeks on the first portions of Phase 1B as well. However, the expectation is that most individuals between the ages of 16 and 64 with underlying health conditions—who are included in Phase 1B—may have to wait several more weeks until they are able to receive the vaccine due to limited supply. 

All individuals in Phase 1B are still able to indicate their interest in receiving a vaccine by filling out the district’s online survey or calling their hotline at 972-6261. 

“I think the struggle we’re facing too is that once everything opened up for Phase 1B, that means half of Virginians are now eligible to get vaccinated,” says McKay. “And with only 2,850 doses coming into the health district any given week, that makes it really challenging to try to get people through from all the different categories.”

Eric Swensen, public information officer for the UVA Health System, says UVA Health has been recently administering more than 1,000 vaccine doses per day. 

“Vaccine supplies are expected to be limited during the next few weeks, and we are adjusting our capacity to reflect that change,” says Swensen. 

Since the vaccine rollout is overseen by the VDH and individual health districts, says Swensen, it is currently unclear whether or not will take the lead on administering vaccines to university employees, faculty, and staff who don’t work in health care. 

Moving forward, McKay says the health district plans to hire contracted employees to carry out vaccinations, train paramedics and EMTs to administer vaccines, revamp the district’s online appointment system to better schedule second doses, and ensure that the vaccine rollout is equitable by guaranteeing access to communities of color. 

“We know across the country, in Virginia, and in our own health district, communities of color have had a disproportionate amount of hospitalization, deaths, and cases,” says McKay. “So we want to make sure that we’re providing equitable access [to the vaccine].” 

To determine if you are eligible to be vaccinated in the near future and see a list of upcoming vaccination events, visit the Blue Ridge Health District’s COVID-19 page on the VDH website. 

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Burned out

aerial photo of UVA hospital
UVA Hospital PC: Skyclad Aerial

Despite ample warnings from health experts, millions of people traveled across the country to visit family and friends for the holidays. Now, COVID cases have reached an all-time high—and health care workers are paying the price.

“The ICU has been completely full or close to full for most of the surge period, which really kicked off in December and is still going,” says a nurse aide at UVA hospital, who asked to remain anonymous to ensure the safety of his job. Last month, “we had to open a second acute care unit, which is for COVID patients who [need] just below ICU level care.”

For months, UVA hospital has not had enough staff to keep up with spikes in patients across all units, forcing current employees to work more shifts and longer hours. The staffing crisis has led to a new policy: All nurses and patient care technicians must take on two 12-hour shifts within every six week scheduling period, on top of the three 12-hour shifts they typically work every week—an 11 percent increase in hours on the job. Employees will receive increased hazard pay for these new shifts.

“A lot of us are pretty burned out already, especially the nurses that take care of COVID patients,” says pediatric nurse Danielle Christmas. “They are asking us to do more and more and more.”

“There are people doing this who have kids—how do you plan anything for your family around this?” says a part-time nurse aide, who also asked not to be named. 

Since the policy went into effect on January 10, those who cannot do the extra shifts have been allowed to find another person to work it for them. But that can be difficult when everyone is desperate for a break. 

“When I go home I don’t have the energy to cook. I don’t want to clean. This is at the expense of the rest of our lives,” adds the part-time nurse aide. “We’re here because we like to help people, and want to give as much as we can—but if that’s not sustainable, who does that help?”

In addition to mandating extra shifts, the hospital continues to shuffle nurses around outside of their normal units, meaning nurses are often performing jobs that aren’t as well-suited to their skill set. 

“We’re seeing an increase in patient to nurse ratios in a lot of the non-COVID units, which is of course dangerous for those patients and for staff,” says the nurse aide.

While the new policy is supposed to end in early April, the nurses fear it could last longer if the hospital does not ramp up its hiring. 

When I go home I don’t have the energy to cook. I don’t want to clean. This is at the expense of the rest of our lives.”

Hospital part-time nurse aide

“I know they are hiring people and bringing on travel nurses, but this is not a problem they can solve overnight,” says the aide. “They need to focus on keeping the nurses that they have now.”

“There are some newer nurses that have only been here for maybe a year or less who say they are thinking of leaving UVA altogether because of the way they are handling things and treating us,” adds Christmas.

According to Chief Nursing Officer Mary Dixon, reinforcements are on the way. Twenty-eight newly graduated nurses will be brought on staff next month. And every day, recruiters are actively looking for seasoned nurses to fill open positions.

Due to the pandemic, “nurse staffing is a challenge probably in almost every single health care institution. And under that challenge, recruitment also can be a challenge,” says Dixon.

“A lot of this [new policy] is really in preparation for the unknown, and making sure we have good plans in place if we were to take on more COVID patients,” says Medical Center CEO Wendy Horton. 

“This is also a temporary measure, [and] we will continue to evaluate it over the coming weeks,” adds Dixon. “It was uncomfortable for our staff to have this request put to them…but many of our team at this moment in time are very grateful we are doing this.”

While the hospital works to hire more nursing staff, the nurse aide believes it should provide hazard pay for all shifts—not just the two extra ones—to help alleviate stress and burnout. 

The part-time nurse aide appreciates the various mental health resources, from counseling to yoga, that the hospital has offered to employees during the pandemic, but thinks many haven’t had enough time off of work to take advantage of them.

In light of the extreme burden upon hospital staff, all three nurses call on the public to continue to follow safety guidelines, and help bring COVID cases and hospitalizations down.

“Just because the vaccine is in the news doesn’t mean the pandemic is over,” says the nurse aide. “These next couple of months are going to be treacherous until enough people get vaccinated.”