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It’s January 7, 2021 and I’m Sean Tubbs, the host of the Charlottesville Community Engagement Newscast and newsletter. On today’s show:
Governor Ralph Northam pledges to speed up vaccine distribution
Charlottesville City Police Council holds press conference to address recent violent crime
Charlottesville City Council meets but takes no action
This morning the Virginia Department of Health reported another 5,379 cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth, and the percent positivity increased slightly to 16.8 percent. Today’s one-day total is just a handful shy of the one-day-record set before.
In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are another 159 cases reported today. That’s 70 from Albemarle, 36 from Charlottesville, 15 from Fluvanna, ten from Greene, 15 from Louisa and 13 from Nelson. There are no new deaths reported today in the district.
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As the world watched hundreds of angry people break into the U.S. Capitol yesterday, Governor Ralph Northam held his first COVID briefing of 2021 and stated something that is backed up by the data. (watch the video)
“The virus is worse now than it has ever been,” Northam said. “Case numbers are about four times higher than they were last spring. We had the highest case number every day and we can expect it to go higher.”
Northam said the epidemiological model put out by the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute demonstrates that, but the public version hasn’t been updated since Christmas Day. The governor said it will be a long winter with more threats lurking.
“We also need to be clear that new strains of the virus are out there,” Northam said. ”They’re much more contagious than what we’ve seen so far. They’re out in the world and though we’ve not seen it yet in Virginia, it will surely make its way here if not already so.”
It’s now been over three weeks since Dr. Ebony Hilton became the first person vaccinated in the University of Virginia Health System, and medical personnel across the Commonwealth are receiving their second dose this week. Many have critiqued the Virginia Department of Health for not distributing shots fast enough, but Northam explained some of the logistical challenges.
“It involves highly complex advanced manufacturing,” Northam said. “It requires moving supplies around the world and storing much of it as super cold, sub-zero temperatures. This is complex stuff.”
Northam went on to do some math. There are 8.5 million Virginians, and with the vaccines currently approved, most will need two doses. The roll-out will take months.
“Right now, Virginia is receiving about 110,000 doses a week,” Northam said. “Our first step is to use up all of that supply, to completely wipe out that supply because we know the supply will be replenished.”
Northam set a goal of administering 25,000 shots a day.
“And hitting it will depend on manufacturing ramping up and supplies being distributed to states over time,” Northam said. “We don’t have everything we need. No state does because it’s being manufactured literally in real time. That’s consistent with the short-term goal that President-Elect Biden has laid out for our country.”
Northam urged patience, and likened the current situation to what was experienced in the early days of the pandemic when Virginia did not have the infrastructure to process tests for COVID.
“Back then we were testing about 5,000 individuals a day,” Northam said. “We said we need to double it. We set a goal of testing 10,000 people a day. And we all celebrated when we hit it, and then we kept hitting it over and over again. Today we routinely test double that, or triple that, or even more.”
In other words, the infrastructure is being built to add another tool in the fight against COVID. Until then, Northam said doses should not be wasted. This next soundbite is directed at health care providers who have not been able to use all of their allotment.
“So I want you to empty those freezers and get shots in arms,” Northam said. “When you have vials, give out shots until they are gone. No one wants to see any supplies sitting unused.
Northam said this did not mean that just anyone should get a shot, but that health districts across Virginia should continue to expand efforts to make sure anyone eligible under Phase1A gets vaccinated.
The next step in the vaccine roll-out is Phase1B, which will expand distribution to more essential workers who are outside of the healthcare industry. According to a release sent out this morning, Phase 1B will begin in early spring with public safety workers at the top of a prioritization list.
“People who work in jobs that keep our society functioning,” Northam said. “People who are at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19. And people who can not work remotely.”
One of the biggest ongoing crises is the effect on public education. The past ten months have caused a disruption of instruction.
Later on tonight, the Charlottesville School Board will get an update from Superintendent Rosa Atkins on current metrics about the pandemic. According to information on the VDH website, “childcare/K12 teachers/staff” are listed as the third category under Phase1B prioritization.
“They’re high on the list of essential workers because teachers are critical to getting schools back open and that’s critical to people getting back to work and literally getting back to normal,” Northam said. “Opening schools doesn’t depend on vaccinating teachers but that will sure make it a lot easier.”
Further down the list are grocery store workers, food processing workers, those who work with hazardous materials, and those who help others get around.
“This group includes bus drivers, and transit workers, the people who run the systems that help other people run the systems that help people get to work,” Northam said.
Dr. Danny Avula, the director of Richmond and Henrico’s health departments will be put in charge of the state’s vaccination roll-out.
“My hope in this short-term assignment is to come alongside [Health Commissioner Norm Oliver] and this amazing team that is driving this work at VDH to help build some more of those bridges between the work that is happening locally and the work that is happening centrally and really get after vaccinating Virginia,” Dr. Avula said.
I’ll continue to cover this as more developments take place.
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This morning, Charlottesville Police Chief RaShall Brackney held a press conference to update the public on a series of violent crimes in the city and to state that the Police Department needs the community’s assistance to fix the problem.
“More than a month ago we stood before you to discuss the unprecedented levels of violence in this community,” Brackney said. “Unfortunately the trend has continued into the New Year. We understand the drivers of systemic violence. We study them. We explore the root causes of community violence to include poverty, exclusion from education or living wage opportunities. We understand institutional supremacy and racism and its effects. Charlottesville does not need another commission, does not need another task force or forum to understand or address violence here.”
Chief Brackney said Charlottesville is rich with resources, but that many community voices need to come together to solve problems.
“I’m calling on all individuals, all organizations, who have called for change since 2017 to get involved,” Brackney said. “I’m calling on community advocates, influences, organizers, to go beyond Twitter or Instagram, Facebook, your news interviews, podcasts or social mediums to leverage your collective resources. What are you willing to contribute to solve the problem?”
Brackney said the community needs tutors, mentors, and people to spend time in communities affected. She said many in Charlottesville are suffering from trauma.
“I have witnessed this community coalesce around issues it cares about,” Brackney said. “Social justice. Police reform. Historical and institutional racism and supremacy. Community violence is an institutional legacy and our children are their inheritors.”
But before that, let’s get back to recent incidents. The top three news alerts on the Charlottesville Police Department are for:
The December 27 murder of a man at the South First Street public housing complex
The December 24 arrest of a Porstmouth man for a December 17 rape on Madison Avenue
Major Jim Mooney, the assistant chief of police, was on hand at the press conference to give some statistics for 2020.
“Charlottesville Police Department responded to 195 calls for shots fired so just under 200,” Lt. said. “A hundred and twenty-two of those were confirmed shots fired cases meaning we found evidence of gunfire, shell casings. And in numerous cases there were victims associated with that.”
There were four homicides in 2020 and three of those were solved. Mooney said 2021 is not getting off to a good start.
“Multiple shots fired calls with a number of cases, some cases 20 plus casings,” Lt. said. “We have people that are shooting wildly and in our cases on Tuesday we had two incidents where apartment buildings were hit and not just one apartment, multiple apartments. In one of those apartments a woman lay in her bed and the bullet traveled through the mattress. Another woman was struck in the forehead.”
Brackney said a long-term approach is needed and that the department needs resources.
“It means addressing all of the underlying systemic ills that are going on, and this cannot be laid solely as a burden at the Police Department’s feet and that again is almost how the questions are always formed, is what is our response,” Brackney said. “I can’t do this by myself and neither can this department.”
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The press conference comes a day after the City Council held two emergency closed sessions to discuss next steps in the search for an City Manager. The second meeting concluded after about three hours with no action. The closed meeting call also invoked state code that allowed discussion of a Councilor’s performance.
The Council’s emergency session will resume tomorrow at 1 p.m.
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January 7, 2021: "The virus is worse now than it ever has been"; Charlottesville police hold press conference on recent incidents