It’s the first day of the second week of 2022. Has anything significant happened yet? How have you fared in these initial days of a year that has 357 of them left after today? Are you hopeful for a reset after a tricky start to the year? All very good questions but not necessarily the topic of this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a program that seeks to celebrate National Trivia Day on all of them while ensuring you’re more informed than you were before. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.
On today’s program:
Governor-elect Youngkin will join other states led by Republican Governors in opposing President Biden’s vaccine mandate for federal employees
The Omicron surge continues with one-day records set in Albemarle and Charlottesville
With the General Assembly meeting in four days, more legislation is filed
Clean-up continues after the winter storm of January 3
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Approaching the pandemic’s third year
The pandemic continues but the next administration in Richmond will likely take a different approach to the current one. Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin on Friday announced that he and Attorney General Elect Jason Miyares plan to challenge the Biden administration’s imposition of mandates on federal employees.
“After the January 15th inauguration, the Commonwealth of Virginia will quickly move to protect Virginians’ freedoms and challenge President Biden’s unlawful CMS, OSHA, and Head Start vaccine mandates,” reads the press release. “While we believe that the vaccine is a critical tool in the fight against COVID-19, we strongly believe that the Federal government cannot impose its will and restrict the freedoms of Americans.”
Biden and his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becarra, want to implement the mandate to increase the percentage of Americans who are fully vaccinated. The action has not gone into effect yet pending existing legal challenges.
The form Youngkin’s legal challenge won’t be known for at least eight days, but the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday spent over three hours yesterday in argument on the same topic in two consolidated cases. See below for links.
In the meantime, on January 7, the heaviest surge of COVID cases so far continues to test the health care system with trends towards hospitalization levels not seen since this time last year Dr. Reid Adams is the chief medical officer at the University of Virginia.
“It is true we are feeling the same thing everywhere else in the state is feeling which is record number of COVID admissions,” Adams said. “We have been able to open additional COVID units to accommodate those patients.”
Adams said so far, UVA has not had to implement any emergency procedures but operational teams are meeting every day.
“We have had occasions where we’ve had to alter our elective surgical schedule,” Adams said. “Fortunately that’s been fairly modest and we’ve not had to close elective procedures to date.”
As of yesterday, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported 3,103 patients in hospital with COVID, The record had been 3,201 on January 13, 2021 but today the VHHA set a new record with 3,478 patients currently hospitalized.
Of those current hospitalizations, 558 were in intensive care units and 302 people were on ventilators.
On Friday, the Virginia Department of Health updated their dashboard on COVID cases by vaccination status. Through December 25, “unvaccinated people developed COVID-19 at a rate 3.8 times that of fully vaccinated people, and 2.2 times that of partially vaccinated people.”
At UVA Health, Adams estimates the number of unvaccinated patients who are hospitalized is between 75 to 80 percent.
“Because we care for immunosuppressed patients, we are seeing those patients,” Adams said. “Organ transplants is a good example that are having COVID-related disease and requiring hospitalization but the vast, vast majority are still unvaccinated.”
Dr. Bill Petri is an infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia. He said while there are more cases of people getting COVID who are vaccinated and boosted, the vaccine is still offering protection.
“Protection from hospitalization is much better with the vaccines with or without the boosters, really,” Petri said. “What we’ve seen is that is being vaccinated in itself reduces your risk from being hospitalized or dying from COVID about ten-fold.”
Both Dr. Adams and Dr. Petri gave examples of how the omicron variant seems to be less deadly and destructive as the delta variant. Here’s one of them from Dr. Petri.
“One of the good pieces of news is that the omicron variant is less likely to infect the lungs and so we’re seeing less pneumonia than we were with the delta, so that’s one good piece of news,” Dr. Petri said.
There won’t be any new data on the number of COVID-cases until Monday, as the Virginia Department of Health stopped reporting it seven days a week when the state of emergency ended. On Friday, VDH recorded 18,309 cases and the percent positivity increased further to 34.6 percent. The Blue Ridge Health District made up 410 of those cases.
Albemarle County set its one day record on Thursday with 156 cases followed by 131 cases on Friday. Charlottesville set its record Friday with 140 cases. Other localities have also recently set one-day records.
These numbers are likely undercounts as at-home kits are not reported to the Virginia Department of Health, and because of the effects of this week’s winter storm.
This week, Governor Ralph Northam announced $5 million will be spent to create nine testing centers throughout Virginia, with the first opening at the Richmond International Raceway today in Caroline County. According to the release, one of these will be in Charlottesville at the existing facilities used by the Blue Ridge Health District.
Governor-elect Youngkin will also appoint a new Commissioner of Health, choosing not to retain Dr. Norm Oliver in the position as the pandemic approaches its third year. Wendy Horton, UVA Health’s Chief Executive Officer, said she hopes for consistency.
“I think it’s really important to really remain aligned as a Commonwealth and to really have public health and us all just really working together is my recommendation,” Horton said. “I think we do that well but I think it’s increasingly a team sport right now and I think all of us really have to be working together to really care for everyone across the state.”
Youngkin will become the next Governor of Virginia a week from today.
Resources:
Transcript of National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (audio)
Storm clean-up continues
Friday’s winter storm didn’t pose much of a threat, at least as measured by whether the city trash trucks operated. They did.
But many continue to be without power throughout the area with temperatures below freezing. Dominion Energy’s outage map now tracks individual projects versus wide swaths of land. The Central Virginia Electric Cooperative reports 3,339 customers without power from a total number of 38,307 customers.
Albemarle County continues to offer warming centers today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The locations are Baker-Butler Elementary, Monticello High School, Greenwood Community Center, and Scottsville Community Center. Water, electricity, and wifi are available at all four, but showers are only available at the schools. Drinking water is also available at the fire departments in both Earlysville. Call 434-297-8415 or visit communityemergency.org for more information.
If you’re reading this and you live in Charlottesville, you better have shoveled your public sidewalk by now. The official end of this week’s snowstorm has passed and city ordinance requires pathways in the public right of way to be clear as of 8 a.m. this morning.
Two more Patreon-fueled shout-outs
Let’s continue today with two more Patreon-fueled shout-outs. The first comes a long-time supporter who wants you to know:
"Today is a great day to spread good cheer: reach out to an old friend, compliment a stranger, or pause for a moment of gratitude to savor a delight."
The second comes from a more recent supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!
More General Assembly bills
As the General Assembly session looms, it will become much harder to list all of the pieces of legislation that are introduced. Until then, I hope to continue to bring you some of the highlights as I figure out what my strategy will be for covering the session while also keeping you up to date on local matters.
Until then:
Senator David Marsden (D-37) introduced a bill to terminate the Major Employment and Investment Project Site Planning Grant program in favor of the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program fund. (SB28)
Marsden has another bill encouraging wellness programs to encourage customers get a COVID-19 vaccine. (SB42)
Senator Barbara Favola (D-31) filed a bill extending the amount of time a locality’s Planning Commission has to make a recommendation on a Comprehensive Plan Amendment from 60 days to 100 days. (SB35)
Favola has another bill that would allow localities to take action to enforce provisions of the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant act (SB43)
In a related bill, landlords would not be able to ban tenants from using their space to provide child-care. (SB69)
The definition of “critically missing adult” would no longer have a requirement that abduction is involved under other legislation from Favola. (SB49)
Senator Chap Petersen (D-34) would prohibit people from spending more than $20,000 on one candidate in a statewide or legislative race. (SB44)
Senator Joe Morrissey has a similar bill that would increase that limit to $25,000. (SB111)
Petersen has another bill that would prevent public utilities from donating to candidates or their political action committees. (SB45)
People in quarantine would be able to petition for delays in legal proceedings related to that status, if another bill from Petersen makes it through. (SB46)
Senator Mamie Locke (D-2) filed a bill to increase the limit on the amount of housing opportunity tax credits from $15 million to $150 million, and would end a projected 2026 sunset date for their use. (SB47)
Senator Amanda Chase (R-11) filed a bill to require health care providers to dispense hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, two treatments for COVID that have not been proven to have any effect. (SB73)
Chase has another bill that would prevent localities from regulating firearms in public places. (SB74)
Chase would also repeal the ban on firearms and explosive devices in Capitol Square or within the Capitol of Virginia. (SB75)
Senator Thomas Norment (R-3) has a bill that would prohibit the Virginia governor from appointing members of their family to a Secretarial position or chief of staff. (SB95)
Norment has another bill related to the state marijuana tax that would redirect funds that are intended now to go to the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Fund. (SB107)
Delegate Lee Ware (R-65) has filed a bill to create the Virginia Pandemic Response and Preparedness Council (HB87)
Delegate Wendell Walker (R-23) filed a bill removing a clause that elementary and secondary school students can not be charged with disorderly conduct. (HB89)
Delegate Joseph McNamara (R-8) filed legislation to exempt food and personal hygiene products from sales tax (HB90)
He has another bill to require the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to study the effects of Daylight Savings Times. (HJ6)
Delegate Christopher Head (R-17) filed a bill to create a central registry for complaints about elder abuse and neglect in the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services. (HB98)
Head has another bill that would allow a $2,000 tax credit for individuals or married persons for a stillborn child. (HB100)
Incoming Delegate Karen Greenhalgh has another bill that would allow for health care providers to make prescriptions for “off-label” uses. (HB102)
Greenhalgh has another bill that would allow educators to have a $500 tax credit, a provision that would also apply to parents or guardians who home-school. (HB103)
Senator Emmett Hanger (R-24) has a bill that replace the charter for the Town of Grottoes. (SB99)
Senator Joseph Morrissey (D-16) filed a bill eliminating mandatory minimum sentences. (SB104)
In SB105, Morrissey has another bill that would make retroactive provisions adopted in the summer of 2020 that prevent police officers from pulling over motorists for certain offenses. In SB108, Morrissey would end the use of isolated confinement in Virginia’s correctional facilities. SB109 would allow parole for people imprisoned for crimes committed before they were 21, and have served least twenty years of their sentence. SB110 is similar as is SB111.
SB115 in update of the six-year capital plan for Virginia which includes new figures for projects at colleges and universities, including a Center for the Arts at the University of Virginia.
More bills in Monday’s installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement.
January 8, 2022: Youngkin to join challenge against Biden administration's vaccine mandate; Virginia sets one-day hospitalization record today