Tag: COVID-19
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I Thought It Was All About the “Science”
by James A. Bacon Governor Ralph Northam likes to say he follows the “science” and the “data” when promulgating rules to fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus. But he admitted yesterday that the latest round of lockdown measures — which included ordering children as young as five to wear masks — was inspired by…
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Arbitrary and Capricious Rules for Thanksgiving
by Kerry Dougherty I missed Gov. Ralph Northam’s COVID press conference yesterday. That’s OK, his pressers always fill me with dread. Yet I had a legit reason for skipping this one: I was getting my hair done. In case Northam decided that the only way to “slow the spread” was to put Virginia’s hair stylists…
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Where Does Ralph Northam Go From Here with COVID-19?
by DJ Rippert Marcel Marceau. Ralph “The COVID Mime” Northam dropped a bevy of increased Coronavirus restrictions on the state last Friday. Those new restrictions on Friday followed another rambling COVID press conference held by Northam the prior Tuesday. Anybody watching the Tuesday news conference could be forgiven for being shocked by The COVID Mime’s…
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COVID-19 Peaks in SW Virginia, No Cause for Panic Elsewhere
by James A. Bacon Spread of the COVID-19 virus is gaining momentum as the weather cools, and news reports from around the country are raising the alarm that hospitals are at risk of being swamped by a fresh surge in patients. Here in the Old Dominion, the situation is reaching a “crisis point” in far…
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COVID, Telecommuting and Urban Renewal
Just a year or two ago, the big momentum in commercial real estate markets was for businesses to relocate facilities from the suburbs to the metropolitan core. Young people wanted to live and work in or near Virginia’s downtowns, and corporations followed the talent. The City of Richmond snagged one prestigious tenant after another. One…
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Northam: Messaging, Not Mandates
Despite a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, hair-on-fire national media coverage, and the imposition of tighter restrictions in neighboring Maryland, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., Governor Ralph Northam is holding steady with a relatively light regulatory regimen for Virginia. As the Virginia Mercury puts it today, “Northam is stressing messaging — not mandates…
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COVID Is Still News
By Dick Hall-Sizemore I seem to recall that contributors and comments on this blog often said that “come November 4, COVID will no longer be a big news item.” The implication, of course, was that the main national news organizations were hyping the COVID issue in order to damage the Trump administration. Well, it is…
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Update on Virginia K-12 School Outbreaks
by Carol J. Bova As the COVID-19 epidemic regains momentum this fall, the virus has crept into a few public schools in Virginia. Seven of ten outbreaks in progress are in the Southwest Region where there is significant current and rising community spread. The other three in the Central and Eastern regions where several September school…
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A COVID Update Before the Winter Surge
by Carol J. Bova As the election furor dies down, interest will turn to the expected winter surge in COVID-19 cases. Before we get caught up in the onslaught of dire predictions in the news and resultant handwringing over national and worldwide numbers, let’s look at Virginia’s numbers.
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Biden, Birx and COVID Lockdowns in Virginia
by DJ Rippert Sine wave. The third wave of COVID-19 has been spreading across the world and has come to America. As should have been expected it has also come to Virginia. Many European countries have enacted lockdowns that would be considered draconian by most Americans. Several U.S. governors have also dramatically reversed the re-opening…
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Northam’s Non-COVID Non-Update
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4eTqh-1pTU&w=480&h=315] Note: video starts at 4:50 by DJ Rippert Northam fiddles. As a resurgence of COVID-19 spreads across Europe and the United States, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam held a press conference ostensibly to discuss the pandemic. The presser provided little new information about the coronavirus or Virginia’s plans to combat the disease. Northam did…
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Does Northam Have a Plan to Battle a COVID Resurgence in Virginia?
by DJ Rippert The second (or third) time around. America’s polarized political situation has all eyes on the upcoming presidential election. Millions are voting early and millions more will vote by mail. There is a good chance that the final results will not be known on the morning after Election Day. If true, America’s attention…
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VDH Has a New K-12 “Outbreaks” Dashboard
by Carol J. Bova The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) published a new dashboard on October 23 that lists K-12 Outbreaks of COVID-19 by locality (county, town or city) and facility. As the VDH website explains: “Transmission must occur within the school facility or at a school-sponsored event among students, faculty, staff, or visitors to…
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Hey, What Happened to All the School Shootings?
by James A. Bacon Anyone notice how we don’t hear about school shootings anymore? Ever since the nation became fixated on the COVID-19 epidemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, school shootings have dropped out of the headlines. According to an ongoing list compiled by Wikipedia, there have been eight school shootings (four in Texas, two…
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Open the Schools. Now.
by Kerry Dougherty Stay with me today, friends, and I promise not to rant about the stupidity of public school closures for at least another week. Fact is, two developments in Virginia are so alarming that they scream out for comment. The first, a story in The Richmond Times-Dispatch Tuesday, showed that a full 20% of Richmond…