Tag: COVID-19
-
Why the Secrecy about Hospital Beds and COVID?
by Kerry Dougherty Anyone remember why the country is locked down? I do. With images of Italy’s collapsing healthcare system and Italian death panels doling out beds and ventilators in early March, we were told we had to take radical steps so that American hospitals would not be similarly overwhelmed by the COVID-19 virus. “Fifteen…
-
COVID-19 Update: Pick Your Data to Support Your Narrative
COVID-19 data has been published today that can either calm you or alarm you, depending upon your inclination — or your support for or against Governor Ralph Northam’s economic lockdown measures. On the positive side, the chart above, taken from Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association data, indicates that COVID-19 still is not straining the capacity…
-
Virginia’s Leaders Traffic in Gloom and Doom
by Kerry Dougherty In response to a Tweet I posted last week about Gov. Ralph Northam, a local priest responded by quoting a nun who’d seen one of the governor’s press conferences and thought Virginia’s leader was in need of prayers “…that is a man without hope,” she said. Amen, Sister. Northam’s the captain of…
-
About the Governor’s New Metrics…
by James A. Bacon Governor Ralph Northam presented Friday his “Forward Virginia” blueprint for reopening Virginia’s economy when the COVID-19 epidemic recedes. As Virginia sees progress in five key metrics, the Governor says, he will relax his emergency restrictions in phases. The first of four phases would allow some businesses to re-open with “strict safety…
-
Hey, It Could Be Worse
Between March 4 and April 18, unemployment claims in Virginia amounted to 10.9% of baseline jobs, according to this map issued by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. That’s horrendous, but things could be worse. The U.S. average is 14.3% — and the Old Dominion’s job loss is less than half that of Michigan’s at 23.9%.…
-
COVID-19 Update: The Madness Goes On
Here, according to this morning’s Virginia Department of Health (VDH) dashboard, is an up-to-date look at new COVID-19 hospitalizations. (As always, we must be wary of weekend reporting lags, but VDH and Virginia hospitals seem to have tightened up their reporting and compiling these days, so the lag is not as pronounced as it once…
-
A Quick COVID-19 Story
I needed some quarters to feed the vacuum machine at Exxon yesterday, and I got in line in the convenience mart to make change. When the guy in front of me finished his transaction, he dawdled by the checkout counter. In a bit of a hurry, I edged in closer. The guy turned around and…
-
Getting to Goldilocks
by Chris Spencer The news was good overall on Friday when Governor Northam announced the creation of a COVID-19 task force and presented a preliminary blueprint for reopening Virginia.[1] Like all works in progress, both could use tweaking, but they are good starts. Let’s imagine how the task force could achieve victory. I. A Beginning…
-
Update: Virginia COVID-19 Testing and Nursing Home Data
by James C. Sherlock I update here the continuing scandals in Virginia nursing home understaffing and COVID-19 testing. In a quarterly update, the percentage of understaffed nursing homes and the Virginia’s relative standing among the states and D.C. in that statistic every quarter are posted on Medicare Nursing Home Compare. Here are the data from…
-
COVID-19 Update: Still Lots of Idle Hospital Capacity
Another day has gone by, Virginia hospitals still have abundant spare capacity to treat COVID-19 patients, and Governor Ralph Northam’s emergency decree against elective surgery continues to drain hospitals of revenue, cost healthcare workers their jobs, and delay many Virginians’ access to healthcare. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals (both confirmed and awaiting tests)…
-
Getting Out of Prison Early
By Dick Hall-Sizemore As part of the response to the novel coronavirus crisis, the General Assembly accepted amendments to the budget bills for the current year and the upcoming biennium, proposed by the Governor, authorizing the Department of Corrections (DOC) to release early from incarceration offenders with less than a year to serve on their…
-
Where the Helicopter Money Is Landing
What has the federal government done to help Virginia cope with the COVID-19 crisis? The following data comes from the White House. Clearly, the decision to compile and disseminate the information was political. But the data speaks for itself. The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has obligated $200.2 million or Virginia to respond to COVID-19…
-
COVID-19 Update: Hospital Vitals Still Stable
The picture couldn’t be clearer. By the most reliable metrics available — the number of patients being hospitalized, patients in ICUs, and patients on ventilators — the COVID-19 epidemic has stabilized. Other metrics gyrate wildly. The number of “confirmed cases” reported to the Virginia Department of Health surged by 732 two days ago and dropped…
-
Northam to 15,000 Sick Virginians: Keep Waiting
by James A. Bacon Here’s how I was tempted to headline this post: Northam to Sick Virginians: Drop Dead But that would have been unfair. In extending his ban on elective surgery by a weeks, the Governor doesn’t want people to literally drop dead. He’s just willing to prolong their misery and uncertainty. Not to…
-
Northam to Virginians in Pain: Your Elective Surgery Can Wait
by Kerry Dougherty Bad news for those living on pain relievers and waiting for shoulder, hip or knee replacements. Gov. Ralph Northam has decided you can suffer a while longer. On Thursday he announced that he was extending the ban on elective surgery from today until May 1. He first prohibited such procedures on March…