It has now been five weeks since Virginia was placed under a state of emergency to address the COVID-29 pandemic. Schools and the University of Virginia are both closed for the rest of the year, but the bells at the UVA Chapel still ring. On this installment, more information about how data from the Virginia Department of Health is collected and why. We also tune in WTJU’s Rock Marathon and learn a little about how Albemarle County will help small businesses. The show starts with a brief update on what a few community organizations are doing.
Quotes:
“We saw in the model UVA released on Monday and in other national models that the actions we have taken as a state are having an effect. They are slowing the spread and flattening the curve. We are still seeing new cases of course and unfortunately too many deaths. But in large part these are still cases that were contracted weeks ago. So when people say it’s time to stop what we’re doing and get back to normal, they’re wrong.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 15, 2020
“I think it’s important to understand that disease surveillance including death surveillance. It’s not done in real time. It involves several steps and at each of those steps, human beings are involved. We don’t know about someone’s death in the moment that it happens. In small outbreaks that means we can catch up pretty quickly. In the situation of a pandemic it takes a longer time and that gets reflected in the lag in these numbers and periodic jumps in those numbers on our dashboard.” - Dr. Norm Oliver, April 15, 2020
“The way forward will be deliberate and it will be careful but we will move forward and we will do this together. Our business community will be a part of this conversation. They have been so helpful working with our economic strikeforce and looking at creative ways to make sure that when we do ease restrictions, consumers like you be able to feel safe and comfortable returning to businesses.” - Governor Ralph Northam, April 15, 2020
“The global pandemic has triggered a need for a strategic shift and we would like to focus on the continuity of all businesses.” - Roger Johnson, Albemarle County's Economic Development Director, April 15, 2020
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