Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney joined leaders from Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and Goochland counties in declaring local states of emergency on Friday morning in response to the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
One day removed from Gov. Ralph Northam’s state of emergency declaration in Virginia, elected officials from Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and Goochland counties and the city of Richmond all declared states of emergency in their localities in response to the international coronavirus outbreak.
The declarations are effective immediately, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said at a regional media briefing Friday, and will coincide with Northam’s statewide declaration. The move will allow Richmond-area leaders to work collaboratively and tap into state and federal funds as they coordinate a regional response to the virus, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
“We’ve already seen examples of communities and countries that are being seriously challenged because they did not take early steps to address community spread or realize the threat that COVID-19 poses until it [was already] on their doorsteps,” Stoney said. “The leaders of this region are choosing a different path. We choose to stand together to be prepared and do everything in our power to minimize the effect it will have on the residents of our region.”
According to the Virginia Department of Health website, there were 30 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state as of Friday afternoon, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. James City County, about 50 miles away from Richmond, currently holds the highest concentration, with seven confirmed COVID-19 cases. Ten Virginians are currently hospitalized due to the disease, and no deaths have been reported.
Numerous events across the area scheduled for the coming weeks have been canceled or postponed in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, while Northam on Friday ordered that all K-12 schools in Virginia be closed at least through March 27.
“This is a fluid and fast-changing situation,” Northam said in a news release. “We will do everything possible to ensure that students who rely on school nutrition programs continue to have access to meals, and that the disruption to academics is as minimal as possible.”
Prior to Northam's order, Richmond and Henrico school leaders announced school closures due to the outbreak, and Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras said that meals will be made available for pickup at select Richmond schools during the closure.
In Richmond, Stoney also announced that the city's Department of Public Utilities won't disconnect water and wastewater services in cases of nonpayment.
Meanwhile, Richmond and Henrico Health District Director Danny Avula said the limited ability to administer COVID-19 tests is resulting in a partial picture of the virus’ spread in Virginia and throughout the country.
“I expect fully that these numbers will grow significantly as testing expands around the state,” he said.
He also encouraged area residents to be proactive in taking measures like social distancing and increased hygiene practices to “flatten the epidemic curve” and prevent a surge of disease that would otherwise overwhelm the local healthcare infrastructure.
“I’ve engaged in more fist bumps and elbow bumps in the last week than I have in my entire life,” Avula said with a laugh. “But that’s good, it’s shown that this social change is happening fairly quickly.”
For more coronavirus information from the Virginia Department of Health, visit vdh.virginia.gov/surveillance-and-investigation/novel-coronavirus/.