Good morning, RVA! It's 50 °F, and highs today will hang out in the mid 60s. Expect some clouds and a teensy chance of rain here and there throughout the day. Tomorrow looks like a possible stunner, though.
Water cooler
As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 764 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 29 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 85 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 45, Henrico: 21, and Richmond: 19). A while back, VDH started posting positive cases, hospitalizations, and deaths disaggregated by race. I only started capturing those numbers on April 29th (and I can't find historical data on the VDH's website at the moment—they seem to replace the data with a new spreadsheet every day?) but I now have a week's worth of data. Here's a chart of the percentages that Black people make up of positive cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield combined. As of yesterday, Black folks are overrepresented in all three categories and make up 38% of the positive cases, 56% of the hospitalizations, and 44% of the deaths, while they only account for 32% of the region's population. I've linked to a couple of things in the past about how Black people are acutely impacted by COVID-19—as a result of centuries of inequitable health and social policies—and the reality in Central Virginia is no different. When our local leaders start talking about recovery, we should hold them accountable to an equitable recovery process that seeks to protect our region's people of color. In other random spreadsheet news, VDH has continued to post both the number of "total people tested" and the number of "unique people tested." Yesterday, according to the data, 1,368 unique people got tested 6,802 times. I'm not sure what to make of it, but that's what the numbers say! Either way, it's still not enough tests. The Richmond Times-Dispatch says Virginia still sits at the very, very bottom (48th!) when it comes to testing rates among states.
Karri Peifer, also at the RTD, talked to a bunch of restaurant owners about how the ever-changing nature of the crisis and total lack of certainty has been incredibly frustrating for their businesses. This paragraph captures, I'm sure, what thousands and thousands of small business owners are feeling after Governor Northam's decision to lurch Virginia into Phase One of recovery on May 15th: "Some restaurant owners kept their doors open, some closed. Some opened, then closed, then opened again. Some are ramping up to open, given Gov. Ralph Northam’s announcement Monday that some restrictions could be lifted starting next week. None of them are sure which was the right decision. Many are still waiting on their federal Paycheck Protection Program loan. Those who got it aren’t sure how they’re supposed to use it." Like yesterday's article on the supply chain for testing swabs, this look into the practicals of navigating state and federal relief programs is stressful. Note: Standard disclaimer about how I think restaurants get the lion's share of coverage, of course, applies.
I keep thinking about who the Governor plans on sending back into the the open-air virusmarket with his announced May 15th entry into Phase One: Mostly service workers. Meanwhile, in the financial industry, Capital One announced that their offices in the United States, Canada, and the UK will remain closed to all non-essential staff due to the coronavirus outbreak through at least September 7th. I'm incredibly interested in which/if other massive employers in our region decide to follow suit and how their decisions will impact the Governor's current recovery plans.
Whoa, unexpected: The Bird (scooters) are back in town! Jack Jacobs at Richmond BizSense reports, and a look at the app confirms, that Richmond once again has two electric scooter fleets on its streets. If you're out there looking to zoom, make sure you bring some disinfectant wipes or something!
BizSense's Mike Platania also has the disheartening news that Tommy's Express Carwash bought the lot adjacent to the Wawa on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, removing yet another parcel that could have been used for people instead of cars. Yeah, yeah, free market blah blah blah whatever. Truth is, we're, like, seconds away from that corridor turning into either something beautiful and vibrant or a copy/paste of Broad Street west of the highway. We can't move forward with that planning process quick enough!
This morning's longread
This too shall pass...
I liked this email from Lea Whitehurst-Gibson, executive director of Virginia Community Voice about people of color's experience during the current crisis.
People of color in America have been forced to know fear, but we are anchored in hope. That's why I encourage you to seek the leadership of people of color in your communities during this time. Center the experiences of people most directly impacted by the virus and economic fallout. Our voices should be included in designing solutions to a pandemic that will disproportionally affect us. As we know all too well in the Black community: this too shall pass. We are resilient people and we can overcome the darkest days. My hope is that we take this time to listen to each other well, so when we come out on the other side, we will be ready to build a more equitable community.
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