Instead of assuming its traditional lead role in a public health crisis, the 73-year-old agency has become just one of many voices providing often contradictory instructions to a confused and imperiled public.
“Punishing the agency by marginalizing and hobbling it is not the solution,” the venerable British medical journal the Lancet noted Friday in a stinging editorial that called the U.S. response “inconsistent and incoherent.”
“Only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like test, trace, and isolate, will see the emergency brought to an end, and this requires an effective national public health agency.”
Increased friction between the White House and the CDC was predictable as President Trump, who often takes a dim view of scientific expertise, campaigns to revive the moribund economy.
But White House officials also said they are frustrated by what they consider the agency’s balky flow of data and information, the leak of an early version of the CDC’s reopening recommendations, and the agency’s crucial early failure to create and roll out a test for the virus, according to three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal disagreements.
Last month, the government awarded an unusual $10.2 million contract to a Pittsburgh information technology company, TeleTracking Technologies, to collect data on available hospital beds, hospital capacity, covid-19 patients and deaths caused by the coronavirus — information it already receives from the CDC.
The White House-led task force also is sparring with public health experts, inside and outside the CDC, about whether covid-19 death counts collected and disseminated by the CDC are inflated.
Some in the White House, including coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah L. Birx and Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows,have begun to take aim at the leadership and communication skills of the CDC’s director, Robert Redfield.
“We should be thought partners,” one official said. “The CDC is not fulfilling requests, they’re not collaborating and they’re disorganized. They’re not speaking with one voice.”
One senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss these problems, said the soft-spoken, deeply religious Redfield has few allies in the rough-and- tumble internal politics of the Trump administration. During a task force meeting last week, he apologized for the leak of the reopening recommendations from his agency, an earnest gesture seen by others as a sign of weakness.
“He just has no power over his agency. He has no loyal politicals. He is a man on an island,” that person said.
Redfield did himself no favors with Trump’s inner circle when he told The Washington Post on April 21 that a second wave of covid-19 disease this winter could be more challenging than the first because it will coincide with flu season. Redfield was forced to appear at a White House briefing that day to soften his remarks, after Trump surprised the agency by publicly demanding a new statement.
A spokeswoman for the CDC declined to answer questions for this story. Most officials who agreed to discuss the tensions between the White House and the agency asked for anonymity to address sensitive relations between government agencies.
Trump spokesman Judd Deere said “the White House and CDC have been working together in partnership since the very beginning of this pandemic to carry out the president’s highest priority: the health and safety of the American public. The CDC is the nation’s trusted health protection agency and its infectious disease and public health experts have helped deliver critical solutions throughout this pandemic to save lives.
“We encourage all Americans to continue to follow the CDC’s guidelines as state and local leaders implement the president’s data-driven phased approach to responsibly opening up America.”
In task force meetings, however, Birx hasquestioned whether the CDC death count is inflated. In early April, the agency revised its methodology to include deaths probably attributable to covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, along with fatalities confirmed by laboratory tests. Supporters of the president have publicly expressed the same doubts.
During a task force meeting early this month, a heated discussion broke out between Birx and Redfield over the CDC’s system for tracking virus data, according to four people present for the discussion or later briefed on it.
“There is nothing from the CDC that I can trust,” Birx said, according to two of the people.
Experts such as Anthony S. Fauci, the task force’s top infectious disease specialist, have said the number of covid-19 fatalities is likely undercounted.
Fauci took that position publicly at a Senate hearing Tuesday. Asked by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) about whether the official death toll — listed at more than 85,000 Friday — was 50 percent too low, Fauci said: “I’m not sure, Senator Sanders, if it’s going to be 50 percent higher. But most of us feel that the number of deaths are likely higher than that number.”
In an interview, Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, said he is also confident the number of U.S. covid-19 deaths is undercounted.
“I think the evidence points to the fact that we’re underestimating rather than overestimating,” said Anderson, whose agency is part of the CDC. “The system is designed to collect data on causes of death, not on whatever condition the person might have had.”
As recently as April 7, Birx took an expansive position on counting covid-19 deaths. At a White House briefing, she said anyone who tests positive for the coronavirus and dies should be counted as a covid-19 death, regardless of whether he or she had underlying conditions.
“The intent is, right now, that … if someone dies with covid-19, we are counting that as a covid-19 death,” she said.
The agency was sidelined soon after Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned the public Feb. 25 that the virus could soon change everyday life dramatically. The stock market plummeted on her remarks, enraging the president as he returned from a trip to India, several senior administration officials have said.
Messonnier, who had played a leading role until then, was moved off the response, sending a chill through the agency, three current and former officials said. The next day, Trump named Vice President Pence head of the task force, replacing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose agency oversees the CDC.
The CDC, which has not held a briefing since early March, has repeatedly asked the White House to resume its sessions for the media, according to two senior administration officials, but has not received permission, and has finally given up.
The White House also pushed back when the CDC recommended that all Americans wear face masks when they go out in public. Aides to Pence were particularly resistant, only wanting to demand masks in “hot spot” areas. Trump undermined the advice when he announced it, saying he would not comply.
More conflict has accompanied the White House’s delay in moving on the detailed CDC recommendations that describe how houses of worship, schools, day care facilities and other places might safely reopen. Top officials viewed those guidelines as overly prescriptive and many of them were challenged during a robust editing process that involved the task force, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Domestic Policy Council.
Now, as Trump has promised a reignited economy heading into the November election, the CDC is in the awkward position of producing the information Trump wants least — the reminder that the covid-19 death rate has plateaued at nearly 2,000 per day.
The government may be pursuing other ways to collect information through its contract with TeleTracking, which has not previously been reported.
On March 29, Pence wrote to hospital administrators across the country, instructing them to file daily reports on the spread of covid-19 to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, which collects information on health care-associated infections and other issues.
The network’s website has two new “modules” that hospitals and long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, can use to report critical information about patients, staffing and beds. The section for long-term care facilities also offers a spot for reporting on supplies and personal protective equipment.
“The data we are now asking you to report is necessary in monitoring the spread of severe covid-19 illness and death, as well as the impact to hospitals,” Pence wrote.
But on April 6, public records show, the government hired TeleTracking to do some of the same things. The $10.2 million, six-month contract, which was not competitively bid, requires the company to set up a “covid-19 rapid deployment plan for real-time healthcare system capacity reporting,” according to a copy of the contract listed on the Federal Procurement Data System website.
The company was hired by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
On April 10, Azar wrote to hospital administrators again, offering them several options for reporting daily information: via TeleTracking, through the CDC site, straight to HHS through an IT vendor or by publishing it on the hospital’s website.
“The completeness, accuracy and timeliness of the data will inform the covid-19 task force decisions on capacity and resource needs to ensure a fully coordinated effort across America,” Azar wrote.
An HHS spokeswoman said not every hospital was using the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network and the addition of TeleTracking is capturing additional data.
“Both TeleTracking and CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) are tools to help hospitals input data in to HHSProtect,” the agency’s new “streamlined data collection platform,” she said in a statement.
Information from across the federal government, state, local and tribal governments, health care facilities, and colleges and universities is used to “gain insight into how COVID-19 is spreading, and how the federal government can best apply resources to mitigate and prevent spread,” she said.
Chris Johnson, president of TeleTracking, said his company was hired to help HHS collect more data on the capacity and availability of beds in U.S. hospitals, as well as about covid-19 cases.
“My belief is that, given the fragmented nature of health care, there are people that report in many different ways,” Johnson said. “And what they’re trying to do is reach as many as possible.” He said more than 4,000 hospitals are using TeleTracking to report their daily data.
Richard J. Jackson, a professor emeritus at the University of California at Los Angeles’s Fielding School of Public Health, who also worked at the CDC, said it is “unprecedented that you’d set up a competing system separate from the CDC. To set up a competing process to do this would appear to really undermine the CDC.”
The decision to award the contract was not made at the coronavirus task force level and was not briefed to the task force, said two people with knowledge of the regular meetings.
But the adviser and a senior administration official said Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and many of his allies do not trust government agencies and prefer to work with officials in the private sector.
Former Department of Justice Deputy Director of Public Affairs Ian Prior told Fox News Friday that the missing FBI report on a crucial interview of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is “a big issue.”
“This reminds of, sort of, the missing tapes in Watergate, which I think this scandal probably is more inflammatory than,” Prior told “America’s Newsroom.”
Late Thursday, President Trump inquired on Twitter about the fate of the so-called 302 report on the FBI’s interview with Flynn at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017.
House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Fox Business‘ Maria Bartiromo last week on “Sunday Morning Futures” that the original 302 document — which typically summarizes witness interviews with agents — was “missing.”
“It’s gone. Poof. It’s out of — we can’t find it,” he said.
Nunes claimed the original interview report was written and transcribed and recalled FBI sources telling him, “Look, there’s nothing to see here, Flynn wasn’t lying.”
“So we knew this at the beginning of 2017, so you can imagine my astonishment when it began to leak out in the press that General Flynn was being busted for lying to the FBI,” he said. “And that, that’s what the Mueller team — the dirty Mueller team — that’s what they were going to bust him on.
“And I told people at the highest levels of the FBI and the DOJ, I said, ‘What are you doing here?’ Like, we have, on the record, from the highest-level people that he didn’t lie to the FBI,” he said.
Prior said Friday that he can’t imagine the original 302 document was mislaid as a “mistake.”
“We’re talking about the most high-profile investigation in the history of the FBI and to lose a 302 like that, it just doesn’t seem likely to me,” he said. “It seems to me that this was something that was intentionally lost.”
Flynn’s attorney has asserted that separate handwritten interview notes drafted by since-fired FBI agent Peter Strzok and another agent are inconsistent with one another, as well as with the final FBI 302 that underpinned Flynn’s guilty plea to one count of making false statements to investigators.
Although the government has insisted that the FBI’s after-the-fact edits to the 302 report were “largely grammatical and stylistic,” Flynn’s lawyer argued that they were in fact highly substantive and improper alterations that inaccurately made it appear that Flynn had issued blanket denials to agents’ questions.
Lawyers for Tara Reade, who has come forward to accuse Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her when she worked on his Senate staff in 1993, want her to be able to review the former veep’s records stored at the University of Delaware.
They specifically want access to a request for sexual harassment counseling they said Reade recalls filing with the Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices shortly after the alleged attack, which Biden denies took place.
“We represent Tara Reade and write, pursuant to Delaware’s Right to Inspect Personnel Files Act, to request that Ms. Reade be permitted to inspect any personnel files/documents related to her employment with Vice President Biden as a member of the staff of his United States Senate office,” lawyers for Wigdor LLP wrote to Biden and Laure Bachich Ergin, vice president and general counsel at the University of Delaware, where his records are archived.non
“While Biden continues to claim that the sexual assault ‘never happened’ and that he doesn’t even recall Ms. Reade, he steadfastly refuses to search his records currently housed at the University of Delaware,” said Douglas Wigdor, a partner in the firm.
“If he has nothing to hide, he should immediately consent to our request and permit a search for any records concerning Ms. Reade. If he does not, we will be forced to take next steps to vindicate our client’s rights.”
Biden in a May 1 letter to the university asked that any records regarding Reade be located and released, but none has been forthcoming.
Reade said in a recent interview with Megyn Kelly that Biden pinned her against a wall and said, “I want to f–k you.”
“He had his hands underneath my clothes, and it happened all at once, so when I tell about it, it’s hard because so many things were happening at once, it’s like my brain was trying to catch up to what was happening,” she said.
EXCLUSIVE: The number of migrants in custody at the border has plunged from the tens of thousands detained last year to just over 100 now, the head of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told Fox News this week.
“As for our custody numbers, as of May 10, we now have approximately 117 people in our custody as opposed to the 20,000 individuals we had back in May of 2019,” Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said. “Can you imagine if we had 20,000 individuals in our custody today in the middle of this global health pandemic?”
The U.S. saw a surge of migrants at the border peaking in April and May last year, sparking a crisis that led to detention centers being overwhelmed. The administration introduced a number of policies to limit the number of migrants at the border, and to reduce pull factors bringing migrants north.
Perhaps the most significant was the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) — known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy — which saw migrants seeking asylum sent back to Mexico to await their immigration hearings. Agreements with Northern Triangle countries — Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras — and the border wall are also seen as factors, in turn lowering apprehensions and detentions.
When the coronavirus hit the U.S. earlier this year, the Trump administration introduced additional measures — including travel restrictions at the land border and giving CBP the ability to immediately turn back illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers.
“This strategy has kept a potentially vast number of migrants from overwhelming our healthcare systems along the border,” Morgan told Fox News in a response to written questions. “And our Border Patrol agents are seeing fewer people attempt to cross the border illegally. In fact, CBP’s encounters with migrant individuals have dropped to approximately 500 a day.”
He added: “This not only limits the exposure of CBP employees and the American public to individuals with potentially infectious diseases, but it allows for U.S. medical facilities to focus on our population in need of medical care.”
The administration has faced calls from some Democrats, pro-immigrant activists and even the United Nations to limit or even suspend immigration detention as part of its response to the crisis.
The U.N. Network on Migration said this month: “The Network calls on States to introduce a moratorium on the use of immigration detention; to scale up and implement non-custodial community-based alternatives; to release all migrants in detention into alternatives, following strict safeguards and prioritizing children, families and other migrants in vulnerable situations; and to urgently improve overall conditions in places of immigration detention while we transition to alternatives.”
But such calls come with risks that releasing migrants into the interior could encourage a new wave to travel to the border, amid ongoing concerns about containing the spread of the coronavirus. Last month, an illegal immigrant from India tested positive for the virus at the border.
Morgan said that CBP would not have been able to cope if the numbers were the same as they were in May 2019.
“CBP does not have the facilities or necessary medical services to confront the pandemic at that level of in-custody numbers. We rely on state and local healthcare systems that would then be overwhelmed and counter to the domestic ‘flatten-the-curve’ approach that we have been advised to take,” he said. “The administration’s travel restriction policies are working and have served to protect the migrants themselves, CBP agents and officers, and the American public.”
The Air Force Thunderbirds put on quite a show Friday with an aerial salute to those on the front lines of the battle against the coronavirus.
Six F-16C/D Fighting Falcons flew in formation across parts of Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Ventura and Riverside counties throughout the day to honor first responders, healthcare workers, members of the military and others.
Across the region, hospital workers in scrubs went outside to see the salute to their service on the front lines of coronavirus. And they were not the only ones. From Chula Vista to the San Fernando Valley, people took a break from stay-at-home rules to venture out to look at the spectacle.
The U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds fly in formation over the downtown Los Angeles skyline, as seen from Angel’s Point in Elysian Park.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
At County USC Medical Center, the planes roared by so quickly that some workers struggled to get photos. They appaluded after the jets passed by. Within a minute, the jets blasted past Cedar Sinai Medical Center. Then within in minute or so, the planes skirted through Los Angeles International Airport.
TV reporters covered the scene at hospital across the Southland. They noted that many doctor, nurses and other workers raced back to their life-saving work moments have the planes flew by.
Next, it was on to Newport Beach, then up into Orange County. In a split second, the plane passed over Disneyland — closed because of coronavirus — before headed to the Inland Empire. The final legs went over Santa Clarita and Ventura County.
“I think just if you can give that little bit of support and inspiration to all these medical workers and essential personnel, the people that are fighting for us on our absolute worst day, then it’s totally worth it,” Major Zane Taylor, one of the pilots, told KTLA.
Thanks @AFThunderbirds for the flyover today @UCSDHealth Sorrento Valley clinic and all of San Diego hospitals to salute health care workers. Thanks for making our day! Ps: not obvious from my photo but we are wearing masks and socially distanced! pic.twitter.com/oLbU8LCkHX
Four California Air National Guard F-15C Eagle fighter jets soar over hospitals and medical centers, fire stations and government buildings in Fresno.
The Thunderbirds are collaborating with the Navy’s Blue Angels and local Air National Guard units to stage similar spectacles as part of a nationwide show of solidarity and support for COVID-19 responders dubbed America Strong.
Southland residents posting pictures or videos to social media are encouraged to use the hashtags #AmericaStrong and #Thunderbirds.
“It is an honor for our team to salute the countless Californians who have committed to keeping the communities safe during this difficult time in our nation,” said Lt. Col. John Caldwell, Thunderbirds commander and leader. “We hope to give onlookers a touching display of American resolve that honors those serving on the front line in our fight against COVID-19.”
Times staff writer Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.
The city is beginning to prepare for a long hot summer with closed beaches and residents remaining locked inside under stay-at-home orders, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday, warning that this summer will be very different from years past.
Barbecues, picnics, ball games and days at the beach or by the pool, all the activities New Yorkers love about summer, are going to be different “for the foreseeable future,” de Blasio said at his daily press briefing.
“This is going to be a different summer than any summer we’ve experienced in the history of New York City,” de Blasio said.
The city is preparing for the upcoming hot weather, which reached historic high temperatures last year, as it continues to follow strict social-distancing guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The city is trying to reduce cases enough to meet the state’s phase one reopening plan.
This weekend, de Blasio said the city will enhance patrols at the Rockaways, Coney Island and Orchard Beach, saying that beaches and pools are “not in the cards right now” and the city is working toward providing “misting oases” in seating areas as an alternative. Sports venues, auditoriums and other large venues may also be turned into cooling centers, he said.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced shortly after de Blasio’s daily press briefing that the state’s beaches would reopen for Memorial Day weekend, but the city’s beaches will remain closed, said de Blasio spokeswoman Jane Meyer. Cuomo said local jurisdictions had the right to keep their beaches closed if they felt it wasn’t safe.
“We are reviewing the guidelines the Governor laid out and will make all decisions based on the safety of New Yorkers,” Meyer said in an email. “Beaches will not open on Memorial Day, but we are putting plans into place so that we can open beaches this summer if it’s safe.”
Rockaway Beach, Coney Island Beach and Orchard Beach, among others, are part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and typically open on Memorial Day weekend, according the NYC Parks website.
New York City officials plan to spend $55 million to provide approximately 74,000 air conditioners to all low-income seniors, de Blasio said. He said the city will also expand subsidies on summer utility bills, which could skyrocket in the summer months as residents continue to stay at home.
“You remember those particularly hot days, it’s not only uncomfortable, it’s not only going to be a challenge in terms of social distancing and everything else we’re dealing with, it can be dangerous,” de Blasio said.
He added that these measures may not last through the entire summer, and health officials continue to make decisions on a day-by-day basis.
“We’ll see what the future brings but not right now,” de Blasio said.
New York City has already canceled concerts, festivals and parades, including the 2020 Pride march, through June as the city seeks to drive down its coronavirus infection rate.
While New York City’s annual Fourth of July celebration will go on “one way or another,” he said, the city is deliberating how and where fireworks will be held.
Cuomo extended the state’s stay-at-home order on Friday to regions that haven’t met the seven criteria required to begin a phased reopening, he said. New York City has only met four the seven metrics.
On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said that his city is “clearly not ready yet.”
Aides and reporters wore face masks at President Trump’s Rose Garden briefing as part of new safety measures.
Wochit
WASHINGTON – Ivanka Trump, daughter and senior adviser to President Donald Trump, says she wears a mask at the White House, and that’s one reason the president doesn’t have to.
“There are different procedures as it relates to interacting with the president,” Ivanka Trump told USA TODAY on Thursday when asked about criticism her father has received for declining to wear a mask in public.
The president “is tested on a daily basis – all those who come into contact with him are tested on a daily basis,” she said in an interview. “No one is in close proximity to him that isn’t wearing a mask.”
She added: “I always wear a mask when I am with the president, and everyone is instructed to do so as well.”
As has happened on previous trips, Trump was notably among the few people not wearing a mask during a tour of a medical supply distributor Thursday in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The president has come under criticism for largely ignoring recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advises Americans to wear masks in public and to self-quarantine after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Last week, the White House implemented new safety measures after two aides tested positive for the coronavirus and three members of the coronavirus task force entered quarantine after attending meetings with one of the staff members diagnosed with the virus.
The West Wing has mandated that anyone who is in close proximity to the president be tested daily, and aides are required to wear masks when they are not at their desks.
Trump came under scrutiny during a similar visit earlier this month to a Honeywell facility that produces N-95 masks in Phoenix. He was not wearing a mask but later told reporters he wore a mask “back stage” before he was told it was not necessary.
Ivanka Trump said she has confidence that White House guidelines protect both the president and Vice President Mike Pence from illness.
She also said she feels safe working in the office because “we’ve all been following the advice and guidance of the White House physicians and the CDC guidelines.”
Trump, who on Friday kicks off a new food distribution program, said she and other staff members are fighting the coronavirus crisis in a safe and responsible way.
“We’re focused on, obviously keeping one another safe and healthy and practicing social distancing, and being responsible in all of our actions,” Trump said. “But we’re also focused on the very important work that needs to be done.”
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How does coronavirus enter the body, and why does it become fatal for some compared to just a cough or fever for others?
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A specially formulated antimicrobial coating can keep surfaces clear of a human coronavirus for up to 90 days with just one application, a preliminary study said Friday, suggesting a new line of defense against COVID-19.
The paper by researchers at the University of Arizona (UA), which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the amount of virus on coated surfaces reduced by 90 percent in 10 minutes and by 99.9 percent in two hours.
Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at UA who was the study’s senior author, told AFP the technology was “the next advancement in infection control.”
“I think it’s mostly important for high-use surfaces like subways and buses, because you could disinfect them but then the next people that come in there will recontaminate the surfaces,” he said.
“It’s not a substitute for regular cleaning and disinfecting, but it covers you in between regular disinfecting and cleaning.”
The UA team tested a coating specifically designed to act against viruses that was developed by the company Allied BioScience, which also funded their study.
The researchers carried out their testing on human coronavirus 229E, which is similar in structure and genetics to SARS-CoV-2 but causes only mild cold symptoms and was therefore safer to use.
The coating works by “denaturing” the virus’ proteins — effectively twisting them out of shape — and attacking its protective layer of fat.
The colorless substance is sprayed on surfaces, and has to be reapplied every three to four months.
The technology behind so-called self-disinfecting coatings has been around for almost a decade, and has previously been used in hospitals to fight against the spread of infection, including against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
A 2019 paper by UA researchers found that coatings reduced hospital-acquired infections by 36 percent.
Gerba said that as a university professor, he and colleagues had been discussing ways to make their environment safer for students when they return from lockdowns, and antimicrobial coatings on door handles and table tops would be useful.
“There’s a lot of them being developed right now, but hopefully when we start opening everything, they’ll be ready.”
Like several states before it, Virginia is slowly allowing certain businesses and services that had been shuttered weeks before to re-open or allow more customers inside, but with restrictions. You’ll likely notice more mask-wearing, more space, more cleaning.
Here’s our guide to what can reopen (outdoor dining areas at restaurants, outdoor fitness classes, indoor shooting ranges, salons, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, churches, campgrounds, farmers markets) and not (indoor sports and fitness centers, indoor dining areas, overnight summer camps, theaters, concert venues, museums, zoos, aquariums, racetracks or satellite wagering facilities, bowling alleys, skating rinks, trampoline parks, arts and crafts venues, escape rooms, “and all other places of indoor amusement.”) during this first phase.
And here are the specifics in the state guidelines (such as: what kind of cleaning is required, what spacing is necessary, etc.)
Keep checking here to see what’s happening.
5:54 p.m: Forward Williamsburg plan details city’s steps in reopening public facilities
The City of Williamsburg unveiled its plan to safely reopen public facilities in a Friday news release.
City Manager Andrew Trivette announced his five-phase plan to city staff Monday, after Gov. Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 61 which outlines the state’s first phase to ease some of the restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic. The “Forward Virginia” plan released by Gov. Northam on April 24 provides a process for reopening the state.
The “Forward Williamsburg” plan, as it is called in the memo to city staff on Monday, “includes protections deemed necessary to help control the risk of infection to the public and our employees.”
All city staff was tested for COVID-19 on Thursday and “had the opportunity to be tested to see if they have previously contracted the disease,” according to the release.
“Our plan is based on current conditions and what we think the process should be to keep residents and workers safe while still providing vital City services,” Trivette said in an email.
There are five phases to the Forward Williamsburg plan. The city is in Phase 0 of the plan as of Friday, and is expected to move into Phase 1 on Monday, according to an email from interim city spokesman Steve Roberts Jr. The city will move to new phases based on guidance from the governor and the Virginia Department of Health and will be announced by Trivette.
“The plan does give us the ability to deviate as needed for local conditions and adapt to meet the needs of residents who need public services,” Trivette said in an email Friday. “It is important to note that the City’s plan only impacts public facilities and has no bearing on private business operations.”
4:47 p.m: Chesapeake expedites permits for outdoor seating
Chesapeake is offering an expedited permit process for restaurants seeking additional outdoor seating.
The city announced Friday that it would be offering the temporary outdoor permits at no cost. Those seeking a tent permit will need to pay if the tent is larger than 900 square feet.
Outdoor seating is not allowed to affect fire lanes or handicapped parking.
4:01 p.m: Northam: Health, labor officials ready to crack down on business coronavirus violations
Virginians worried that going back to work as the state gradually reopens puts them at risk need to know state officials have their back, Gov. Ralph Northam said.
The Virginia Department of Health and the state’s Department of Labor and Industry will shut down businesses that aren’t following safety guidelines. Employees and customers should feel free to tell those departments if they see violations, Northam said Friday, in a briefing on the state’s effort to contain the virus on the day Virginia’s stay at home order was eased in most of the state.
“Today is a big day for us,” Northam said.
“We’re all in this together … we need to continue to do things that we’ve been doing all along, the social, physical distancing, the hand-washing, the wearing of facial protection. If we all work together, we can head in the right direction,” he said.
3:30 p.m: Gov. Northam to make announcement about beaches next week
On Friday, Gov. Ralph Northam said he planned to make an announcement on Monday about the restrictions that have been placed on beaches. Right now, people can only exercise and fish at the beach. Sunbathing is not allowed.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer remains hopeful that Northam will allow the city to open its beaches by Memorial Day.
The city submitted a proposal to reopen the beaches to the governor earlier this month. Dyer said staff for the city and the governor will keep working on the plan over the weekend until an agreement can be reached. Northam said he is proud of the city’s plan because it prioritizes safety.
“Ultimately, whatever we do, safety from the virus is the importance,” Dyer said. “We want people to know when we do start our phased opening of the beach, it will be safe.”
3:15 p.m.: Williamsburg/Busch Gardens Area Kampgrounds of America opens for camping
The Williamsburg/Busch Gardens area KOA is one of over 520 open-to-the-public KOA campgrounds in the Kampgrounds of America system in the U.S. and Canada, and it’s now open again.
“Campground staff are eager to welcome our guests for another season of camping,” said Kampgrounds of America President and CEO Toby O’Rourke. “We’ve been helping our locally owned locations with tools to ensure guests and staff can safely kick back and relax at their favorite campgrounds.”
Some campground amenities such as the pool, splash pad, gravity rail, playground and activity room are closed at this time to respect social distancing and local government recreation recommendations.
To make reservations, please call Williamsburg/Busch Gardens Area KOA at (757) 565-2907 or by visiting their website.
3:07 p.m.: COVID-19 forces change of venue for Tuesday’s City Council election
Williamsburg voters will vote from their car seats for the May City Council general election scheduled for Tuesday.
The election was previously scheduled for May 5, until Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order postponed elections by two weeks because of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result of the pandemic, the physical voting locations for the Matoaka and Stryker precincts have been consolidated to a single, vehicle drive-thru system at the Williamsburg Fire Department, located at 440 N. Boundary St.
Director of Elections Tina Reitzel admitted that these are “unusual” circumstances for voters, but also emphasized that the Office of Elections is following all guidance and laws to ensure that the City Council general election is conducted safely and efficiently.
“We are protecting both ourselves and the voters,” Reitzel said. “We are thinking of all the safety precautions for everyone involved. Those extra precautions are something that we take seriously, and we are going to continue to do (them), not only now but going forward.”
According to a city news release, voters will drive into the second entrance to the municipal building parking lot, then drive through the back parking lot and toward the fire station. They’ll stop at Armistead Avenue, where an elections officer will direct them to the appropriate line for their voting precinct.
The Matoaka and Stryker voting precincts will be split between the two bays of the fire station. Elections officers will assist voters in their vehicles, and all voters need to present ID before voting.
Voters will remain in their vehicles while they fill out their ballots, then hand their ballots to an elections officer, “who will put the ballot in a ballot counting machine within eyesight of each voter,” the news release states. A privacy envelope will also be available to any voter upon request.
3:00 p.m.: Gyms –Something borrowed, now returned as crossfit classes restart
After holding classes online for weeks, Somnium Crossfit is opening its Norfolk gym back up on Friday, even though patrons still aren’t allowed inside. As mandated by the first phase of reopening guidelines, all classes and open gym exercise will take place outdoors at the Avenue J location.
Gym owner Austin Mitchell said the business is taking several other safety precautions, like sanitizing equipment before and after use, limiting hourly time slots to 10 members at a time and asking members to wear masks during workouts. Mitchell said he was confident his staff would be able to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Even with all the extra hurdles, Mitchell said the members he has spoken with are eager to return. He even saw a few of them in person on Wednesday as they returned the equipment that they had borrowed for home workouts.
“They’ve been counting down the days to come back,” he said.
1:48 p.m.: Patrick Henry Mall reopens
Dozens of people lined up outside the main entrance of Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News before it opened for the first time in months Friday morning.
Some stores, including the major department stores like Dillard’s and JCPenny, were still closed. But over 50 stores and restaurants at the mall opened their doors Friday, with more scheduled in the coming weeks.
There were lines inside the mall too as stores restricted the number of people inside at a time. Some of the longest lines were at shoe and apparel stores like DTLR, where John Outsey was waiting for a chance to buy shoes.
Mall employees gave out masks and sanitizing wipes at the mall’s entrances, although some people still weren’t wearing masks inside. An employee at DTLR told customers in line that masks were required inside their store, which lead Outsey to go back to one of the entrances to grab a mask.
“I’m a shoe fanatic,” Outsey said. “I just want to buy some shoes.”
All of the tables were gone in the food court, although a few tables remained in other spots in the mall. Most of the food stalls throughout the mall were open and had at least a few customers picking up pretzels, cinnamon rolls and drinks.
Corey and Morgan Jennings stopped at Chik-Fil-A in the food court to pick up food with their son after encountering the lines at the stores.
“We came out to get shoes, but we didn’t want to wait,” Morgan Jennings said.
She is a respiratory therapist at Riverside Regional Medical Center and Corey Jennings works at the shipyard, so they haven’t had much time outside of working hours to get out. They were excited to have a chance to get out and felt safe at the mall.
“It’s pretty good,” Corey Jennings said. “It looks like they’ve got a plan in place.”
1:55 p.m.: Lynnhaven Mall reopens, while most of its stores remain closed
Lynnhaven Mall, though open, still had most of its stores shuttered Friday, their grates pulled down and lights off.
An employee offers masks to those who enter the mall without one, and signs everywhere urge visitors to maintain social distancing and “sit smart, 6 ft apart.” One in the bathroom encourages washing your hands “like your mother is watching.”
Still, some people enjoyed eating on the outdoor patio of Maggie McFly’s or shopping through the clearance rack at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
1:40 p.m.: Employees at Virginia Beach restaurant take precautions amid Virginia’s reopening
At Virginia Beach’s Town Center and the Pembroke Mall across the way, activity was still pretty muted around lunchtime Friday, though some businesses showed signs of life. The doors to stores including Anthropologie were propped open to indicate they’re open for business, while others still had signs up of their closure.
Over at Cantina Laredo, it was the first day in months that the restaurant could utilize its three outdoor patios, said operations manager Niraj Patel.
The eatery is taking cleaning and screening seriously: employees get their temperatures taken before coming in and wear masks and gloves, and the entire facility, including the bathroom, is wiped down and sanitized every half hour.
“Everything that could be cleaned, we clean it,” Patel said. “That’s our main priority … from the pens that are used in the restaurant to the door handles.”
Customers are also allowed to choose where they sit, he said. All tables are at least 6 feet apart, and overall the patios can only host half of their capacity. Menus are also disposable.
There’s been a pretty steady number of customers so far for lunch Friday, the first meal for which it was open for dine-in business. And the “phone has been ringing for tonight,” Patel added.
“The customers have been very happy,” he said. “We’ll do everything we can to make them feel comfortable.”
1:21 p.m.: William & Mary to hold virtual commencement ceremony Saturday
The College of William & Mary is inviting the community to join its Class of 2020 graduates for the university’s first-ever virtual commencement ceremony online Saturday.
The day was previously reserved for this year’s in-person commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, that ceremony will now be held during fall break, Oct. 9-11.
President Katherine Rowe, Chancellor Robert Gates, Provost Peggy Agouris and the deans will instead preside over a virtual ceremony for all Class of 2020 graduates this weekend. All students who have completed their graduation requirements will receive their diplomas via mail, following Saturday’s “virtual conferral,” according to the William & Mary website.
In the latest “Community Conversations” video posted online Wednesday, Rowe said that this virtual ceremony is meant to be “joyful,” “personal,” “inclusive” and “different” — while also acknowledging “the significance of this moment for William & Mary and for our nation.”
“Help us celebrate the extraordinary Class of 2020, and mark what will be a historic moment for William & Mary,” she said.
1:06 p.m.: The Adventure Park in Virginia Beach reopens as an outdoor exercise facility
The Adventure Park, an “outdoor adventure playground” associated with but run independently of the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, was back up and running as of Friday morning, said Candie Fisher, vice president of sales and marketing for the park.
Though museums and entertainment or amusement businesses must remain closed in Virginia under Phase 1, Fisher said the park is opening as an outdoor exercise facility.
“It’s a good opportunity for people to get outside,” she said. “When we sent out the announcement people were very excited.”
Your experience at the park, however, won’t look the same right now.
The facility is only accepting about half of its normal capacity, and requires face coverings and physical distancing.
“We’re on 5 acres, so there’s a lot of room” for physical distancing, she said.
It’s only doing contactless transactions and equipment — which includes metal cables, not ropes — is disinfected after each use, including steam cleaning of harnesses.
There’s been a “flurry” of calls for this weekend, but the park’s not booked up yet, Fisher said. The facility strongly encourages booking ahead on its website.
1:00 p.m.: Local restaurants add outdoor seating to accommodate diners
Diners eat at Perfectly Frank in Chesapeake on Friday, May 15, 2020.(Gordon Rago)
By Friday late morning, some were able to find a spot to dine outdoors.
Perfectly Frank, a hot dog joint in the Edinburgh Shopping Center in Chesapeake, had four small round tables with four chairs each set up in the parking lot.
Owner Dever Clevinger used caution tape and cones to section off the seating across three parking spaces directly in front.
A post on the business’s Facebook page about the table set up said, “did someone say parking lot party?!?” and that they were excited to get their customers back. For weeks, the business has been doing to-go orders but has kept their employees working.
Clevinger said she simply set the tables up herself before opening at 10:30 a.m. She said she wasn’t aware of an expedited process the Virginia Alcoholic and Beverage Authority released information about on Wednesday, allowing businesses to expand outdoor dining options.
Clevinger said that the rules have been changing every day and that she would “wait and see” if the city says anything to her about her parking lot dining area.
The ABC process allows businesses to create outdoor dining in places like parking lots and sidewalks but with written approval of the city they are located as well as a drawn up diagram of the area.
Clevinger, who said she wasn’t selling alcohol outside, says her loyal customers have helped keep her 13-year business afloat over the last several weeks.
Perfectly Frank has been there the longest out of the other businesses nearby, including a Great Clips hair salon which on Friday midday had a short line of customers waiting outside for appointments.
1:00 p.m.: Some local houses of worship reopen at limited capacity, while others delay
Catholics throughout the Diocese of Richmond will resume celebrating Mass in their parishes the weekend of May 23, according to a news release from the diocese.
Celebration of Masses had been suspended since March 22.
“We have been in the diocese planning for some time to find ways to provide the sacraments and Masses but with limitations to keep the safety and well-being of all in consideration,” said Bishop Barry C. Knestout in the release. “We expect a gradual opening due to the size and difference of our parishes within each locality and given individual parish circumstances,”
Guidelines were sent to priests on May 13 by the diocese’s office of preparation to remind them about social distancing of six feet and face coverings by all congregants ages three and older.
Currently, Bishop Knestout continues to dispense Catholics from the obligation of attending Mass on Sundays and holy days due to Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive order and capacity limit.
He also noted that on Thursday, local leaders in Richmond and Accomack County requested a two-week delay to enter phase 1 until Friday, May 29, 2020.
“Bishop Knestout is directing all parishes located in the City of Richmond and the County of Accomack to delay moving to Phase 1 Reopening until the Sunday Vigil Mass on Saturday, May 30, 2020,” the release said. “This includes delaying offering public Masses. This affects approximately 10 parishes in Richmond City and two on the Eastern Shore of Accomack Co.”
The Mosque and Islamic Center of Hampton Roads on Tide Mill Lane also said it will delay reopening. It serves 3,000 Muslims around Hampton Roads, and did not open for Friday midday services like it normally would.
12:55 p.m.: Restaurants — Not everyone is eager to open their patios to business
Just because restaurants and businesses can open or expand today doesn’t mean they will, and the decision doesn’t appear to be an easy one. Owners have had to wrestle with a host of conflicting issues and feelings. Some need to rehire workers as part of small business loans that have to be spent within eight weeks but those workers are likely earning more on unemployment through the end of July thanks to a federal government stimulus or may feel at risk coming back to work. Do you hire them back, cutting their income back down, and potentially put them in harm’s way? Plus, what will they do if the business isn’t yet operating at full capacity?
Chef Courtney White chats with a customer from the open kitchen of her Norfolk restaurant Blanca Food & Wine on Wednesday, December 11, 2019.(Stephen M. Katz)
That’s partly what kept Courtney White, the owner and chef at Blanca in Norfolk’s Riverview neighborhood, up at night. In less than 24 hours she went from planning to open her patio to customers Friday, to deciding not to. “We are ready. We want to party. But I can’t escape this nagging feeling in my gut,” she wrote in a message posted to the restaurant’s Instagram page Thursday. Noting the additional cases of COVID-19 reported by the state as well as the looks on her worried staff’s faces, she decided against reopening. “We’re all treading water in new territory. I don’t know what the answer is, but I think I need more time. I think Virginia needs more time to see our cases decrease,” she wrote.
It was shortly after noon on Thursday, when she had gotten three calls for dinner reservations, and realized the timing just didn’t feel right.
“It would be a real shame if I felt somebody got sick because we, you know, had to serve people on our patio two weeks earlier than we should have,” she said Friday by phone.
“I certainly don’t blame people for wanting to open either,” she said. “This is what made sense for me.”
Taste Unlimited which has several locations across Hampton Roads made a similar decision to stick with curbside pickup and delivery but to keep their patios closed to dining in, for now. In a Facebook post, the company said, “As much as we would love to see and serve you all on our stores’ premises, our top priority remains the health and safety of our team and guests.”
Mango Mangeux, A Simply Panache Bistro, in Hampton plans to do reservations only for its patio and rooftop seating, but won’t start that until next week, or later.
“We’ll do that next week when everyone feels good about it, our leadership and staff,” co-owner Lakesha Brown-Renfro said Friday. “I know there is going to be a lot of rules to reopen and we are not in a rush. We want to make sure everyone is comfortable.”
Renfro co-owns several hospitality businesses under the “Simply Panache” brand, most of which have been closed since March. The company has relied on takeout orders and selling its signature mango preserves product to survive.
“We have a robust enough curbside business,” Renfro said.
Hampton officials on Thursday announced plans to close portions of Mellen Street and Queens Way, where clusters of restaurants are to help accommodate owners who need space to offer outdoor seating. Street closures would not take place until likely next weekend. Restaurants need to secure temporary permits to expand outdoor seating into the streets.
Renfo has had to lay off staff, is planning a job fair to recruit new team members.
Marker 20 on Queens Way in Hampton also posted on Facebook that it would wait until the next phase to reopen.
12:48 p.m.: Folks in York County line up to get haircuts
By 10:30 a.m. Friday, about eight people had gathered outside the Great Clips in the Tabb section of York County, waiting for their turn in the chair.
Noah Burkhard was one of them. After months without a haircut, he was looking forward to a trim, and Great Clips was the only chain he could find open nearby.
“I’m just trying to get a haircut — like everybody else,” Burkhard said.
Great Clips isn’t taking walk-in customers right now, so people who want a hair cut have to check in online first. Burkhard first tried a Great Clips closer to where he lives in Hampton, but when he checked in he was told it would take almost four hours.
Instead, he made the drive to Tabb. After checking in with an employee holding an iPad, he was told it’d take about an hour to get inside.
Some of the customers sat in chairs set up by the store outside, all facing the same direction and spaced apart. Burkhard didn’t plan to go anywhere else Friday, except maybe the grocery store.
“It’s hard,” Burkhard said, standing away from the other customers in the shade of a closed UPS store. “A lot of people aren’t doing the social distancing anymore.”
12:34 p.m.: Residents in Smithfield visit local shops and restaurants
Guests dine at Smithfield Gourmet Bakering and Cafe on Friday, May 15, 2020.(Dave Ress)
In Smithfield, the reopening — along with the sunny weather — brought people out to enjoy sandwiches and coffee at Main Street’s several restaurants.
It felt good to have a sit-down for the first time in weeks outside a favorite spot, Smithfield Gourmet Bakering and Cafe, said Jeff Hobbs, owner of Hobbs Mechanical, pausing from his club sandwich and french fries.
Most of Main Street’s stores had closed, even though Gov. Ralph Northam’s emergency orders did allow them to do business as long as fewer than 10 people showed up.
“But I think people were scared to come out,” Hobbs said. “The reopening order, and this nice weather, should change that .. It’s good getting outside. People were getting cabin fever.”
Skyler Epps, who works at the Sew Personal Boutique, a clothing and embroidery shop, was excited to opened for the first time in weeks.
The store’s online business had kept her busy over the past few weeks, but it’s fun to interact with customers.
“It’s been pretty busy,” said Logan Epps, at Smithfield Ice Cream, as he assembled one of its submarine sandwiches for a customer waiting outside.
The restaurant has been open for takeout, but Epps said it’s encoruaging to see people coming by and sitting down outside to eat.
Seaborne’s Barber Shop is asking customers to call ahead to make an appointment, and asks them to wait outside until their barber calls them in.
As at Sew Personal, the barber shop asks customers to wear masks. It also asks that only person per barber be in the shop at any one time.
12:39 p.m.: Hair salon in Norfolk welcomes guests for the first time in weeks
For those in the hair care industry, the last two months have been filled with anxiety and uncertainty: The continual pushing back of appointment dates. Financial worries about how to keep the lights on.
On Friday, Norma Dorey felt grateful. She and her employees at Changes City Spa and Jake’s Place in Norfolk had butterflies in their stomachs, she said. For the first time in weeks, they were able to let clients through their front doors. In a limited capacity, anyway.
Under the governor’s Phase 1 guidelines, salons and barbershops can operate at 50% capacity and by appointment only, with six feet of distance between stations.
Dorey said her businesses were doing all they could to make sure they’re safe for customers and technicians, including staying under 50% occupancy, limiting hours and staggering appointments so there’s plenty of time between clients to fully sanitize work stations and tools. Customers are being asked to stay in their cars when they arrive for appointments, coming inside only when instructed to do so.
And while haircuts, coloring, manicures and pedicures are a go, other services – beard trims, lip waxes, facials and massages – remain on hold.
With customers eager to get long locks trimmed and roots colored, Dorey said the phones had been busy – with more calls than they could service.
“It feels great,” Dorey said. “It’s wonderful. This is what I do; this is what I love.”
11:56 a.m.: Hampton to close Queens Way, Mellen Street to accommodate outdoor seating for restaurants
Hampton plans to close portions of Queens Way in downtown and Mellen Street in Phoebus, as soon as next weekend to give restaurants there more room for outdoor seating.
City Manager Mary Bunting made the announcement Thursday during a Facebook live segment. The time will give restaurant owners time to secure temporary outdoor dining permits.
The Queens Way strip where many restaurants are clustered is narrow and much of the outdoor seating area is limited. Along Mellen Street, the sidewalks also are not very wide.
Applications that restaurant owners would need to fill out are short and will be available on the city’s website Monday, Bunting said.
Restaurants who intend to serve alcohol beverages in the expanded outdoor areas would also need to apply to the Virginia ABC for permits.
Similar opportunities for other businesses to apply for permits to use sidewalks or expanded areas in shopping centers are available, depending on locations, with permission of landlords, Bunting added.
11:41 a.m.: Isle of Wight supervisors approve budget with a coronavirus contingency fund
Bracing for an economic hit from the coronavirus, Isle of Wight County Supervisors voted to hold spending next year essentially at this year’s $79 million level, with just a $380,000 increase.
And, for the seventh year running, there will be no increase in the real estate or personal property tax rates.
The budget reflects County Administrator Randy R. Keaton’s view that his early projections of a $497,000 increase in collections of sales, hotel and meals, made before the coronavirus hit, probably won’t materialize.
He had wanted to use that to pay for a 2% pay increase for county employees and to increase the county’s contribution to the school system by 1.4%, or $388,000.
Keaton had also hoped to add 14 positions in several departments, including six for the Sheriff’s office. Those won’t happen now, although the supervisors could mend the budget if revenues do rise enough.
The board considered but took no action on a request from Sheriff James Clarke to fund an additional school resource officer.
“I think we’re going to have an opportunity after the end of the calendar year to look at where we are … and address some of these priorities,” Vice Chairman Dick Grice said.
“I look out for fat and there’s not a lot of fat in this budget,” he said.
11:37 a.m.: Tattoos — Virginia Beach parlor nervously anticipating reopening, prepares for new normal wearing masks
Gabriel Cece thinks he may have ordered more hand sanitizer from Amazon than anyone ever has in a single order. It’s been part of the preparations to reopen his Studio Evolve Tattoo parlor in Virginia Beach, in addition to buying 300 reusable masks for his staff which includes 20 tattoo artists, and more than 500 disposable masks for customers who don’t bring their own. He also added a camping sink just past the front door so people can wash their hands as soon as they enter. No one will be allowed to wait inside and no friends or family can join a customer. Before getting a tattoo at his shop, customers will need to also fill out a questionnaire, have their temperatures taken with a no-touch thermometer and are asked to call the shop immediately if they come down with any symptoms or test positive in the next 14 days so it can be traced.
“I’m sure there are going to be people who are not going to be thrilled to wear masks,” he said, noting that he had already encountered a passionate online debate started by someone who said his shop would lose customers because of it. It’s a state requirement that all staff and customers in personal grooming services wear masks.
“It’s not going to be fun, but it’s what we have to do. And it’s smart,” Cece said. He doesn’t expect the new accessory to go away anytime soon either. “We’re going to be wearing masks, we’re going to be doing all the right things.”
Cece said many tattoo and piercing shops have been doing the right things for quite some time. It’s a necessity for an industry that can’t have customers catching anything after having been pierced by needles.
“I firmly believe that reputable tattoo shops, who practice aseptic technique and sterile procedure, across the world, will be some of the safest places to be, once we get back into the swing of being humans again,” he said.
There’s nervous anticipation, though, he said with reopening, mainly of the unknowns out of one’s control.
“We’re all excited to get back to work. We’re all really looking forward to be able to pay our bills again,” he said. “Not to be able to do what we do for almost two months, is very difficult. Like every artist, you need any outlet.” That said, though, he doesn’t know a single tattooer who isn’t concerned about returning. There’s is worry, fear and internal conflict. Less than half of his 20 tattoo artists are returning Friday, others will start later. Cece doesn’t plan to do his first tattoo back until after June 10, the governor’s original expiration for his stay at home order that has shifted to “safer at home.”
He’s been tattooing for 25 years and this is one of the longest stretches he hasn’t done a tattoo, but he doesn’t want to risk bringing home the virus to his loved ones, including his children who he’s been homeschooling.
“We’re going to navigate it just like everyone else,” he said of getting back to work.
During the pandemic, Cece also chose to close a tattoo parlor he had recently bought in Norfolk’s NEON district called Fuzion Ink that he was rebranding into the Granby Street Tattoo Shop. While it had potential early on, he didn’t think the economic climate of the pandemic would reward staying open as more and more people might hold onto what disposal income they have.
“It was a very difficult decision to make, to err on the side of caution, and likely for the first time in my professional career, actually put my health and well-being in front of tattooing,” he said. “In the end, I know I made the right choice, for myself, my children, the existing Studio Evolve, and likely, the happiness of the rest of my days. Just as I stumbled into this, I have serendipitously stumbled out.”
11:00 a.m.: Customers flock to barbershops in Greenbrier and Churchland
At Vintage Barber Co. in the Churchland section of Chesapeake, Kiersten Fallon was giving her first official paid haircut in about a month and a half.
Her barbershop, which caters mostly to military and law enforcement, has locations in Greenbrier and Churchland but has been closed down since late March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“You can’t social distance with this job,” Fallon said.
As of Friday morning, the shop was completely booked up with appointments for the next few days.
Fallon said she was a little nervous coming back to work because of all the people her type of job exposes her to, but the world can’t remain indefinitely closed, and she was ready for her first day back.
Across from her, Fallon’s co-worker asked a client whose hair she was cutting: “feel like yourself again?”
Outside, customers waited in their cars for appointments. They have to wear masks while sitting in the chair, as does Fallon.
Two other stylists were working at the shop in Greenbrier which was also fielding lots of calls. They typically have seven women between both shops cutting hair but three were uncomfortable coming back during the partial reopening, Fallon said.
Fallon says she lives with three military roommates and has been giving them haircuts during the stay-at-home order. Those were given away free.
Now, under the partial reopening, Vintage Barber Co. is following strict rules. They are cleaning the barber chairs with hospital-grade cleaner in between each client and have plenty of sanitizer on hand.
Fallon’s job was finding a way to social distance.
10:51 a.m.: Restaurants — Baker’s Crust preps to reopen, plans to expand into parking lots
John Stein, co-owner and founder of the local Baker’s Crust restaurant group, began prepping for reopening last week, ordering face masks with the Baker’s Crust logo for his staff, printing paper menus that will be disposed after every customer, figuring out physical spacing at his restaurants and new sanitation procedures. He had held off on offering takeout or delivery until now because without any kind of sit-down dining, it just didn’t pencil out. Being able to use his patios though, and expand outside from there, coupled with takeout and delivery orders, “gets us to that model that works.”
It’s still likely not a model flush with cash, though. In the short term, he’s expecting to earn at least 35% to 50 percent of the sales made before the pandemic took hold. Eventually, when the restaurant can open up part of the inside dining room if given the state’s OK, he said he hopes to reach anywhere from 50% to 75% of pre-COVID-19 sales. He said his budget outlook is an effort to be realistic.
“Your goal is to break even and then rethink your model,” he said. “You have to reinvent yourself in some form.”
He also co-owns The Neighborhood Harvest, a hydroponic farm and produce delivery operation out of Suffolk that, unlike his restaurant business, has, “grown like a weed.” He said he could have never planned for a pandemic that would plague one enterprise and boost another at the same time.
The restaurant chain has five locations across Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Williamsburg, two in Richmond and one in Northern Virginia. The Norfolk location will open next Thursday while its interior is being renovated and his Ashburn restaurant will reopen later per an order that delays reopenings there
Stein said being able to expand his patios – which might have given him four to seven tables depending on the size of his outdoor space because of the 50% capacity limit but could now fit 12 to 14 or so – is a necessity. Being able to push the boundaries into nearby parking lots, too, so long as the cities are behind it (and they appear to be), is “going to help out tremendously.”
As for Northam’s, perhaps, conservative approach to reopening depending on who one asks, Stein acknowledged that the medical and scientific outlook can be on opposing sides with the economic and business one, and he just hopes there can be a meeting in the middle.
“We do not want to open for business when it’s going to put people in harm’s way. And we’re not experts in that field,” he said. “As emotional as it can get because our livelihoods depend on it, it’s still a balance.”
10:34 a.m.: Chesapeake city facilities to partially reopen Monday
City offices and facilities in Chesapeake will partially reopen to the public on Monday, according to an announcement on the city’s website.
The website said city employees will continue to report for work or telecommute so that all essential city services are maintained, but the safest option to conduct city business is to do it online at CityofChesapeake.net/Online-Services or to call 757-382-2489, or the department you need to work with.
While the Governor and the Virginia Department of Elections encourages voters to use mail-in ballots for Tuesday’s election, curbside and in-person voting will be offered in Chesapeake.
Some polling locations have been moved, and the city is encouraging residents to check the list it has provided. For more details on voting in Chesapeake, visit cityofchesapeake.net/vote or call the voter registrar’s office at 277-9797.
The city also said animal adoptions will start again Monday.
“There will be a limit of 10 people allowed in the building with four or less per group,” the city said on its website. “It’s recommended that all visitors wear masks and practice social distancing. Call before coming to make sure services are available.”
For those missing pets, the city said to visit CityofChesapeake.net/AnimalServices to see if your pet is listed. If it is, call 757-382-8080 and press option 1 to make arrangements for a pickup.
10:07 a.m.: 859 new coronavirus cases, 22 more deaths reported as Virginia begins to reopen
The state now has 28,672 cases, with 27,293 being confirmed by tests and another 1,379 probable ones.
Another 22 deaths were also reported overnight, bringing the statewide tally to 977.
So far, at least 176,681 people in Virginia have been tested using PCR tests — which stands for polymerase chain reaction. It detects trace amounts of a virus in specimens collected from swabs to the nose, throat or mouth.
Of the 977 deaths across the state, 508 have been Virginians older than 80, 231 between the ages of 70 and 79, 154 between the ages of 60 and 69, 53 between the ages of 50 and 59, 21 between 40-49, seven between 30-39 and two from 20-29.
Of those who have died in Hampton Roads, nine died in Accomack County, 19 in Virginia Beach, 10 died in Chesapeake, five in Norfolk, 22 in Suffolk, 10 in Portsmouth, 15 in James City County, seven in Northampton County, 10 in Newport News, three in Hampton, three in Isle of Wight, three in York County, three in Williamsburg and one in Gloucester.
In Hampton Roads, Accomack County has the most cases at 648. Virginia Beach has 535, Chesapeake has 379, Norfolk has 349, Suffolk has 255, Portsmouth has 219, Northampton County has 193, Newport News has 184, James City County has 179, Hampton has 158, Isle of Wight has 115, York County has 62, Williamsburg has 42, Gloucester has 28 and Poquoson has 7.
The number of cases in Accomack County increased by 55 since Thursday. Chesapeake also saw an increase of 17 cases and Suffolk saw an increase of 34 cases.
Of the 28,672 cases in Virginia, 14,364 are women, 14,124 are men and 184 did not have a reported gender.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported Tuesday that there are now 1,511 hospitalizations related to the coronavirus. Of those, 1,053 patients have tested positive for the virus and 458 have COVID-19 symptoms serious enough to require hospitalization but are pending final test results.
The association also reported that 3,805 patients have been hospitalized for the virus and released since the outbreak reached Virginia.
10:01 a.m.: Salons – Booked for two weeks solid, staff at Salon Vivace role-played to prepare
Salons can be chatty places for the topic of the day. For customers looking for a break from any COVID-19 talk, though, at least one salon owner hopes they can provide an escape for those that want it.
“Our goal is to not even talk about the pandemic unless they bring it up,” said Charles Ieni, CEO of Salon Vivace which has locations in Virginia Beach, Newport News and Williamsburg.
Preparation has included having his staff role-playing what the experience would be like including the cleaning processes between each customer’s appointment and how people will move through the space to still keep their distance. Usually, the hair stylist might stand in front of a customer to talk to them about what they want to do with their hair. Now, they’ll stand behind, for example. Every staff member will wear a mask and customers will be provided one if they don’t have one, he said. If they don’t wear it, he said he’ll be encouraging them to book an appointment at a later date.
Ieni said his Hampton Roads locations are so far booked for two weeks, and he’s stopped there, “just in case the governor should decide it’s not as safe as he thought,” he said. But if this first week goes well, he’ll book another, and another.
Just because salons can open, doesn’t mean that every grooming option available before will be back on the menu now.
Ieni’s salons are reopening at 9 a.m. with hair services, manicures and pedicures and waxing below the waist. There won’t be the usual facial waxes (required masks to be worn by customers would make that a challenge) or massages (at least through the end of May).
“We want to get through the first week or two and iron out the safety precautions,” he said. “It’s a lot to take on at one time,” he said. “We don’t want to be careless about anything.”
10:00 a.m.: Patrons head to Town Center Cold Pressed
Town Center Cold Pressed’s Virginia Beach location has already been “a lot busier” than previously, store manager Catherine Holmes said Friday morning.
Staff has seen an “influx,” particularly with to-go orders, she said. People come in but then ask how they can prepay and order ahead next time.
“Because we already have so many to-go orders, the line can get backed up pretty easily,” she said.
But other than the higher demand, Friday doesn’t mark too much of a change — the store was already doing carryout orders and allowing people to sit outside, since there are only a couple tables.
Holmes said she’s glad to see business picking up some.”We definitely need it.”
8:20 a.m.: Norfolk, Virginia Beach make it easier for restaurants to expand outdoor seating
With a mid-week change by the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control authority, it’s now easier for Hampton Roads restaurants to expand their outdoor dining spaces and serve alcohol since phase 1 rules explicitly forbid customers from ordering and eating inside. The agency still requires a business to obtain a city or county’s written approval. In Chesapeake, those approvals already fell to the city manager rather than an elected body.
In Norfolk and Virginia Beach, city leaders raced Thursday to make the process easier for restaurants there, waiving any need for a permit in some case.
In Virginia Beach, a restaurant can now expand their outdoor dining spaces without a permit, unless it wants to do so on a public sidewalk or other adjacent or nearby city property. The permit would be free and require the city be added to the restaurant’s insurance policy. Businesses can apply at www.vbgov.com/sga.
In Norfolk, a restaurant can expand their outdoor seating into a public sidewalk or on-street parking space, or in any parking lot or yard under the business’ control, seemingly without any prior city approval. Through the new program dubbed, “OpenNorfolk,” the city is also offering free stencils and signage and outdoor furniture to businesses that want it, as well as free physical help to move furniture and build parklet space. Interested small businesses can email [email protected]. If a restaurant wants to serve alcohol in one of these temporary spaces that involves the public right of way, like a sidewalk or parking space, it needs to add the city of Norfolk to its liability insurance coverage and email proof. And if a restaurant really wants a permit (it doesn’t need it though) the city says the business owner can contact the city’s building official Phillip Williams. But the city notes, even emphasizes, that, “this is a courtesy for your own insurance purposes and/or peace-of-mind and is not necessary.”
Portsmouth hasn’t changed its outdoor dining permit process and didn’t appear to be poised to do so.
City spokesperson Dana Woodson said, “our established process is more than capable of responding in a timely or accelerated fashion as needed. No additional City Council action is necessary.” Portsmouth restaurants interested in expanding existing outdoor areas or wanting to do so for the first time, should contact the city’s planning department at 757-393-8836.
Newport News has said restaurants will still need to work with the city’s codes office before expanding and York County is telling county planning and fire officials to work with restaurants interested in reopening.
The process doesn’t end with the cities and counties, though. After getting a municipal OK, Virginia ABC also wants a diagram of the seating arrangement and, if the seating area is outside the restaurant’s leased or owned space, additional approval from the Virginia Department of Health.
It’s surely been marked in more than a few calendars, likely in pencil, as it had already been pushed back once, then again and there was no guarantee until earlier this week that even May 15 would stick as the day (some of) Virginia might begin to wake up from its pandemic-induced slumber, even as the risk of catching COVID-19 remained.
Northern Virginia, the Eastern Shore and Richmond all elected this week to delay the reopening of certain nonessential businesses there. Hampton Roads, though, is among those regions moving ahead with Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Forward Virginia” plan.
For those who snagged the first available appointments with a stylist or barber, today may be their first professional haircut in nearly two months. It’s also the first opportunity to grab a bite without having to bring it back to one’s own dining room table, with restaurants allowed to serve food in outdoor spaces if they choose to. Had you longed for a tattoo, a massage, a waxing, even, while contemplating the shrinking feeling from seeing only the insides of your own walls for several weeks on end? All are now available by appointment, too.
But it won’t be a free-for-all. Virginians still can’t dine inside a restaurant, hang out at a bar or go to the gym, unless any of those things are outdoors, rules that have irked members of both the hospitality and fitness industries who have felt it isn’t fair to allow other non-essential retail to open at half their indoor capacities.
The experience of getting a haircut and going to a restaurant in phase 1 may also feel very different than it did pre-pandemic.
There will be masks. In salons, staff and customers will wear them. At restaurants, your server will. Paper menus will be tossed after each use. There will be space – at least six feet between you and the next table over.
Malls are also beginning to reopen, but don’t expect to take the kids to any indoor play areas or be able to sit and eat inside the food court. The Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, the Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake and Lynnhaven and Pembroke malls in Virginia Beach are among those opening at 11 a.m. Friday but with new restrictions. Inside the Patrick Henry Mall’s common areas, that includes anyone younger than 18 years old being accompanied by an adult or guardian who is at least 21 years old. At Lynnhaven, it means no more valet.
Some things won’t be opening just yet. MacArthur Center mall in downtown Norfolk is waiting until Thursday. Ikea hasn’t set a reopening date, but it is restarting curbside pickup for online orders beginning Friday. Colonial Williamsburg remains closed through at least May 31.
Today also represents one of the first chances for many of the hundreds of thousands of people across the state who found themselves suddenly out of a job to go back to work. It may not have been easy to return, though. There are worries from business owners and staff alike about safety. Some businesses say they’re taking precautions above what’s being mandated by the state. At least one isn’t taking reservations past two weeks in case the health statistics take a turn and the governor doesn’t push forward with phase 2.
Phase 1 is expected to last at least two weeks. Then it will be time to mark the calendar for phase 2.
This is a developing story. Check back throughout the day for our latest updates.
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