COVID-19
Don’t let Big Pharma capitalize on coronavirus
By Lynn Carey The new COVID-19 coronavirus has spread to pandemic proportions, infecting thousands of people as it makes its way from continent to continent. The world needs a coronavirus vaccine now — one that is accessible to everyone and prioritizes saving lives over profits for the pharmaceutical industry. I have practiced as a nurse […]
Coronavirus spread will test the strength of Virginia’s health care infrastructure
About 800 people have perished in the past year in Virginia from the flu. Other than the standard precautions (flu shots, wash your hands, stay home when you’re sick), influenza is regarded as it historically has been – a difficult fact of life. COVID-19, the precise name the medical community has given to a new, […]
Virginia’s first two cases of COVID-19 linked to international travel
Health experts in Fairfax County are releasing few details on the state’s first two presumed positive cases of novel coronavirus. But they did tell Virginians that the risk to the general population is “extremely low” in a news conference that left several questions unanswered, including the name of the cruise line on which the second […]
Despite limits on testing capabilities, Northam says Virginia is prepared for coronavirus
Gov. Ralph Northam and state health officials repeatedly reiterated a reassuring message throughout their first news conference on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus that’s spread to 16 states and at least 129 patients since cases of the virus first emerged in the United States in January. “Virginia is not an area where the virus is spreading […]
Legislators must act to protect workers and families as a global pandemic looms
By Kim Bobo Virginia’s failure to require employers to offer paid sick days, combined with the coronavirus outbreak, could contribute to a public health emergency. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control warns that a coronavirus outbreak in America is “imminent.” In Virginia, the Department of Health has monitored 279 travelers and eight possible cases have […]
Virginia taking precautions but urging calm as coronavirus fears spread
Gov. Ralph Northam is “taking every precaution to ensure the safety of Virginians” amidst a global outbreak of novel coronavirus, press secretary Alena Yarmosky wrote in an email on Friday. In reality, that translates to watching and waiting as experts learn more about the disease, recently named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. The Virginia […]
‘It’s like Typhoid Mary’: Restaurant workers spread diseases because they have no paid sick days
By Julie Swanson Louise, who’s worked in the hospitality industry for 10 years, says she’s seen “servers come to the restaurant while sick, serve tables, throw up in the bathroom, wash their hands and continue serving.” Louise, who has been working for 10 years in the hospitality industry in Virginia, lives in the Richmond area […]