VA Coronavirus Cases Surpass 150; Hospitals Free To Add More Beds

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia health officials confirmed Saturday morning the state has 152 confirmed positive cases of the new coronavirus, also known COVID-19. In response to the spread of the virus, Gov. Ralph Northam signed an executive order Friday night to allow hospitals and nursing homes greater flexibility to add more beds.

"That order lifts our certificate of public need restrictions, so that our health commissioner can give hospitals and nursing homes the authority to add the beds they need without going through red tape," Northam said, during a Saturday morning press briefing. "They can act quickly to respond to the needs in this fast-changing situation."

The 152 confirmed positive cases of coronavirus are 38 more than health officials reported Friday. Here is how the cases are divided among the state's regions:

• Central Region - 25
• Eastern Region - 42
• Northern Region - 77
• Northwest Region - 6
• Southwest Region - 2

In response to the coronavirus, Northam said his administration would refocus its efforts in a number of ways.

First, health officials are modifying the state's testing criteria to give additional priority to medical professionals.

"We are glad to say as the situation has evolved, we've revised our testing criteria," said Laurie Forlano, deputy commissioner for public health in the Virginia Department of Health. "We're prioritizing healthcare workers and those responders who have had contact or cared with COVID-19 patients. We want to make sure that they are protected so that we can ensure the continuity of care."

Health officials are concentrating on testing groups of people who are in clusters of respiratory illness where flu has been ruled out. Priority is being given to healthcare facility outbreaks.

While the testing criteria for patients with more severe illnesses in hospitals have stayed the same, the testing criteria for residents of senior and long-term care facilities have been relaxed slightly.

"We hope that will relieve a barrier for testing of those individuals," Forlano said.

Virginia is also working to secure more personal protective equipment (PPE), including masks and gowns, for healthcare providers to protect them and to reduce the spread of the coronavirus. A new shipment of PPEs was distributed to providers yesterday, according to Northam.

As many of local governing bodies in Virginia have tried to practice social distancing by using electronic communications, they've come up against state requirements for transparency and accountability around public meetings, such as giving proper notice.

"We understand while everyone is focused on the epidemic, the business of government must be able to continue," Northam said.

Attorney General Mark Herring issued an opinion Friday saying that all governing bodies in the state can conduct a public meeting electronically provided the meeting's purpose is to address the COVID-19 emergency. This includes meetings that concern decisions that must be made immediately where the failure to do so could lead to public harm.

Herring's opinion also outlines limitations, saying that the General Assembly did not intend for public bodies to handle all business via electronic communications means even during a declared emergency, such as the coronavirus response.

"General Herring's opinion makes clear public bodies should ask themselves, 'Is the action we're taking truly essential?'" Northam said. "If not, they should defer it until they meet in person again. We're not throwing out public accountability and transparency measures because there's an emergency. Bad policies can happen that way."

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education announced it would accept waivers from states regarding federal testing requirements. In response, the Virginia Department of Education is already preparing its waiver, according to Northam.

In addition, Northam said his administration was considering actions to provide relief to students on state-mandated Standards of Learning (SOLs) tests, which go beyond what is required by the federal government.

"We want to make sure our high school seniors who are on track to graduate will be able to do so," Northam said.

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