VA Signs $27M Contract For Gear To Protect Against Coronavirus

VIRGINIA — The state of Virginia signed a $27 million contract for personal protective equipment that will be distributed to the state's health care workers as they treat patients with the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday at a news briefing.

In his prepared remarks, Northam also asked Virginians to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new guidelines on the wearing of cloth masks over their mouth and nose when out in public to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

As state officials looked at options for acquiring more PPE, they were able to reach a supply deal with Northfield, a Virginia-based logistics company, for the delivery of masks, gloves, gowns and other equipment. Northam said the first shipment from Asia under the contract is expected arrive next Monday.

The Virginia Department of Health also has shipped out 1 million masks that had been held during the H1N1 outbreak to hospitals.

Northam said the state is working to finalize agreements on the three field hospital sites it has selected in response to the coronavirus. Construction work on the sites in the Richmond area, Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia is scheduled to begin this week.

The three hospital field sites are the Dulles Expo Center, the Richmond Convention Center and the Hampton Roads Convention Center. The Dulles Expo Center replaced the Exxon Mobil site across from Inova Fairfax Hospital as the field hospital site for Northern Virginia.

Northam said the CDC's face covering guidelines will help to prevent people who may not have symptoms but do have the coronavirus from spreading the virus when they sneeze or when they are talking in areas around other people.

At the news briefing, the governor showed a cloth face covering made by the Virginia Department of Corrections that he wears when he goes out into public. "You don't need a medical grade mask," he said. "You can even use rubber bands and a bandana." But Northam emphasized that no one should assume a face covering will protect them from getting the coronavirus.

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The number of reported positive cases of the new coronavirus increased by 241 in Virginia on Monday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The 2,879 positive cases of the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease, includes 497 hospitalizations. The number of deaths from COVID-19 now stands at 54, up from 51 reported Sunday.

The Fairfax County Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, continues to have the most cases in the state, with 488 positive cases reported in the district. At 207, Henrico County now has the second most positive cases in the state, followed by 203 in Arlington County, 193 in Prince William County and 188 in Loudoun County.

On Monday, Spotsylvania County reported that a second person in the county who tested positive for the coronavirus has died. The man, 54, was married with two teenage boys and was a youth soccer coach and board member with the Fredericksburg Football Club.

Last Monday, Northam issued a "stay-at-home" order for all Virginians, except for essential needs, by signing Executive Order 55. Northam's previous order that closed many non-essential businesses, Executive Order 53, remains in place as well.

At Monday's news briefing, Northam said the state's Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services has started using genetic technology to better understand the coronavirus. The division has learned from its research that the coronavirus was introduced into Virginia in multiple communities rather than spreading from a single source.

The governor thanked Virginians for following his stay-at-home order, saying crowds were not seen on beaches and in state parks over the weekend like they had been the weekend before. He reminded Virginians that "social distancing is for everyone," noting that Virginia Department of Health data shows that nearly half of all cases in Virginia have been in people under the age of 50.

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