Town of Urbanna
Public Service Announcement

Recylcing pickup will resume on Wednesday, May 27, 2020.

COVID 19 UPDATE 5/11/2020

Richard Williams, MD MPH, Three Rivers Health District Director

COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise domestically and internationally, but the pandemic curve remains flattened in the countries most affected by the disease. Hospitalization rates (about 14%) and death rates (about 3.5%) are holding at levels below those that would threaten to overwhelm the health care system. The number of deaths nationally is over 80,000 and rising, with over 1.3 million cases. In Three Rivers, we have 346 cases with 6 deaths. At present new cases in ourcommunity appear to be rising as well. Our hospital capacity continues to be in good shape. There is good ICU capability and about 20% of ventilators are currently in use. We are not seeing declining case numbers yet. The virus is still present and the risk of transmission remains very real.

We continue to learn more about this virus every day. It is not like any pathogen we have ever seen. It can attack many systems in the body, and its worst expression remains SARS. It can activate the clotting system, and it can cause hyper-immune responses with very bad outcomes. Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome has emerged in children and teens, and may be related to COVID 19. Recent research indicates the virus cannot be grown in culture 9 days after symptoms start, or 3 days after symptoms resolve, and the virus cannot be cultured from serum with antibodies present. This research has led the CDC to increase isolation time for those with the disease to 10 days and 3 days free of symptoms and fever prior to societal re-entry. The finding that the virus has not been cultured from serum with antibodies present is an encouraging sign. Many questions remain about the effectiveness of immunity after infection, but early experience with immune globulin therapy remains encouraging. Patients with the disease can continue shedding viral particles for weeks. It remains unknown whether these individuals with prolonged shedding can infect others, but it seems increasingly unlikely as we learn more. We all hope thevirus proves to be less active in the summer months, which will help us stay safer as we reopen our economy.

The antiviral agent Remdesivir shortens the course of disease and might help survival as well. Remdesivir is now the standard of care for COVID 19. There are more encouraging reports from combinations of antiviral agents being used to treat COVID 19. Vaccine development continues in multiple countries at an unprecedented rate.

Shortages of PPE and testing capability are improving, no hospitals are reporting shortages currently. We continue to improve our testing capability, and in addition to large scale testing in facility settings we are starting to do prevalence population testing. Dr. Karen Remley’s testing task force is concentrating on increasing our testing capacity over 5 phases to support reopening. We have immediate testing capability, and VDH is trying to do over 140,000 tests in May using the Virginia Air National Guard. At peak, we hope to do 10,000 tests a day statewide to help guide measures to control the disease. Going forward, a mix of the nasopharyngeal swab tests we use now and antibody tests will allow us to track who is currently infected and who has been infected in the past with more accuracy. Ultimately, when the new cases fall to low levels, Dr. Remly expects to reach a steady state of 2000 tests per day to identify and contain hot spots immediately. This will be in conjunction with robust case investigation, isolation and quarantine efforts. Those containment activities will be our primary line of defense and protection against this disease. A plan to expand our ability to perform containment activities is in development. Up to 1000 additional personnel will be dedicated to this task.

Outbreaks in long-term care facilities, correctional facilities, and congregate settings remain a prominent feature of this phase of the pandemic. This virus is capable of working its way through these vulnerable facilities very quickly. Higher numbers of infected individuals in our communities seed these facilities, which in turn further seed the communities. In Richmond County, outbreaks in a correctional facility and a long-term care facility account for over half the cases in the district. Campgrounds in Three Rivers have been of particular concern to local government officials and citizens. We had Environmental Health personnel on site in each of our privately owned campgrounds over the weekend, observing activity. Our inspectors found all campgrounds in compliance with good social distancing practice.

With regard to our reopening strategy, we will inform local government officials of virus transmission risk levels to facilitate planning. I am sure we should continue our social distancing measures, wearing cloth face coverings when we must go out in public, washing our hands, sanitizing surfaces, maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from others, and avoiding large groups as we reopen to avoid a surge in cases. Masking in public will be particularly important to prevent asymptomatic spread. The number of individuals in the community who are infected but don’t know it is thought to be very large. We will know more about this as we are able to test larger samples of the population.

Remember, if you are sick at all, even if your symptoms do not feel like COVID 19, stay at home and consult your health care provider. We have enough testing capability now to test those with symptoms. The virus can fool us all. Difficulty breathing remains a sign of possible serious disease; if this develops, seek help very quickly.

Urbanna Market

Starting Monday, April 6, Urbanna Market will be implementing senior shopping hours from 8am to 9am. Call-in and curbside pick up service is also available. Call 758-2250 with your shopping list. There may be substitutes for brands, if requested items are not available.

Hands Across Middlesex

As of April 1, 2020 Hands Across Middlesex is offering the following services: Click here to read the letter from Hands Across Middlesex.

Public Service Announcement

With the rising prevalence of Coronavirus (COVID 19), Governor Northam has advised for all individuals 65+ and other high-risk individuals to self-quarantine. This creates great concern for many seniors and other self-quarantined individuals in our area about how they will access groceries, medications, and other needed services or supplies. Bay Aging is working to help address these concerns by setting up our Community Volunteer and Request for Assistance link on the Bay Aging Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BayAgingVA

If you are interested in helping your neighbors stay fed and have access to much needed services/supplies during this crisis, or if you are quarantined/home-bound and need assistance, please fill out the following form and we will connect volunteers with those in need. Please note, this service is available to ANY AGE, not just seniors.

Click here to complete the Volunteer/Help Form

DECLARATION OF LOCAL EMERGENCY

Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency March 12, 2020 in the Commonwealth of Virginia in response to the continued spread of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

The Governor has stated that COVID-19 is a communicable disease of public health threat, and that the anticipated effects of COVID-19 constitute a disaster as described in § 44-146.16 of the Code of Virginia. This declaration is due to the threat to the public health, safety, and welfare that has and will continue to occur in the Town of Urbanna beginning on March 30, 2020 until further notice, due to the negative health effect caused by the transmission and contracting of the COVID-19 coronavirus, creating conditions of extreme peril to the lives and property of the residents of the Town of Urbanna. The proclamation of existence of an emergency is necessary to permit the full powers of the government to deal effectively with this condition of peril.

Pursuant to the authority granted by Section 44-146.219(a) of the Code of Virginia, I, Holly Gailey, acting as the Director of Emergency Services for the Town of Urbanna, declare the existence of a local emergency as of the below stated date and time.

Date: March 30, 2020
Time: 1:00 p.m.

The Director of Emergency Services will request that the Urbanna Town Council adopt a Resolution confirming this Declaration at its next scheduled meeting on April 2, 2020.

Holly Y. Gailey
Director of Emergency Management
Town of Urbanna, Urbanna, Virginia

Commonwealth Virginia Office of the Governor
Executive Order

Number 54 (2020)

TEMPORARY RESTRICTIONS ON RESTAURANTS, RECREATIONAL, ENTERTAINMENT, GATHERINGS, NON-ESSENTIAL RETAIL BUSINESSES, AND CLOSURE OF K-12 SCHOOLS DUE TO NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Click here to read the full order

Town of Urbanna Public Notice

In accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order dated March 23, 2020, the town of Urbanna offices will remain closed until April 23, 2020. If you need assistance during this closure, please notify the town in one of the following ways: email at townadmin@urbannava.gov or call (804)758-2613 and leave a detailed message. Town staff is monitoring these to maintain a continuity of services. In the event of an after hour’s emergency or a water emergency, please call 804-238-1051. For sewer emergencies, please contact HRSD at 877-261-8411.

The town will be updating information through the Reverse911 system in order to reach as many residents as possible. In an effort to do so, we ask that you reach out to your friends and neighbors and encourage them to contact the town to be added to the voluntary Reverse 911 Emergency System if they are not already registered. To be added to the system, please leave a detailed message at 804.758.2613 including your name, physical address and associated phone numbers you wish to have contacted. Thank you for your cooperation and we hope that everyone remains safe and healthy.

Town of Urbanna Public Notice

Public access to the Urbanna Town Office, Museum and Town Marina office are suspended through March 29,2020. You can reach Town staff by calling the office at 804-758-2613 or by email: townadmin@urbannava.gov

All Town public meetings scheduled for March are cancelled.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

There is currently no vaccine to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus. Here is a link with Steps to Prevent Infection from the CDC.

Information about COVID-19 on the Virginia Deptpartment of Health website.

Urbanna Is In The Top Ten!

Urbanna was included in the list of the “10 Best Small Towns on the Chesapeake Bay” in Coastal Living magazine. Click Here to read their article.