Good morning, RVA: 14,961 • 522; bus service impacts; and preschool and kindergarten registration

Good morning, RVA! It’s 66 °F, and Big Rain is on its way. We’ve got a flood watch in effect from 8:00 AM–8:00 PM with a possibility of one to two inches of rain. Basically wind and rain all day today, maybe some tomorrow, and then a pretty nice-looking Saturday.

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 14,961 positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth, and 522 people in Virginia have died as a result of the virus. VDH reports 1,670 cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 501, Henrico: 846, and Richmond: 323). Yesterday, the number of reported tests stayed flat at around 2,500, and that continues to bum me out. New hospitalizations and percent-positive went down a tiny bit, theoretically advancing our 14-day Countdown to Recovery to “one.” Although, VPM, paraphrasing the Governor from his press conference yesterday, says that when asked if one bad day would restart the Countdown Clock the Gov said: “No, ‘we’re looking at trends’ - so over 14-days, he’d be looking for an overall decline in positive cases. He says turnaround time and amount of tests will also impact what this looks like.” Sounds like someone (this guy) needs to update his charts to switch everything to a rolling 14-day average. Also yesterday, the Governor allowed his ban on elective medical procedures to expire.

The local health district continues to roll out free, walk-up testing events in some of our lower-income neighborhoods. Today they’ll set up at the Gilpin Resource Center. Spread the word! Remember: You must call the COVID-19 hotline to register ahead of time (804.205.3501). While we, of course, need more of these all across our region, I’m stoked that we’ve started in some of our public housing neighborhoods and that these events have not been drive-through testing. Several states have rolled out drive-through testing which instantly and inequitably limits who can participate.

GRTC says they’ve had their first bus operator test positive for COVID-19. GRTC’s policy for this sort of thing is that any employee that gets tested, must then go on paid leave until they get negative results back or fully recover. To try and stay ahead of a potential outbreak, GRTC has asked “that all operators and on-site staff schedule a COVID-19 test as soon as possible to stay ahead of any possible spread.” You’d an see how those previous two sentences, when combined, will make for some serious disruptions in bus service: “GRTC requests that customers make alternative arrangements for all essential trips for the remainder of this week. If GRTC does not have enough operations staff on duty to put at least minimal service on most every route, GRTC may need to cancel fixed-route service entirely for Thursday and Friday. If this happens, GRTC will put on-demand service in place for urgent and essential trips to medical facilities that cannot be met due to canceled transit services.” Wow. Without knowing any of the specifics, I wonder if, once GRTC gets through this initial round of tests, a core service plan can be implemented—something similar to what’s been done in San Francisco.

City Council met yesterday for a budget amendment session. You can listen to the audio here, and you can look at the, so far, single proposed budget amendment here(PDF). Put forward by Councilmember Lynch, this amendment would take $600,000 from the local health district’s Smoking Cessation and Disease Prevention Program and allocate it toward expanding the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Whether or not you think we should defund health programs at this particular moment in time in favor of housing, hats off to Councilmember Lynch for doing the work to actually submit a change to the Mayor’s proposed (and updated) budget. Council will meet again today at 4:00 PM for a newly-scheduled amendment session—so newly-scheduled that it’s not even on the City’s legislative website yet. Will anyone else submit amendments? Will Council approve Lynch’s amendment? Will they schedule a few more meetings before the end of May? Tune in and find out.

Jack Jacobs, writing for Richmond BizSense, has an interesting update on that loan program the City’s Economic Development Authority announced a million virusweeks ago. So far $410,000 of the $1 million is spoken for and five business have cash in hand.

Note for prospective RPS parents and guardians: Preschool and Kindergarten online registration begins today! You’ll need a birth certificate, proof of residence, and, for preschool, proof of income.

Rich Griset at the Chesterfield Observer talked to John Moeser about the rerelease of his book on annexation, The Politics of Annexation: Oligarch Power in a Southern City. I’m contractually obligated to link you to anything having to do with annexation in the Richmond region. It’s one of the most defining moments in our City’s modern history. Remember, you can download Moeser’s book for free! Put it in your quaranqueue now!

RVAgreen 2050—which is “the City’s equity-centered, integrated mitigation and climate resilience planning initiative to aggressively reduce community greenhouse gas emissions and help the community adapt to Richmond’s climate impacts”—needs Virtual Ambassadors to help learn and spread the word about climate resiliency. Maybe you have some spare time and are willing to dedicate it to a worthy cause? What cause, I ask you, is worthier than THE VERY FATE OF OUR ONLY PLANET?? Anyway, interested folks can learn more and sign up over on the RVAgreen 2050 website.

Logistical note! I’m taking tomorrow off from Good Morning, RVA. No real reason other than I want to spend the morning sitting quietly in my living room, drinking coffee, and staring into the middle distance. I’ll probably work on some new coronacharts, too. Until Monday!

This morning’s patron longread

Environmental Destruction Brought Us COVID-19. What It Brings Next Could Be Far Worse

Submitted by Patron Kathleen. Who wants to be terrified on a Thursday??

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, killing thousands and crushing the global economy, the potential threat of zoonotic spillover — when novel viruses and bacteria jump from animals to people — is becoming increasingly clear. The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 almost certainly originated in bats and is believed to have spilled into humans at a live animal market in Wuhan, China. Readily transmissible and far deadlier than the seasonal flu, COVID-19 is now one of the worst pandemics of animal origin that humans have faced in a century. But it won’t be the last.

If you’d like your longread to show up here, go chip in a couple bucks on the ol’ Patreon.