On a roll: Health department begins vaccinating non-hospital health care workers

The local vaccine rollout process continues. About a month after the first coronavirus vaccines were shipped to hospitals across the country, Charlottesville’s frontline health care employees who work outside of hospitals are now getting vaccinated. On Monday, the Blue Ridge Health District (formerly known as the Thomas Jefferson Health District) began offering the first dose […]

A shot in the arm: Vaccine distribution begins for local hospital workers

Last Tuesday, UVA hospital’s ICU director Taison Bell became one of the first people in Charlottesville to receive the newly approved coronavirus vaccine. It was a moment of “mixed emotions,” says Bell, who has worked with COVID patients throughout the crisis. “It was definitely a good feeling to finally have something that can potentially protect […]

In brief: New COVID regulations, legal weed, and more

Tighten it up On Sunday, with COVID-19 cases surging across the United States, Governor Ralph Northam announced a new set of stricter regulations for citizens and businesses in Virginia. The rules, which went into effect at midnight on November 15, limit gatherings to 25 individuals, instead of the previous 250. Restaurants are now required to […]

Still here: Public health experts urge caution as holidays approach

Nationwide, nearly 100,000 new COVID cases were reported last Friday—the most in a single day to this point. And with COVID-19 spreading across the country faster than ever, that number will almost certainly rise. Locally, positivity rate has remained low, currently at just 2.4 percent, said Thomas Jefferson Health District medical director Denise Bonds at […]

Charlottesville Free Clinic finds a new home

For the past 24 years, the Charlottesville Free Clinic has provided no-cost physicals, prescriptions, mental health services, dental care, and more for the uninsured and underinsured from its Rose Hill Drive facility, which it has long shared with the Thomas Jefferson Health District. But in May, the Virginia Department of Health announced it was terminating […]

In brief: Deadly disparities, graduation guesses, and more

Deadly disparities While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected people of all backgrounds across the globe, statistics show that it has had a disproportionate impact on black Americans. Data is limited, because only about 35 percent of U.S. cases specify a patient’s race, according to the CDC. But its numbers show that black people comprise nearly […]

How to track a virus

You can’t stop coughing and are running a fever. It’s becoming harder for you to breathe, and you can barely muster the energy to get out of bed. A glance at the CDC’s website confirms your greatest fear: You may have the coronavirus. What happens from there? We spoke with Ta’Kindra Westbrook, a disease intervention […]

Be prepared: Is Charlottesville ready for the coronavirus?

Since last week, when health officials warned that Americans should prepare for the inevitable spread of the coronavirus here in the U.S., at least 12 Americans have died and new cases have been emerging almost daily.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned that Americans should be prepared for the spread of the […]