As of April 20, there were 300 officially-reported Virginia statewide coronavirus deaths. By contrast, the annual average Virginia statewide gun violence death toll has been 958.
While the governmental path forward to minimize coronavirus deaths remains uncertain, Virginia has passed a significant number of new common-sense gun safety laws this year. These new laws will help substantially to lower our gun violence death toll from what it would have been without them.
On a Wednesday four weeks ago — which seems like a lifetime ago — Arlington had 36 known cases of COVID-19 and ARLnow conducted an unscientific poll.
Of nearly 2,800 respondents, 0.76% said they had tested positive for COVID, 4.4% said they had COVID-like symptoms, and 11.6% said they had a close personal connection who had tested positive.
Governor Northam has a duty as we move forward to balance this public health emergency with the substantial economic damage being done right now in order to promote the overall health of our Commonwealth. Getting to the other side of this crisis is a true test of leadership for the governor and the Democrats in charge of the General Assembly.
According to modeling, which admittedly has produced projections that regularly overstate the impact of COVID-19 in Virginia when compared to actual data, Virginia is just two days from peak resource use. Daily case increases have plateaued even with increased testing. More people have been discharged from the hospital than are currently being treated. There is no shortage of hospital beds or ventilator capacity. And Virginia’s share of national cases has remained constant. All of this means, what we have done is working in terms of slowing the spread of this coronavirus.
Progressive Voice is a bi-weekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.
By Scott Matties
Last week, Arlington Public Schools revealed its continuous learning plan for the remainder of the academic year. As with all APS decisions, the plan is controversial and parents have been quick to react with criticism.
I initially approached this week’s column intending to discuss the most contentious aspect of the plan. But no matter what APS does or doesn’t do, parents will continue to criticize and debate. So, upon considering the conversations I’ve had, my own reactions, and comments I’ve heard and read, I decided instead to look for some silver linings.
As governments at every level react (and sometimes overreact) to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, other institutions across society have risen to the occasion to fill in the gaps and confront the unintended consequences of shutting down the economy to address the present situation.
Across society, we observe four key institutions working in concert (and sometimes at odds) with one another: business, community, education, and government.
Back in January, I kicked off this series looking at the Pike Premium Transit Network.
This is the year that the Columbia Pike Streetcar was supposed to start running; since many folks claimed that a “Modern BRT” system could be implemented more quickly than a Streetcar, I’m examining how far we’ve come in that implementation compared to what was envisioned.
It’s been more than two weeks since we began our stay at home order in Virginia due to COVID-19. In that time, testing has increased which has provided a clearer picture of the pandemic.
Unfortunately, it’s become more common to learn about relatives, friends and others in our lives who have succumbed to COVID-19 related illnesses.
We are now in Week 4 of social distancing. Schools are closed. Most stores are closed or pick-up only. Arlingtonians who are not fortunate enough to be teleworking are faced with furloughs, layoffs, or difficult travel to essential work. Arlington has even closed parks, fields, courts, and playgrounds.
These are difficult changes that are intended to flatten the curve of coronavirus infections.
Knocking on doors last summer and fall, I asked Arlington voters their top legislative concerns. The largest response, by far, was for the General Assembly to take action to reduce gun violence.
That same sentiment has been growing across the commonwealth for years due to the lack of response to tragedies, such as, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Columbine, and more recently, Virginia Beach. But the gun violence prevention movement is not just about the mass shootings you see and hear about in the media. It’s the daily acts of gun violence — over 100 a day — occurring in our communities and firearm suicides that you don’t hear about.
A holiday weekend is here, though for many it will not be quite the same with social distancing and without travel.
For those who celebrate it, we hope you had a happy Passover or will have a happy Easter. And no matter your faith, we hope you have a nice weekend — with any luck, one that includes a meal from a local restaurant.
There’s a global-pandemic-slash-economic-crisis going on, but you know what apparently isn’t affected? Towing.
Just like death and taxes, being towed is inevitable if you park without a permit in a private lot patrolled by a towing company. Even now.
