RICHMOND — A key House of Delegates subcommittee will consider a resolution seeking to amend the Virginia Constitution and alter the power of the governor in emergency situations.

The circle of Rappahannock residents eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccinations is beginning to widen, with the announcement on Tuesday that Rappahannock County Public School teachers and staff will start receiving their vaccines this week.

News sent to the homes of high school students this evening from Rappahannock County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shannon Grimsley is not what parents and guardians wanted to hear: 

Virginians 65 and older, 16-64 with comorbidities, added to 1B group

The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District (RRHD) announced Friday afternoon that it has begun conducting closed “point of dispensing” (POD) COVID-19 vaccination clinics specifically for “Phase 1b” priority groups (the second such group), which includes anyone age 65 and older and those indivi…

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced on Friday that University of Virginia’s Dr. Cameron Webb has been appointed White House Senior Policy Advisor for COVID-19 Equity.

How the arts in Rappahannock are surviving the pandemic

RICHMOND — Amid a steady increase in coronavirus cases throughout the state, two local Republican legislators are sponsoring bills to allow religious exemptions for vaccinations during public health emergencies.

‘You are trusted so much more than the outside non-Black world’

Over the past nine months, clinical trials conducted at the University of Virginia have led to new treatments for patients fighting COVID-19 and new tools for health care workers saving lives around the commonwealth and world.

By the close of today, nearly one-thousand frontline healthcare workers and first responder staff in the five-county Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District (RRDH), which includes Rappahannock County, will have received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will join Virginia Governor Ralph Northam at 2:45 p.m. today, Friday Jan. 8, for a virtual webinar on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam delivered an update on the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday afternoon and implored clinics to administer doses until they run out. 

The Rappahannock County Public Library has closed its doors to patrons at least until Feb. 1, 2021. The library will continue to provide curbside delivery of books and other materials on weekdays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and by appointment.

The Moderna vaccine has arrived in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District, which includes Rappahannock County, where the medical team is already finalizing plans to deliver vaccinations starting tomorrow (Tuesday).

There was much to celebrate earlier this week when hospital workers around the country began receiving inoculations that should protect them from the pandemic that’s killed more than 300,000 Americans.

Virginia reported its 300,000th COVID-19 case on Saturday, just 35 days after topping 200,000, and a new model from the University of Virginia predicts the state will see tens of thousands of new cases this winter before vaccinations begin to take effect.

Fauquier Health confirmed that they received the initial allocation of COVID-19 vaccines yesterday.

He’s not been sworn into office yet and already Rappahannock County’s 5th District Republican Congressman-elect Bob Good is making waves on Capitol Hill after calling the COVID-19 pandemic “phony” and mask-wearing a “hoax.”

As Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines arrive in America, local health officials are preparing to administer initial doses.

It’s been an unsettling week in Rappahannock County as COVID-19 continues its tight grip on a rural community that for months enjoyed relatively few cases of coronavirus in comparison to surrounding counties and other regions of the commonwealth.

Due to the local jump in confirmed COVID-19 cases, Fauquier Health on Friday afternoon implemented a zero-visitor protocol for its Warrenton hospital that went into effect immediately.

Gov. Ralph Northam on Thursday announced a statewide curfew from midnight to 5 a.m. as Virginia continues to battle soaring COVID-19 numbers.

Christopher Wright, an inmate of over five years at Coffeewood, contacted a Capital News Service reporter by phone. He said the facility was doing a good job until they took in transfer prisoners from Buckingham Correctional at the end of September.

While school settings remain among the safest large congregate settings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, starting today Rappahannock County Public Schools are implementing “more stringent” precautions in light of a current uptick of coronavirus cases in the county.

‘There was no exposure risk to any of the customers, as described by the VDH guidelines’

Santa and Mrs. Claus will return for a drive-thru appearance on Dec. 6

There are now two COVID-19 vaccines that, at least according to preliminary reports, appear to be 94.5 percent and 95 percent effective. Both were developed in a record-breaking 11 months or so.

“I’ve waited my whole life for this year that everyone has said would be the best year of high school,” Olivia Scheulen said, “and it’s definitely not.”

‘Our people are tired ... It’s been a difficult week for the health district’

The Coffeewood Correctional Center in Culpeper County, where 214 inmates are currently infected with COVID-19, four of them hospitalized. Sixteen prison staff also have active cases. 

As of this morning, 29 inmates at the Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren Regional Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, marking a second outbreak at the facility since the beginning of the pandemic.