{"id":615,"date":"2020-03-13T21:28:43","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T21:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/?page_id=615"},"modified":"2022-05-23T16:35:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-23T16:35:57","slug":"covid-19-in-virginia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/covid-19-in-virginia\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 in Virginia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1162\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/2022\/05\/Letterhead-Oliver-2019-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1692\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong>COVID-19 in Virginia<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">March 13, 2020<\/p>\n<p>Dear Colleague:<\/p>\n<p>On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the first pandemic caused by coronavirus. On March 12<sup>th<\/sup>, Governor Ralph Northam <a href=\"https:\/\/www.governor.virginia.gov\/newsroom\/all-releases\/2020\/march\/headline-853537-en.html\">declared a state of emergency<\/a> in Virginia.\u00a0 As of this morning, thirty (30) COVID-19 cases have been identified in Virginia.\u00a0\u00a0The number of cases in Virginia is updated daily on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/novel-coronavirus\/\">VDH COVID-19 webpage<\/a>. Please note the following information regarding this rapidly changing situation:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Testing<\/strong> <strong>for COVID-19 <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Due to a limited number of tests available, testing performed at DCLS, Virginia\u2019s state lab, is reserved for patients who meet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/03\/VDH-Updated-Guidance-on-COVID19-Testing_03132020_FINAL.pdf\">VDH\u2019s priority investigation criteria<\/a>. If you have a patient who meets VDH criteria, please contact your local health department to request approval for testing.<\/li>\n<li>For other patients who need COVID-19 testing, please contact a private laboratory to ask about how to submit specimens for testing.\u00a0VDH approval is <u>not<\/u> needed for testing at private labs.<\/li>\n<li>Virginia\u2019s local health departments do not provide primary care and thus are not equipped to clinically evaluate patients with respiratory symptoms. At this time, local health departments are not providing COVID-19 testing. Please do not refer your patients to a local health department for testing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Infection Control and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>CDC published updated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/infection-control\/control-recommendations.html\">interim infection prevention and control recommendations<\/a> for healthcare settings.<\/li>\n<li>During collection of nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab specimens for COVID-19 testing, use of an N95 respirator is preferred.\u00a0 If N95 respirators are not available because of PPE shortages, a facemask is acceptable.\u00a0 In addition, eye protection, gloves and a gown should be used.<\/li>\n<li>The CDC has developed an easy-to-use<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/hcp\/checklist-n95-strategy.html\"> checklist<\/a> of strategies to optimize the supply of N95 respirators.\u00a0 In addition, VDH is recommending the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/03\/PPE-Recommendations_Shortage-Situations.pdf\">steps outlined here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>CDC posted<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/infection-control\/control-recommendations.html\"> environmental cleaning and disinfection guidance<\/a> for healthcare settings.\u00a0 Refer to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/sites\/production\/files\/2020-03\/documents\/sars-cov-2-list_03-03-2020.pdf\">List N<\/a> on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epa.gov\/pesticide-registration\/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2\">EPA website<\/a> for EPA-registered disinfectants that have qualified for use against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.<\/li>\n<li>CMS released<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/files\/document\/qso-20-14-nh-revised.pdf\"> revised guidance<\/a> for infection control and prevention of COVID-19 in <strong>nursing homes<\/strong> on March 9, 2020.\u00a0 Facilities should <em>discourage<\/em> visitation, and actively screen and <em>restrict<\/em> visitors who meet specified criteria, including persons with fever or other symptoms of COVID-19, or persons unable to demonstrate proper use of infection control techniques.\u00a0 The CDC posted<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/healthcare-facilities\/prevent-spread-in-long-term-care-facilities.html\"> updated guidance<\/a> for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in nursing homes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Assessment of Healthcare Personnel Caring for COVID-19 Patients <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If a patient who tests positive for COVID-19 received care in your healthcare setting, please work with your local health department and use this<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/03\/VDH_COVID-19_Healthcare_Personnel_Risk_Assessment_Tool_3.8.2020.pdf\"> Healthcare Personnel Risk Assessment Tool<\/a> to assess healthcare personnel who may have been exposed to the patient.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Treatment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although there are no antiviral drugs licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat patients with COVID-19, there are therapeutics under investigation that might be available through clinical trial or compassionate use.\u00a0 For more information, see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2020\/03\/VDH-Info-Remdesivir_03112020-1.pdf\">VDH Information on Investigational Therapeutics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for your work responding to COVID-19. Please continue to visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/\">CDC\u2019s COVID-19 website<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/\">VDH\u2019s COVID-19 website<\/a> for the most current information or contact your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/LHD\/index.htm\">local health department<\/a> if you have questions.<\/p>\n<p>Sincerely,<\/p>\n<p>M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA<br \/>\nState Health Commissioner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COVID-19 in Virginia March 13, 2020 Dear Colleague: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the first pandemic caused by coronavirus. On March 12th, Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency in Virginia.\u00a0 As of this morning, thirty (30) COVID-19 cases have been identified in Virginia.\u00a0\u00a0The number of cases [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-615","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>COVID-19 in Virginia - Clinicians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/covid-19-in-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COVID-19 in Virginia - Clinicians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"COVID-19 in Virginia March 13, 2020 Dear Colleague: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the first pandemic caused by coronavirus. On March 12th, Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency in Virginia.\u00a0 As of this morning, thirty (30) COVID-19 cases have been identified in Virginia.\u00a0\u00a0The number of cases [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/covid-19-in-virginia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Clinicians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-23T16:35:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/134\/2022\/05\/Letterhead-Oliver-2019-1.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/\",\"name\":\"COVID-19 in Virginia - Clinicians\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/134\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Letterhead-Oliver-2019-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-03-13T21:28:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-23T16:35:57+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/134\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Letterhead-Oliver-2019-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/134\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/Letterhead-Oliver-2019-1.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/covid-19-in-virginia\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"COVID-19 in Virginia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/\",\"name\":\"Clinicians\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/clinicians\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"COVID-19 in Virginia - Clinicians","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/clinicians\/covid-19-in-virginia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"COVID-19 in Virginia - Clinicians","og_description":"COVID-19 in Virginia March 13, 2020 Dear Colleague: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, the first pandemic caused by coronavirus. 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