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Here’s a recap of the top stories on the morning of Wednesday, July 7, 2021:
Candidates for Virginia’s House of Delegates could face the ballot box three years in a row under a lawsuit filed against Governor Ralph Northam and the Board of Elections last week. As Ben Paviour reports, it aims to resolve issues caused by delays at the U.S. Census Bureau.
Virginia has seen a large increase in Medicaid enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent report from the Virginia Mercury. As of May, more than 550-thousand Virginians are now enrolled in Medicaid, a 40 percent increase since March of 2020, when the virus began to take its toll on the state. Experts say the spike was likely due to a similar increase in unemployment during the pandemic. According to the Mercury, the program was able to support the influx of new members thanks to federal CARES Act emergency funding.
In March, the Virginia Supreme Court approved an ethics committee opinion clarifying that courts are allowed to send legal aid resources to people along with documents letting them know they’re being evicted. But as Megan Pauly reports, it’s unclear how many courts across the state are actively sharing this information.
The American Lung Association is offering new fact-based guides about COVID-19 in an effort to raise vaccination rates in Virginia. Just over 70 percent of adults have received at least one dose, and about 50 percent of the total population are fully vaccinated. The A-L-A hopes these new guides will help encourage conversations to get more people to take the shot, especially in areas disproportionately impacted, including Black and Latino communities. The so-called “Better For It” vaccine toolkits can be found at lung.org.
Crowds flocked to beaches over the 4th of July holiday weekend. The Virginia Beach Lifeguard Association reports 31 people were rescued from the water. At least eight were transported to the hospital, though only one for a water-related issue. Lifeguards also helped more than 100 kids reunite with their families. As Virginia emerges from months of pandemic restrictions, officials were prepared for the beach to be busier than in years past, so there were more lifeguards on duty than usual.
