🏀 Good morning, RVA: 823↘️ • 21↗️; CDC guidance; and sports strikes

Good morning, RVA! It’s 75 °F, and it’s gonna be freaking hot today. You should expect highs in the mid 90s, but it’s going to feel 10 degrees hotter. We may get a bit of rain this evening to cool things off, though.

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 823↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 21↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 169↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 27, Henrico: 69, and Richmond: 73). Since this pandemic began, 311 people have died in the Richmond region. VCU reported 17 new cases, that’s 91 total, and now has 150 people in isolation or quarantine. It’s been a while, so here’s an updated version of the stacked statewide new positive cases, new deaths, and new hospitalizations graphs. It looks like Virginia has successfully re-flattened the curve of new cases—but at a much higher level than earlier this summer. From June 8th to July 8th, Virginia reported an average of 538 new cases each day. From July 26th to August 26th, the sate has reported an average of 995 new cases each day. Also, you can see that hospitalizations have increased steadily over that same time frame. Locally, the graph of the seven-day average of new reported cases in Chesterfield, Henrico, and Richmond is also pretty interesting. Henrico, too, has flattened their new-cases curve but at a level almost double that of Richmond. As for VCU, I’ll put together some graphs next in a couple days after we have at least a week’s worth of data.

I wanted to make sure and note that the CDC has changed their guidance for whether or not you should get coronatested if you’ve spent some time in close contact with someone else who tested positive. The previous CDC guidance read, “Testing is recommended for all close contacts of persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Because of the potential for asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission, it is important that contacts of individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection be quickly identified and tested.” The current CDC guidance reads, “If you have been in close contact (within 6 feet) of a person with a COVID-19 infection for at least 15 minutes but do not have symptoms: You do not necessarily need a test unless you are a vulnerable individual or your health care provider or State or local public health officials recommend you take one.” This is a concerning guidance change, since, as the original guidance notes, lots of folks are asymptomatic and can spread the virus around unknowingly. Also, there’s this: CNN reports that Dr. Fauci was under general anesthesia when the decision was made and that health officials say the change came “from the top down.” Not great! I hate this kind of thing because it erodes trust in the public health guidance, and then we end up with coronaparties and elected officials holding pieces of plastic in front of their faces instead of wearing masks.

Hannah Eason and Andrew Ringle have a piece in the CT about VCU converting more space in the Honors College building into COVID-19 isolation units. This seems prudent to me, although the communication to faculty, staff, and student sounds lacking. Of note: “The spokesperson said a single cluster of 44 people in VCU Athletics tested positive as of Aug. 26.” “Cluster” has a specific epidemiological meaning, and I’m not sure if it’s being used that way here, but either way. Yikes.

Del. Jeff Bourne had another police reform bill make it out of committee during this General Assembly special session. Yesterday, HB 5013, which would ban qualified immunity in certain situations, successfully reported out of the Courts of Justice committee and will now head to a vote by the full House. Brad Kutner at Courthouse News has a nice summary of what all of those words mean, which includes this sentence: “Qualified immunity and sovereign immunity are not easy legal concepts to understand.” OK! Kutner also notes that a similar version of HB 5013 (patroned by Joe Morrissey, who definitely still exists) died in the Senate. With all of that in mind, I am officially looking for the best longread or PDF on qualified immunity. Send me your links!

Northsiders! I am not smart enough to know what it means, but Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch says that the Supreme Court of VIrginia removed at least one of the barriers to removing the A.P. Hill statue. I don’t know if the political moment for taking down monuments to dead white supremacists has passed, but, as a Northsider whose son went to the school adjacent to this particular monument, I’d love to see it go into the garbage.

The Mayor announced a new grant program called Richmond Recovers that aims to cover the costs of an organization’s wages, benefits, rent, and utilities. The $3 million of funding comes from the CARES Act and will be distributed in $10,000–$15,000 chunks. You can read the full grant guidelines here (PDF), but the short of it is that your organization must have: fewer than 50 employees, less than $5 million of revenue in 2019, and have experienced a 25% reduction in revenue due to the pandemic. The online application opens on September 1st, so mark your calendar if you’re thinking about applying.

There is a lot going on in the world of sports as athletes across the country have gone on strike in protest of the police shooting Jacob Blake. It makes me appreciate this makeshift basketball court at Marcus-David Peters Circle in a different way.

Turns out, the correct date for the next Henrico County Board of Supervisor election is 2023. Thanks to everyone who wrote in and got me pointed in the right direction.

I tell you what, it’s been really nice corresponding with GMRVA patrons over the last couple of weeks. With more folks supporting me and this email through Patreon, more folks seem willing to share their thoughts and concerns—which, in all honesty, makes for a better daily email. Not everyone agrees with everything I write each morning (looking back, myself included), but every single person has been kind and thoughtful. I think that’s rad. If you’d like to support Good Morning, RVA with actual money, you can kick $5 or $10 my way each month through the Patreon.

This morning’s longread

How does your ugly garden grow

My garden this year hasn’t been the most productive, but it has been incredibly fulfilling. I know there is A Lot Going On Right Now, but I’ve loved having time to tend to the garden while stuck at home.

But I had a weird and lovely revelation about my ugly garden last week. So long as I actually like doing it, none of the other stuff matters. The health of the vegetables or the number of them — it doesn’t matter. If it dies, it dies; if it thrives, that’s good too. It’s not about the end product, but the daily practice of the garden: the great joy I get, as Samin Nostrat wrote about so beautifully, in watching a plant grow and change, even if it’s not growing and changing quite the way I’d like it to. If I were growing vegetables for sustenance, that’d be a different story. But I’m not a farmer, not even a mini-farmer. I’m a bad gardener, and bad gardening is my hobby. Not a hobby to do for show. Not something I can optimize or monetize. Instead, it sharpens my senses, gives me time in my own echoing mind — and, most importantly, it is not my job.

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This morning’s Instagram