RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Here’s the latest on the coronavirus pandemic in Virginia for Saturday, Dec. 19:
According to the Virginia Department of Health, the state reported 3,584 new cases of the coronavirus in the last 24 hours. This brings Virginia’s total number of reported cases to 302,972 — 259,635 cases are confirmed and 43,337 cases are probable.
VDH data also shows that deaths in Virginia went up by 45 bringing COVID-19 fatalities to 4,643.

The state’s positivity rate decreased slightly to 11.4 percent.
TESTING LOCATIONS NEAR YOU
CHESTERFIELD
- Mondays: Dec. 21 and 28 – 1 to 3 p.m. Second Baptist Church, 5100 West Hundred Road
- Tuesdays: Dec. 22 and 29 – 10 a.m. to noon. Walmsley United Methodist Church, 2950 Walmsley Blvd.
- Wednesdays: Dec. 30 – 10 a.m. to noon. St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, 4400 Beulah Road
- Thursday: Dec. 31 – 10 a.m. to noon. Walmsley United Methodist Church, 2950 Walmsley Blvd.
- Saturdays: Dec. 19 – 10 a.m. to noon. Chesterfield Health Department, Smith-Wagner Building Multi-Purpose Room, 9501 Lucy Corr Circle
Flu vaccines are also available everyday Monday-Friday throughout December (closed on the 24th and 25th), 8:00am-4:30pm at Richmond City Health District (400 E Cary St, Richmond, VA 23220).
COVID-19 AT LOCAL UNIVERSITIES
Virginia Commonwealth University
As of Dec. 17, the college has reported:
- 30 active student cases and 9 active employee cases of COVID-19.
- 0 student is in isolation on campus.
- 3 students are in quarantine on campus.
As of Dec. 16, here is what the college has reported:
- 119 total cases and 8 active cases of COVID-19.
- The university said the monthly testing positivity rate for November is 2.7 percent.
The university’s dashboard as of Dec. 16, shows that:
- 39 total (students and employees) active cases.
- 1,687 people have recovered from the virus since July.
- Read about one JMU student’s experience with COVID-19 here.
LOCAL COVID-19 CASES
The City of Richmond had the largest increase in new cases in Central Virginia Saturday morning, reporting 135 new cases of of COVID-19. Henrico County followed close behind reporting 133 new cases of the virus.

Every locality in our area reported one or more new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours.
- Charles City County: 165 cases, 8 deaths
- Chesterfield County: 11,528 cases, 156 deaths
- City of Colonial Heights: 545 cases, 27 deaths
- City of Hopewell: 752 cases, 9 deaths
- City of Richmond: 8,098 cases, 90 deaths
- Dinwiddie County: 787 cases, 14 deaths
- Goochland County: 525 cases, 7 deaths
- Hanover County: 3,162 cases, 65 deaths
- Henrico County: 10,621 cases, 275 deaths
- New Kent County: 504 cases, 5 death
- Powhatan County: 669 cases, 6 deaths

- March 4, 2020. A room inside the state's Patrick Henry Building was packed with maskless state employees, press, health experts and officials from the governor's administration all while a pandemic peeked around the corner.
- In the wake of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's decision to do away with coronavirus restrictions, major retailers, restaurants and even NBA teams are declining to follow his lead when it comes to mask requirements.
- Some kids likely won't get COVID vaccines until 2022: Is it safe for Virginia schools to reopen now?RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC)-Gov. Ralph Northam is calling on all Virginia school districts to offer in-person learning by March 15th but some kids aren't expected to be vaccinated for COVID-19 until next year. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently predicted that high school students will start getting […]
- Over the next seven days, the Richmond Henrico Health District will be holding three mass vaccination events to vaccinate 12,000 local seniors.
- The main focus of the briefing was to talk about the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Within the next couple of days, Dr. Avula said Virginia would have received right around 69,000 doses of the vaccine. He said for the first couple of weeks, the vaccine will be prioritized for mass vaccination events.
- VDH is reporting the highest number of COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began last year. The state’s COVID-19 deaths increased by 383. The new state total is 9,326.
- City Council members representing Richmond's Southside began calling for a vaccination center south of the river back in February. Now with the expansion of pharmacy vaccination sites, Southside residents will have a local vaccination site.
- 69,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson are slated to arrive in Virginia by the weekend, according to the state's top vaccine program official.
- "I know I'm trying to be funny now but I'm dead serious about the vaccine. I think we all want to get back to normal, whatever that is. And that would be a great shot in the arm, wouldn't it, if we could get back to that."
- Members of the Virginia National Guard are training at the Richmond Raceway to support the Henrico mass vaccination clinic.