Virginia Department of Health Updating COVID-19 Dashboards to Streamline Data Presentation, Conform to CDC Reporting Standards

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) continues to streamline information on its COVID-19 data dashboards to better reflect current COVID-19 trends in the Commonwealth and to align with updated reporting standards of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These changes will take place Tuesday, August 1, 2023; the dashboards will continue to update weekly on Tuesdays. Access to currently available data will be maintained in the Virginia Open Data Portal.

The COVID-19 Summary dashboard aims to serve as a hub of priority metrics that provide an overview of COVID-19 trends and activity in Virginia. The dashboard has been updated as follows:

  • Emergency Department Visits: Updated
    • VDH will use the standard of “diagnosed COVID-19” to align with the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker.
  • Cases by Date of Illness (on the summary page): Removed
    • COVID-19 cases are significantly underreported due to at-home tests. VDH will still maintain the individual case dashboard and continue to prioritize the surveillance of severe illnesses.
  • Hospital Admissions: Updated
    • A Hospital Admission Level Indicator that aligns with CDC levels will be added. Hospital Admissions will be updated to use the rate per 100,000 population of new admissions, changing from the number of new admissions.
  • Hospital Beds in Use: Updated
    • Hospital Beds in Use will change from Number of Beds in Use for COVID-19 to Percent of Total Inpatient Beds Occupied by COVID-19 Patients.
    • An Inpatient Bed Occupied Level Indicator, which will be aligned with CDC levels, will be added.
  • Vaccination: Updated
    • This section of the summary dashboard will now display the cumulative total doses administered.
    • The percent of people vaccinated with a primary series will be displayed.
    • The percent of the population with up-to-date vaccinations will replace the number of booster/additional doses administered.
    • Definition of “primary series” and “up to date” are explained on the revised dashboard.
      • Primary series includes persons who received one dose of a single-dose vaccine or two doses with proper intervals of either a mRNA or a protein-based series.
      • Up to date includes persons who have received all recommended doses of COVID-19 vaccine per the current CDC definition.
    • The map will be updated to display the percent of the population who are up-to-date to reflect the current CDC definition.
  • Variants: Removed
    • Sample sizes for Virginia isolates are low and not representative. The CDC genomic surveillance report for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 3 is available and includes Virginia data.

Several standalone COVID-19 dashboards will be updated as follows:

  • Vaccine Summary: Updated
    • This dashboard will now display the percent of people vaccinated with a primary series, replacing the measures for count of and percent of people fully vaccinated, which conforms to the CDC standards.
    • The percent of the population with up-to-date vaccination will replace the number of booster/additional doses administered.
    • Definition of “primary series” and “up to date” are explained on the revised dashboard (see above).
    • The map will be updated to display the percent of up-to-date to reflect the current CDC definition.
    • The COVID-19 vaccination administration by day will be removed.
  • Vaccination Demographics: Updated
    • The dashboard will display demographic data populations who have completed their primary series or are up to date on vaccination, a change from the previously display of at least one dose, fully vaccinated, monovalent booster, and bivalent booster.
    • The categories and headers have been simplified for improved clarity and user experience.
    • Age group metrics have been updated, including removal of Ages: 12+ and addition of 6 months+.
  • Emergency Department Visits: Updated
    • A simplified dashboard with prioritized metrics will be displayed.
  • Outbreaks: Removed
    • VDH will communicate mitigation strategies to the public if any concerning COVID-19 outbreak trends were observed.
  • Weekly Health District Case Data: Removed
    • This is being retired to streamline the COVID-19 dashboards.

VDH remains dedicated to preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19, particularly for people at higher risk, and will continue working to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in the state. These dashboard changes are intended to streamline the information that is most helpful in tracking COVID-19 and its impact on Virginia at this point in the pandemic. The VDH COVID-19 dashboards are available here.

Emergency Medical Services Week Recognizes the Determination and Commitment of Virginia’s EMS Providers to Deliver Quality Prehospital Care and Save Lives

Virginia’s EMS providers respond to emergencies during our citizens greatest hour of need. The critical moments from the time a 911 call is received to the arrival at the hospital is where emergency care begins. Last year, EMS providers responded to more than 1.65 million calls for help in Virginia, which represents approximately 4,520 incidents per day.

As proclaimed by Governor Glenn Youngkin, May 21-27 is EMS Week in Virginia. This special week honors EMS providers’ commitment to respond to emergencies and provide critical care. EMS for Children Day, May 24, emphasizes the pediatric patient and their required specialized treatment. This year’s EMS Week theme is, “Where Emergency Care Begins,” and it highlights the importance of our first responders who assure quality prehospital care.

“Seconds count when a person is suffering a heart attack, is seriously injured in a wreck, or is having a life-threatening allergic reaction, stroke or other medical emergency. EMS teams provide pre-hospital, on-the-scene care that can make the difference between full recovery, prolonged disability, or death,” said State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton, MD. “EMS professionals, along with other first responders, are also on the front lines of the opioid overdose epidemic, saving lives by administering naloxone, giving people another chance at life and recovery. We appreciate their dedication to the communities they serve.”

“Virginia’s EMS providers are among the best in the nation due to their elevated focus on providing exceptional prehospital emergency care and maintaining their skills with continuing education,” said Gary Brown, director of the Virginia Department of Health Office of EMS. “Their ability to remain calm, treat injuries and save lives during harrowing incidents is truly remarkable. It is my honor to recognize and thank our EMS providers for their heroic efforts, dedication and determination to protecting the health and well-being of all people in Virginia, each and every day.”

During EMS Week, Virginia EMS agencies may host community activities, including first aid classes, health and safety fairs, open houses and more. These family-friendly events encourage citizens to meet and greet the first responders in their neighborhoods. Please check their websites or social media pages for additional information.

In recognition of Virginia’s fallen fire and EMS personnel, the Virginia Fallen Firefighters and EMS Memorial Service honors fire any EMS responders who died in the line of duty and those who risk their lives daily to serve and protect Virginians. The Annual Fallen Firefighters and EMS Memorial Service will be held June 3 at noon at the Richmond International Raceway.

To learn more about the Virginia Department of Health Office of EMS, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/emergency-medical-services/.

COVIDWISE Exposure Notifications App to be Retired When the National Public Health Emergency Comes to an End

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) announced today that the COVIDWISE Exposure Notifications App will be retired when the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) disables the National Key Server as the National Public Health Emergency comes to a close on May 11.

More than 3 million users downloaded the COVIDWISE app and/or turned on COVIDWISE Express, an app-less version exclusively for iPhone users. COVIDWISE has alerted thousands of users if they have been in close contact with an individual who anonymously reported a positive COVID-19 test result. The app and COVIDWISE Express has used Bluetooth technology to quickly notify users likely exposed to COVID-19 with the goal of reducing the risk of infection and stopping disease transmission.

“COVIDWISE brought us cutting-edge technology as we responded to one of the biggest public health threats in modern times,” said State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton, M.D. “With this technology, public health agencies put information directly into the hands of citizens, providing them with a tool and information to protect themselves and others around them.”

The free COVIDWISE app, which launched in early August 2020, was the first exposure notifications app in the United States using the Google/Apple framework. No personal data has ever been collected, stored, tracked or transmitted to VDH as part of the app or Express version.

“We stated from day one that when COVIDWISE was no longer needed, VDH would take the app down,” says Jeff Stover, VDH Chief of Staff. “We are following through on that commitment to the public.”

COVIDWISE works across state boundaries, including Washington D.C. and more than 20 states that have similar exposure notification systems using the National Key Server. This has allowed users to receive exposure notifications from people in participating states or jurisdictions.

The app has been updated several times and has included options to help users find and schedule vaccine appointments and access other valuable vaccination-related information, including the user’s COVID-19 vaccine record.

Virginia’s public service video promoting use of exposure notifications, “Students for COVIDWISE,” won a silver Telly Award in 2021 and was nominated for two Emmy Awards in 2020.

When the app is disabled on May 11, users may simply delete it from their phones. COVIDWISE Express users can turn off exposure notifications in Settings.  Regardless, the Bluetooth technology that enables COVIDWISE to operate will no longer work for the app or COVIDWISE Express. The retirement of COVIDWISE does not impact COVID-19 surveillance activities, which will continue as part of VDH’s ongoing COVID response.

For more information on COVID-19 in Virginia, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus. To access your COVID—19 vaccine record, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Record Request Portal.

Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Seeks Public Help to Identify Skeletal Remains

Yesterday, Virginia Department of Health’s (VDH) Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) released facial approximations of eight skeletal remains found in the Central Virginia region.  The facial images represent the eight men whose remains were found in separate locations between 1988 and 2020.

“Many of these cases have remained unidentified for decades,” said Lara Newell, the long-term unidentified coordinator for OCME. “The goal is to get the information and the likenesses out into the public in the hopes that they will be recognized, and eventually identified.”

The facial approximations were created from CT scans of the skulls and examinations of the remains by the FBI Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Imaging Units at no cost to OCME or law enforcement.

Photographs of the facial approximations have been entered into the case files of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons Systems (NamUs). NamUs is a web-based computer search engine funded by the National Institute of Justice to facilitate matching missing and unidentified persons.

Information on the unidentified individuals is as follows:

The skeletal remains of a White male, approximately 39-64 years old, were found in an overgrown area near a pathway in the City of Richmond on July 2, 2020. Cause and manner of death undetermined. The individual is approximately 5’2” to 5’7” in height and had healed fractures to nose, ribs and shoulder (clavicle). Fractures to nose would have caused deviation to the left. NamUs ID: 72826
The skeletal remains of a Black male, approximately 33-49 years old, were found in the rear yard of a residential area within the floodplain of the James River in the City of Richmond on March 7, 2016. Cause and manner of death undetermined. The individual is approximately 5’9” to 6’3” in height and had healed fracture of the right knee, may have walked with a limp/locked knee. May have been partially deaf in the left ear due to trauma (healing). NamUs ID: 14889
The skeletal remains of a Hispanic male, approximately 25-35 years old, were found in a wooded area in Highland Springs in Henrico County on January 28, 2014. Cause of death is homicidal violence of undetermined etiology, and the manner is homicide. The individual is approximately 4’8” to 5’3” in height and has had numerous dental restorations. NamUs ID: 12242
The skeletal remains of a Black male, approximately 50-70 years old, were found in an industrial area by construction crews in the City of Richmond on September 26, 2000. Cause and manner of death undetermined. The individual is approximately 5’2” to 5’9” in height and healed rib and lower left leg fractures. NamUs ID: 6148
The skeletal remains of a Black male, approximately 34-68 years old, were found in a residential area in the City of Richmond on October 23, 1995. Cause and manner of death undetermined. The individual is approximately 5’9” in height and had jaw fracture. NamUs ID: 903
The skeletal remains of a White male, approximately 45-65 years old, were found in a wooded area in Brunswick County by a hunter on January 1, 1990. Cause and manner of death are undetermined. The individual had healed facial and abdominal trauma, possibly from a car accident or another traumatic event, 15 years prior to death. NamUs ID: 6513
The skeletal remains of two white Hispanic males were found in a wooded area in Ruther Glen in Caroline County by hunters on November 10, 1988. The older male is approximately 35-45 years old and between 5’5” and 5’9” in height.  The younger male is approximately 17-25 years old and is approximately 5’6” in height.  DNA indicates a possible parent-child relationship. Cause death was blunt force injury to the head and the manner is listed as homicide. NamUs IDs: 6507 (older) and 6301 (younger)

The facial approximations are online at www.vdh.virginia.gov/medical-examiner/looking-for-a-missing-person/.

Anyone with any information about the possible identity of any of these cases is asked to call the Central District – OCME at (804) 786-3174 or email at OCME_CENT@vdh.virginia.gov.

Currently, Virginia has 224 unidentified remains statewide, with some remains dating back to 1948.

Governor Glenn Youngkin Announces a Commonwealth Milestone: Over 100 Doulas Certified a Year After the Establishment of the Commonwealth’s Certification Program

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced today that 107 individuals have become state-certified community doulas in the Commonwealth and are now providing services to Virginia’s women and their families. The achievement of this important milestone highlights the successful collaboration between the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) and comes just one year after VDH established the requirements for doula state certification on January 6, 2022, and the launch of the Virginia Medicaid Community Doula benefit.

Last week, Governor Glenn Youngkin was present at the grand opening of the new Urban Baby Beginnings maternal health hub in Petersburg. “I continue to be committed to improving maternal and infant health outcomes in the Commonwealth,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin, who was present at the health hub’s grand opening. “The new maternal health hub truly exemplifies the Partnership for Petersburg, bringing together many state and community partnerships to make this possible.”

The maternal health hub, located at 1965 Wakefield Street in Petersburg, VA, was created through a three-year, $825,000 grant from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation.

“As we prioritize maternal health from pregnancy to life with a newborn, the maternal health hub is a helpful resource for Virginia families, especially mothers,” said First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin. “The Petersburg maternal health hub, along with several other hubs operating in the state, offer a community-based model of care to enhance maternal and child health outcomes.”

Urban Baby Beginning will support pregnant and postpartum mothers and offer supportive services to doulas. Currently there are 107 state-certified doulas within the Commonwealth, 57 of which are also Medicaid doula providers. Engagement efforts have been ongoing within the state to bring awareness about doulas, doula state certification, and the new Medicaid doula benefit.

“We must continue to build on our collective work to ensure mother and baby receive critical prenatal and postpartum care.” says Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources John Littel. “The wrap-around services and doula support provided by Urban Baby Beginnings will help ensure mothers and babies are healthy and supported.”

“Through the Partnership for Petersburg and the doula benefit, we have committed to enhancing access to care for the over 300 Petersburg women who give birth through the Virginia Medicaid program every year.” says DMAS Director Cheryl J. Roberts. “The Urban Baby Beginnings maternal health hub aligns well with these goals, and we are excited to continue to collaborate in providing services to this community.”

Doulas are trained, non-medical professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support, including childbirth education and lactation support, to pregnant mothers before and throughout pregnancy, during labor and delivery, and up to one year after birth. Doulas also provide a connection to local community resources and referrals for health or social services such as food, transportation, and housing. The availability of state-certified doulas within the Commonwealth who are now eligible for Medicaid reimbursement means greater access to advice, care, and support with the goal of improving maternal and infant health outcomes.

“Doulas play an important role in supporting pregnant moms before, during and after delivery. Expanding the use of doulas across the Commonwealth will lead to improved birth outcomes such as lower preterm birth rates and other benefits including the reduced likelihood of a cesarean birth and higher likelihood of breastfeeding initiation,” said VDH Acting State Health Commissioner Parham Jaberi, MD, MPH.

To become a state-certified doula, individuals must complete all education and training requirements which include 60 hours of training in core competency areas and submit a state-certified doula application to the Virginia Certification Board (VCB). Doulas who become state-certified through the VCB are then eligible to apply to become Medicaid Doula Providers through the DMAS. Once approved, these providers can begin providing doula services to Medicaid’s 36,000 pregnant, and postpartum members.

Doulas have shared some of the reasons why they do this work is because it is “rewarding,” “powerful,” and “life changing,” and for the positive impact they feel they are having in supporting pregnant mothers before, during, and after delivery.

“We are pioneers. We are saving lives,” said Larissa Joos, a Medicaid Doula provider.

More information is available about doulas, the state certification process, and the Medicaid doula benefit, on the VDH website and the DMAS website.

State Registrar Retires After Nearly a Half Century of Service to the Commonwealth

State Registrar Retires After Nearly a Half Century of Service to the Commonwealth

Janet M. Rainey worked to ensure equity in the issuance of vital records, righting wrongs to Native Americans

Photo of Janet M. RaineyDuring her nearly half century working for Virginia’s Vital Records unit, State Registrar Janet M. Rainey has had a front row seat to historical, cultural, societal and technological change impacting the state’s collection and dissemination of information about births, deaths, marriages and divorces. 

Rainey, 66, is retiring from the Virginia Department of Health on January 31. During her tenure, she helped the agency evolve from a paper-based system to one that makes records accessible electronically at dozens of Local Health Departments and DMV offices. She helped fulfill legislative mandates on genealogical research and death reporting. She assisted hundreds of Native Americans who sought to correct birth certificates which labeled them as “Colored” at the insistence of avowed white supremacist Walter Plecker, Virginia’s first State Registrar of vital records. She made sure marriage reporting forms reflected legalization of same sex marriage, helped citizens navigate the process to record unrecorded and home births and found new ways to simplify processes to record all vital records.    

“Ms. Rainey’s dedication to ensuring the integrity and security of Virginia vital records has benefited all Virginians. Hundreds of thousands of vital records requests are processed every year, and she and her team have worked tirelessly to make that process accessible,” said State Health Commissioner Colin M. Greene, MD, MPH. “She has also worked with stakeholder groups and legislators on special initiatives, including a decades-long effort to correct Native American birth certificates. Thank you, Janet, for your service to Virginia, and congratulations and best wishes on your retirement.”  

Her accomplishments include:

  • Overseeing a contract with Ancestry.com to, in accordance with legislation, make thousands of records available to people researching their family trees.
  • Overseeing the implementation of the issuance of vital records though DMV offices. By the end of 2021, Virginia DMV offices had issued more than a million certified copies of vital records.
  • The creation of the state’s Electronic Death Registration System. Rainey worked with funeral directors’ associations and other stakeholders, including medical certifiers and medical examiners to ensure the system met the needs of all who participate in the filing of death certificates.
  • Oversaw the creation of Virginia’s electronic birth certificate system, created a process for mothers to request a copy of their child’s birth certificate while in the hospital and bypass the ID requirement.

The Office of Vital Records produces nearly 300,000 copies of vital records a year and there are more than one million vital records issued throughout the entire Virginia system of vital records which includes issuance at Local Health Departments and DMV.

Thanks to Rainey’s efforts, nearly all the records are automated and nearly all are available electronically.

As a young and curious newcomer in 1975 to the then Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, Rainey worked as a clerk/typist. Her tools were pencils, ink pens and hundreds of record books that had to be searched by hand.

Her curiosity caught the attention of then State Registrar Rusty Booker, who taught her how the office worked. Five years passed before she realized it.

“I didn’t even know it until I got my five-year certificate saying I had been here for five years,” Rainey said. “Knowing myself, if I didn’t have a passion for this job, probably I would have left before five years.”

Rainey eventually went to work in the Special Services Unit, responsible for amending and creating vital records, rising to become the unit’s supervisor. While she was there, she filled in for every other supervisor position in the office.

Rainey went on to become the Assistant State Registrar. In 2004, she became the acting Director and State Registrar and was named State Registrar in 2006. Rainey is only the state’s sixth registrar since 1912.

Thanks to her mentor, Rainey found a passion for the job and advises young people who are seeking a career to do the same. “Know what it is that you want,” Rainey said. “It may take two or three times to find the career you want. But be passionate about it.”

Through the years, Rainey has continued to personally help Virginians find and correct their records, most recently assisting an 88-year-old whose birth was never recorded. She later received a letter of thanks, one of hundreds over the years.

She’s proud of that work and of rising from a low-paid clerk to the title of State Registrar.

“People will chase the dollar more so than the career,” Rainey said. “Sometimes our careers may not pay a top dollar that we want, but it’s something that you can go home saying that you made a difference in somebody’s life.”

A photo of Janet M. Rainey is available upon request by media outlets. Contact Cindy Clayton at cindy.clayton@vdh.virginia.gov

Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records Announces Top Fifteen Baby Names of 2022, Other Interesting Virginia Birth Data

Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records Announces Top Fifteen Baby Names of 2022, Other Interesting Virginia Birth Data

Whether inspired by scripture, royalty, a favorite singer, Disney character, or family heritage, parents are choosing diverse names for their newborns. Today, the Office of Vital Records in the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) unveils its lists of Top 15 baby names for children born in the commonwealth in 2022, perhaps providing some inspiration for stressed-out parents-to-be. 

Topping the list of the most popular names for boys in 2022 was Noah while Charlotte was the most popular for girls. In 2021, there were 95,618 babies born; while the numbers for 2022 are still being counted, the Office of Vital Records estimates there were a similar number of births last year.  

“It’s always fascinating to see the top names for babies in any given year,” said Seth Austin, director of VDH’s Office of Vital Records. “We see names from a number of sources: a movie, religious texts, a family’s personal history. They all represent the commonwealth’s wonderfully diverse cultures.”  

Rounding out the Top 15 for boys in 2022 are James, Liam, William, Henry, Theodore, Oliver, Elijah, Levi, Benjamin, Owen, John, Jack, Asher, and Lucas. For girls, after Charlotte, 2022’s top popular names are Olivia, Ava, Amelia, Emma, Harper, Evelyn, Eleanor, Sophia, Elizabeth, Lilly, Abigail, Riley, Nora, and Chloe. 

Office of Vital Records data also indicate the most popular 2022 baby names for the largest ethnic groups in the state: Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White.  

  • Among Asian babies born in 2022, Noah and Sophia were the most popular names. Muhammad, Liam, Kai, and Henry fill out the Top Five list for boys; Chloe, Olivia, Mia, and Charlotte complete the Top Five list for girls.  
  • For Black babies born in Virginia in 2022, Noah and Ava were the most popular names. Elijah, Josiah, Amir, and Micah round out the Top Five for boys, while Naomi, Nova, Zuri, and Leilani fill out the Top Five for girls. 
  • Liam and Mia were the top names for Hispanic boys and girls born in Virginia in 2022. Mateo, Dylan, Noah, and Lucas fill out the Top Five list for Hispanic boys’ names, while Camila, Isabella, Emma, and Genesis complete the Top Five list for girls’ names. 
  • William and Charlotte were the top names for White babies born in 2022, followed by Henry, James, Theodore, and Oliver for boys and Olivia, Amelia, Harper, and Emma for girls. 

Half a century ago in 1972, VDH data shows that Michael and Jennifer were the most popular names for baby boys and girls born that year. James, Christopher, David, Robert, John, William, Brian, Jason, Kevin, Jeffrey, Charles, Richard, Matthew, and Thomas fill out the rest of the Top 15 for boys’ names in 1972. Among girls in 1972, the rest of the Top 15 include Kimberly, Amy, Angela, Melissa, Lisa, Michelle, Tammy, Mary, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Heather, Susan, and Karen. Information about popular names in each of the 50 states going back to 1960 is available from the Social Security Administration by using its Popular Names by Decade tool. 

Office of Vital Records data also reveals other interesting information about 2022 births.  

  • The most births occurred in August with 8,917 babies delivered, with Aug. 17 seeing the most number of babies born – 359.  
  • Fridays are the busiest day of the week in Virginia delivery rooms: 14,429 babies were born on a Friday in 2022; Sundays, on the other hand, are the slowest days of the week, with only 8,746 born on a Sunday in 2022.  
  • There were 1,344 sets of twins born in Virginia in 2022, while there were 19 sets of triplets born in the state.  
  • And on New Year’s Day 2022, 178 new Virginians came into the world. 

The Office of Vital Records is Virginians’ one-stop shop for any number of personal records requests including birth and death certificates, name changes, and marriage and divorce records. The Office’s headquarters is located in Richmond at 2001 Maywill Street, Suite #101, Richmond, VA 23230; it is open to the public Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The vital records call center — (804) 662-6200 — is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public may also apply for a vital record, pay for it, and receive updates on the request’s fulfillment online using this tracking tool. 

The public may also access Office of Vital Records services through their local health district offices and Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices. Use this Health Department locator tool to find your local health department office; please call ahead to ensure your local office offers the services you need to access. Use this DMV office locator tool to find a DMV office near you; DMV offices are open for walk-ins and appointments.