Henrico declares local emergency as COVID-19 cases spike

The Henrico County Board of Supervisors Tuesday night declared a local emergency to allow greater flexibility to purchase COVID-19 testing kits and other supplies amid a surge of new cases. Henrico has witnessed more than a fifth of its nearly 50,000 total confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 19 days alone.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched the omicron variant fuel an unprecedented increase in COVID-19 cases in our community,” County Manager John Vithoulkas said. “This emergency order allows us to be nimble and take whatever actions are necessary to help keep our community and employees safe during this most challenging time.”

The board approved a resolution affirming the local emergency at its regular meeting, though the action applies retroactively to Vithoulkas’s initial order Monday and follows the local COVID-19 emergency that was in effect in Henrico from March 13, 2020, through June 8, 2021.

Henrico had 814.65 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents for the week of Jan. 3 – more than three times the 235.78 case total from two weeks earlier, according to a report from the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts. In addition, Henrico’s general government and Henrico County Public Schools are experiencing employee absences that are about three times above typical levels for January, Vithoulkas said.

The emergency declaration makes no change to county operations and services. Henrico continues to require face coverings to be worn by all employees and visitors to county buildings and facilities. For details, visit http://henrico.us/coronavirus.