CHESAPEAKE, Va. — COVID-19 cases just hit record high numbers in Chesapeake. On Thursday, the city reported 400 new cases, and had the highest local positivity rate in the area at 23.1%.
“It’s not certainly a title we want to have, of being number 1 in that,” Chesapeake Mayor Rick West said.
West said he’s concerned about the rising COVID-19 cases in his city, but he believes city leaders are doing everything they can to slow the spread of the virus.
West said he expected the increase after the busy holiday season.
“Chesapeake is a city of families, and that’s where the spread is coming from, so what are you going to do?" he said. "Are you going to tell families they cannot get together? It’s a tough choice for people to make. I know I’m having to make it even to this day.”
On Wednesday, Chesapeake city leaders held a round table discussion.
West said they talked all things COVID-19, including testing, teleworking and the vaccine.
“We talked yesterday a great deal about the facilities that can be used to distribute the vaccine," he said. "We talked about the different departments that can get it. We are ready. Chesapeake is ready to go, as soon as we can get the state rolling.”
People who work at Chesapeake businesses said they hope that means things will eventually return back to normal.
“We’ve been rolling with it all along. We have the restrictions but like I said, we’re fortunate again to have the customers to keep us busy,” explained Al Habit.
Habit, the manager of Bad Habits Wing & Oyster Bar, said the Centerville Turnpike Bridge closure (on top of the pandemic) has affected sales.
“We are down previous years, because of the seating restrictions because you can have only so many people here, it has hurt us,” he said.
Habit said he is thankful for his customers and the restaurant plans to keep following CDC guidelines to keep them safe.
West said he hopes people keep social distancing and wearing their masks to get the number of COVID-19 cases down.