The coronavirus nasal swab test was undoubtedly uncomfortable. A scrunch of the face. Tears in the eyes. A burning sensation.
But for many in Chesapeake’s Geneva Square neighborhood on Friday — including Gov. Ralph Northam and other state and city leaders — the swab of the nasal cavity was a necessary step.
“It’s worth it,” said Maria Villot, who got tested along with Rubenia Sanchez and her young son Luis.
Villott said they drove over from Norfolk because Sanchez lives in a home with some young kids and an aunt who’s been feeling sick. Villott and others wanted to get some peace of mind.
They joined around 100 others who had lined up to take the test by 11 a.m., thanks in part to a host of groups including the Chesapeake Health Department, the Urban League of Hampton Roads, the Chesapeake Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Chesapeake Regional Medical Center, whose nurses were on hand to administer up to 400 tests. The event was organized to help the underserved, as participants not only got a test but a box of food, a vegetable plant as well as other essentials like toilet paper, masks and hand sanitizer.
The tests came on a day when the rate of positive cases continued on a downward trend in Virginia. Officials reported 676 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to the state’s department of health. As of Friday there were 563 confirmed cases in Chesapeake and 15 deaths.
About 4,000 people live in Geneva Square, a neighborhood of apartments with a high population of African Americans and Latinos. That’s why the group chose the spot: Communities of color have been hit the hardest by COVID-19, said Mary Bibbs, chief operating officer of the Urban League of Hampton Roads. Those who got tests Friday did not have to live in Geneva Square.
Around 10:30 a.m., Northam took a seat on the grassy area set up in the middle of the neighborhood. The Virginia Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was among the organizers. He lowered his green mask to get the test.
“It’s better to laugh than cry, right?” he joked with the nurse afterward. He told reporters this was his second test and that he has been feeling healthy.
The test comes just a day after Northam announced steps that his administration was ordering the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee to be removed from the capital city of Richmond. There, and elsewhere, protests have been held in the wake of the police custody death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, some directing anger at the fact Confederate statues still stand.
“But we have other monuments of inequity we need to address,” Northam said Friday in Chesapeake as a line of people waited to get tested. “Access to health care, access to quality education, access to business opportunities. These are things as we as a society need to address in the coming days, weeks and years.”
Also receiving tests were U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, Del. Cliff Hayes and Janice Underwood, Virginia’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Donald Hargrove, 68, of Chesapeake got one shortly after the governor. Recently retired from the U.S. Post Office after a career in the Air Force, Hargrove said he hasn’t been feeling sick. But he has some pre-existing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes that have made him careful about always wearing a mask in public and using hand sanitizer.
The test was for some peace of mind, especially after his 41-year-old son, a truck driver in North Carolina, had the virus. On three different occasions over a recent eight-day period, his son texted him thinking he was going to die. Fortunately, he’s better now and back to work.
“You never know,” Hargrove said. “I’m just trying to play it safe.”
Results were expected to take a couple days.
Gordon Rago, 757-446-2601, gordon.rago@pilotonline.com
