Virginia’s capacity to test for the coronavirus doubled in about a week, Gov. Ralph Northam said Monday.
The state is able to test about 4,000 people a day as opposed to 2,000 per day last week.
But the goal remains to test 10,000 per day.
Northam also announced a shipment of 14,000 test swabs from FEMA and a shipment of personal protective equipment: 800,000 gloves and 300,000 surgical masks. The governor says the Department of Corrections has produced 470,000 masks.
Meanwhile, there has been a rising number of coronavirus cases and Virginia’s meat-processing plants.
“These poultry plants are a vital part of our food supply chain providing food to millions of people on the east coast, but the health of the people who work in these plants is also critically important,” Northam said. “While the companies here in Virginia are taking additional safety measures inside their facilities to protect their workers and keep the plants operational, I am very concerned about the continued rise in cases.”
Northam said a team from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will look into the safety of the plants.
