Updated Thursday, March 19 at 2:10 p.m.
The number of "presumed positive" cases of the coronavirus illness COVID-19 took a jump Tuesday, with nearby Arlington County leading in the number of diagnosed people.
Virginia has tested more than 1,000 people for COVID-19, resulting in 67 positive test results. Thirteen of those are in Arlington County, 12 in Fairfax County, and just two in the City of Alexandria. (See the map below from the Virginia Dept. of Health.)
The Alexandria Health Department announced Tuesday night just before 9 p.m. that officials are investigating additional cases. by Thursday afternoon, there were 94 cases statewide, including four in Alexandria City, 17 in Arlington and 16 in Fairfax County.
Inova Hospital said it does not have plans to open a drive-through testing center, as there are not enough tests.
Covering the Corridor reported: “We explored the use drive-thru testing; however, due to limited testing kits available nationwide, it is not an option at this time,” said Inova spokeswoman Tracy Connell. “Inova evaluates all patients and ensures necessary testing is conducted while preserving the capability to continue sustained testing.”
Virginia Dept. of Health
In response on Tuesday, multiple governmental organizations and officials took quick action to encourage social distancing and other protective measures to try to contain the outbreak.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority further reduced service, announcing Tuesday afternoon that only those who absolutely must take Metrorail or Metrobus for essential trips should do so.
This means most Alexandrians will be viewing the world-famous Tidal Basin Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC from a distance. WMATA's announcement included the following statement in bold font:
"Specifically, the Task Force is urging the public to NOT travel to view the Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin so that limited transit capacity remains available for essential travel (e.g. doctors, nurses, essential governmental functions, etc.). Metro reserves the right to close stations near the Tidal Basin at any time to discourage the use of Metro for tourist trips."
Alexandria's DASH Bus will implement an Enhanced Saturday Operating Plan on weekdays, beginning Thursday, March 19 until further notice.
Fairfax County Connector
Virginia Limits Gatherings
Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday issued an emergency order giving local governments the ability to enforce a limit of no more than 10 customers in restaurants, fitness centers and theaters. A violation of this could lead to an immediate business suspension and a misdemeanor charge. The order will remain in effect until it is rescinded — there is no set end date.
The order changes the operating plans for some businesses in the Alexandria area. Many have chosen to close until further notice, others are depending on take-out and delivery to sustain business through the pandemic.
Fairfax County Declares Local Emergency
Following Alexandria's local emergency declaration earlier this week, Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency.
The County's Emergency blog noted, "The local emergency declaration is primarily a financial mechanism that provides greater flexibility and authority for the county in purchasing hard to find resources and supplies. It also increases the authorities granted to the county to protect the health and safety of the community and provide emergency assistance in such a rapidly evolving incident."
To stay informed in Fairfax County:
- Call the Health Department Call Center at 703-267-3511 with Coronavirus questions; open 9:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
- Text FFXCOVID to 888777 to receive updates from Fairfax County about COVID-19.
- Email questions or concerns to ffxcovid@fairfaxcounty.gov. This email account will be staffed Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. through 8 p.m.
- Visit a web portal for coronavirus that serves as a one-stop online resource for information.
Fairfax County Public Schools remain closed into April. Food assistance is available for students and families. For the time being, libraries and recreation centers are also closed.
City of Alexandria Considers More Assistance
The City of Alexandria, which declared an emergency over the weekend, passed a number of additional measures Wednesday night, March 18, to help residents and locally-owned businesses.
Read Alexandria Relaxes Regulations Around Delivery, Hours, Outdoor Dining for more information on this.
The meeting docket included additional items, such as a Human Services response providing rental assistance and emergency shelter, expanding the child care fee subsidy, increasing healthcare capacity and more.
For businesses, relief could also include deferring meal tax collections and late fees, providing micro-loans to qualifying small businesses, making it much easier for businesses to expand outdoor dining and take-out or delivery services, and submitting formal requests to landlords to provide business tenants with rent deferrals/reductions.
The council will focus on these items at its next meeting.
Residents may weigh in on the proposals by contacting Mayor Justin Wilson and members of City Council by email or phone, rather than attend Wednesday evening's meeting at City Hall.
Also effective now, Alexandria will suspend enforcement of parking restrictions for residential street sweeping and for the prohibition on vehicles parking on the street for more than 72 hours as more residents self-isolate at home. All other posted parking restrictions, including residential permit time limits and parking meters, remain in effect.
As of Tuesday night, library branches and indoor museums and historic sites are closed until further notice.
