coronavirus

Covid cases hit new record in Arlington, but test positivity rate starts to trend down

By ARLnow.com
Covid cases in Arlington as of Jan. 10, 2022 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

(Updated at 1:25 p.m.) There’s some hope that the current Omicron wave of Covid cases in the D.C. area may be near a peak, but new data in Arlington is a mixed bag in terms of whether that’s actually the case.

The county’s seven-day moving average of new cases hit a fresh high today, with 548 new cases being reported each day, on average. Saturday also reached a new single-day case record, with 867 new cases.

After weeks of staying low, Covid hospitalizations have also taken an upturn amid the surge of new cases. Five new hospitalizations were reported today in Arlington, bringing the seven-day moving average to just below three hospitalizations per day.

Covid hospitalizations in Arlington as of Jan. 10, 2022 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

No new deaths have been reported in Arlington so far in 2022, but according to the Virginia Dept. of Health that may be delays in implementing a new way of classifying Covid fatalities.

Regardless, the county’s high vaccination rate likely has contributed to the relative lack of serious illness and death. As of today, 94.6% of the adult population in Arlington has been vaccinated.

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said on CBS’s Face the Nation this weekend that he believes the Omicron wave is peaking in Mid-Atlantic cities, including in the D.C. area.

While the case data is still pointing upward, the test positivity rate in Arlington has taken a downturn, perhaps supporting the idea that a peak is near.

The Covid test positivity rate peaked at 29.3% on Jan. 2 in Arlington. It has come down since then and currently stands at 27.1%.

Covid positivity rate in Arlington as of Jan. 10, 2022 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

Statewide, Virginia hospitals say they’ve surpassed the peak Covid hospitalization numbers of January 2021, straining the healthcare system.

On Monday afternoon, Gov. Ralph Northam announced that he was taking steps to temporarily increase hospital capacity in the Commonwealth.

A press release noted that “modeling… suggests the virus will peak in the next few weeks.”

Governor Northam today took steps to increase Virginia’s hospital capacity and support healthcare workers responding to COVID-19, after a record number of hospitalizations were posted on Friday of last week. He issued a limited 30-day order to expand the number of available hospital beds, increase staffing capacity at hospitals and nursing homes, and allow public health agencies greater flexibility in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The limited duration is based on modeling that suggests the virus will peak in the next few weeks.

“Health care workers and hospitals are exhausted, and they are again facing increasing numbers of patients, affecting their ability to provide care,” Governor Northam said. “These steps will help ease the strain, giving medical professionals more flexibility to care for people. Ultimately, the best thing everyone can do for our hospitals and their staff is to get vaccinated.”

Here in Arlington, Virginia Hospital Center ER chief Mike Silverman wrote in his weekly Facebook update that “the number of new cases we’re diagnosing is on a whole different scale than previous surges.”

First off, we are diagnosing a lot of COVID in the emergency department. Patients classified as being symptomatic are testing at a 64% positivity rate. That is up from 59% last week. The good news is we had less symptomatic patients this week than during the holiday week and an overall decline of about 20% of new positive cases among this group of people. It is really crazy to look at the graph that I have kept throughout the pandemic because the number of new cases we’re diagnosing is on a whole different scale than previous surges. We’re seeing 5 times more positive cases among our symptomatic patients that in either of the previous surges. We’re also doing a considerable amount of testing on patients that are classified as asymptomatic. As a reminder, these are patients generally being admitted to the hospital for non-COVID related reasons or have symptoms that are not consistent with COVID. The positivity rate among these patients was less than 1% last week of November. This week, it was over 29%, up from 24% the week previous.

“The Coronavirus is not done with us yet,” Silverman’s post concluded.

More at-home Covid tests could be available in Arlington as soon as tomorrow

By Matt Blitz
1/2

At-home Covid tests have been hard to come by in Arlington, but distributors are promising that more tests will be available soon.

Tests haven’t been available at many Arlington pick-up sites and stores for a number of days, but some could be available as soon as tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 8.

While this week’s winter weather delayed shipments earlier this week to local CVS stores, a spokesperson tells ARLnow that stores should expect deliveries of at-home Covid tests by Saturday.

The Virginia Department of Health shipped 1,400 at-home Covid test kits to Arlington libraries yesterday, a VDH spokesperson confirms to ARLnow. However, the kits, which will be distributed for free, haven’t arrived yet.

“We will distribute some time next week based on when we get them,” library deputy director Anne Gable said. She advised residents to keep checking Arlington Public Library’s website for updates.

The most recent distribution was Dec. 30, when seven Arlington libraries handed out 2,000 VDH-provided tests. The kits were gone within 20 minutes.

Giant Food stores are also expecting more supply by early next week, a company spokesperson tells us. Supply shortages, not the weather, were the cause of the delay at Giant stores.

“Our distributors were waiting on shipments to [be sent] to us,” the spokesperson says.

A Walgreens spokesperson declined to provide ARLnow an estimate on when at-home Covid test kits may once again be available at local stores. They did note the store’s four-item purchase limit on test kits and referred us to the manufacturers to ask about supply.

Harris Teeter hasn’t yet responded to ARLnow’s inquiry about Covid test kit availability.

In recent weeks, it’s been a struggle for many locals to get a Covid test, amid a surge in Covid cases and high positivity rates, fueled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Since mid-December, meanwhile, long lines at county testing sites have been the norm.

This past week hasn’t seen much improvement in terms of access. A number of sites were closed due to the snow and Covid-related staffing shortages, while no new appointments were available online.

Starting Monday, a new testing site is set to open in North Arlington on the campus of Marymount University.

Arlington recommends doubling CDC’s quarantine period for child care

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese in March 2020 (via Arlington County)

Local child care centers will have to stay the course with longer quarantine and isolation periods, says Arlington County’s Public Health Division.

That could mean multiple contingency plans for parents with kids in child care, who have already weathered holiday closures and winter-weather closures. (Many facilities follow the snow closure or delay lead of Arlington Public Schools, which was closed all week.)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shortened isolation and quarantine periods last month to five days for the general population. This week, the CDC announced it will be bringing its guidelines for K-12 schools in alignment with the shortened quarantine and isolation.

But the changes have been met with some criticism. The American Medical Association called them “confusing and counterproductive” and other medical providers have said they’re “reckless.”

There’s one place where the new quarantine and isolation guidelines won’t go into effect, save for fully vaccinated and boosted staff: Arlington’s child care settings.

That’s because Arlington’s littlest kids either should not wear a mask or do not wear them reliably, meaning the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant is highly likely in these settings, according to the public health division.

“A full 10-day isolation and quarantine period was recommended because of the difficulty to enforce mask wearing in such a young population (i.e. children under 2 years old should not wear a mask),” Public Health spokesman Ryan Hudson told ARLnow.

The interim guidance came out Wednesday, as Arlington and the Northern Virginia region continue to see high levels of COVID-19 transmission, and will be in effect until the CDC comes out with guidance specific to child care settings — which are known as places where kids pick up all kinds of germs.

“The CDC’s recent updates to shorten the isolation and quarantine period are for the general population, including K-12 school settings,” Hudson said. “In absence of specific guidance from the CDC regarding child care centers, Arlington County Public Health provided interim guidelines, subject to change based on updates from the CDC.”

One local child care provider that had started implementing the new CDC guidance acknowledged the flip-flop may cause disruption for families.

“We had been following the recent CDC 5 day isolation period, which we confirmed with [the Virginia] Department of Health last week,” the facility’s director wrote. “However, in light of the omicron variant and the current surge, Arlington County has recently announced interim guidelines for child care settings which we must follow. We understand that this recent change is frustrating but we are our trying our best to follow the policies, which do keep changing.”

Pre-pandemic child care was in short supply in Arlington, as it was in many parts of the country, in part because of a shortage of child care workers. The pandemic has exacerbated these realities and forced many parents, especially mothers, to quit their jobs.

Board Chair Katie Cristol, who has worked on a number of efforts to fight the local child care shortage, says she’s still learning about the new recommendations and the tensions that public health professionals and child care providers have to navigate right now.

But the biggest challenge facing child care providers during the pandemic remains staffing, which the guidelines could exacerbate.

“From my conversations with providers, their biggest challenges over the last year have been with staffing,” Cristol said. “I think this reflects the general upheaval in the labor market, as well as the ongoing difficulty of affording high-quality staff in a very low-margin business, and — at least anecdotally — the challenge of recruiting and retaining staff seems to be making it hard for some providers to expand hours or capacity as they try to adjust back to ‘normal’ after the first year of the pandemic.”

To boost child care employee recruitment during this time, the county has provided training and is working with the local Richmond delegation to pass legislation that would improve how benefits like retirement and health care get to employees.

“It remains a big challenge, for certain,” she said.

The county also supports centers through ongoing health consultations and informational resources, and has run targeted vaccination clinics for child care providers and employees, Cristol noted.

The new Arlington Public Health guidelines for local child care providers are below.

(more…)

New Covid testing booth coming to residential North Arlington

By ARLnow.com
Marymount University’s main building in the snow (file photo)

(Updated on 1/7/22) Residents of Arlington’s northern reaches will have a new Covid testing option starting next week.

Marymount University announced today that it will host an appointment-only, walk-up testing booth, for use by students, university employees and the general public, on its main campus.

The booth is set to open on Monday, Marymount said. It will be operated by Curative, the same company that runs the three Arlington County-sponsored testing kiosks in Courthouse, near Pentagon City, and along Columbia Pike.

Those testing sites have attracted massive lines amid the latest Covid wave. Currently, the Pike testing location is closed due to staffing shortage, while the Courthouse and Pentagon City kiosks show no available reservations through next week.

Marymount officials say they hope the new Curative booth, near the Reinsch Library, will add testing capacity for the university and its neighbors.

“The sky-high demand for COVID-19 tests during the holiday season due to the Omicron variant has resulted in hour-long wait times at clinics near and far, as well as diminished inventory,” Barry Harte, Vice President for Finance & Operations and Treasurer at Marymount University, said in a statement today. “But our important partnership with Curative will deliver critical access to COVID-19 tests not just for our community members on Marymount’s campus, but the surrounding Arlington area and even beyond.”

The booth will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Last year the school and Arlington County brought a mobile testing unit to campus for a couple of weeks in the spring.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Wednesday’s sunset in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

County Covid Testing Booth Still Closed — From Arlington County: “The @curative #COVID19 testing kiosk at Arlington Mill Community Center will be closed tomorrow, Jan 6, due to COVID-related staffing shortages. The kiosks at Court House Plaza and Virginia Highlands Park are scheduled to open at 9 AM. Thank you for your flexibility.” [Twitter]

APS Orders Tests for All Students, Staff — “We have ordered a supply of KN95 masks, particulate filters for an APS provided mask, and at-home rapid antigen test kits for every staff member and student. Supplies for these items are limited but we anticipate them soon and will send additional communication when available.” [Arlington Public Schools]

APS Custodians Clear School Sidewalks — From Arlington Public Schools yesterday afternoon, before the announcement that today would be another snow day: “Thank you custodians and grounds staff for clearing our walkways, roadways and buses to ensure a safe return to school!” [Twitter]

Flight Cancellations at National Airport — From NBC 4’s Adam Tuss yesterday: “MAJOR problems at @Reagan_Airport right now as flight cancellations and delays have piled up. One traveler just told me their flight was cancelled 5 times over 3 days. Airlines tell me there are staffing issues and the winter weather didn’t help. This is a SIGHT!” [Twitter]

Florida Men Stopped With Guns at DCA — “During a search of a Florida man’s carry-on bag on Dec. 28, TSA officers using an X-ray machine discovered an unloaded .40 caliber handgun and 116 bullets. On Saturday, TSA officers stopped another man at a DCA checkpoint with a .40 caliber handgun loaded with six bullets. In both unrelated cases, TSA officers alerted the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police, who arrested the men and confiscated the guns an ammunition.” [Patch]

No County Board Tie-Breaker This Year — “State law allows the Arlington board to appoint a tie-breaker from within the ranks of the public. It also requires that, if the board does not want to do so, it must hold a vote to that effect at the start of each year. Board members dutifully voted down a tie-breaker at their Jan. 4 organizational meeting, which had been delayed a day due to inclement weather.” [Sun Gazette]

Photos of Aftermath of GW Parkway Crash — “#DCsBravest Fireboats assisted @ArlingtonVaFD as they conducted an extremely difficult rescue of a victim trapped in a car 70 feet down a cliff. Our Fireboat returned in daylight to retrieve gear and check vehicle stability. Photos show how challenging this rescue was.” [Twitter, Twitter, Patch]

It’s Thursday — Today will be partly sunny, with a high near 39. Sunrise at 7:27 a.m. and sunset at 5:01 p.m. Snow tonight and overnight, 2-4 inches of accumulation. After the snow, Friday will be sunny and breezy, with a high near 32. West wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. [Weather.gov]

Anti-vaccine mandate rally participants staying in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
The COVID-19 vaccine (via Arlington County/YouTube)

A group will be protesting vaccine mandates in D.C. later this month but staying in Arlington — due to forthcoming vaccine mandates in D.C.

Defeat the Mandates, D.C. is planning a rally in the District on Sunday, Jan. 23. The group describes the rally on the National Mall as a bipartisan event that will have a “wide range of featured guests” including “recording artists, prominent doctors, journalists, pro athletes, actors and premier thought leaders.” It will feature “a series of inspiring ‘TED talks’ and musical performances.”

“Stop the mass firings. Stop segregating by vaccination status. Stop calling Americans ‘unpatriotic’ for making a personal medical choice,” says the recently-created group’s website.

But the group encountered a problem in organizing the rally: in late December D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that proof of coronavirus vaccinations will be required to enter many District businesses, including restaurants, starting in mid-January.

That prompted a shift to Arlington.

“Due to the upcoming Vaccine Mandate put in place by the Mayor of DC, we have moved all of our hotel blocks to Arlington, VA,” the rally’s website says. “We wanted to supply hotel blocks near DC so that all of our guests, regardless of vaccination status are welcome. The new mandate goes into effect on 1/15/22 and requires proof of vaccination or negative covid test to enter all restaurants, bars, gyms and indoor meeting spaces.”

The website lists hotel packages at two hotels in the Crystal City area: the Renaissance Arlington Capital View and the Embassy Suites Crystal City.

So far the group has not released a list of speakers or a count of how many people are expected to attend, though it has attracted a fair amount of chatter on social media and forums like Reddit.

Of course, not everyone thinks a mass gathering of unvaccinated individuals during a Covid wave is a good idea.

“This is a disaster waiting to happen,” said one Twitter user.

About 92% of Arlington’s adult population has received at least one vaccine done, a likely contributor to the low rate of Covid hospitalizations during the current record-breaking wave.

Arlington County Board elects Cristol as chair, Dorsey as vice chair

By Jo DeVoe
County Board Chair Katie Cristol (via Arlington County)

Members of the Arlington County Board say they have their work cut out for them in 2022.

They were unanimous in their chief priorities for the new year — COVID-19, housing, climate change and equity — just as they were unanimous in choosing a new board chair, Katie Cristol, and a new vice chair, Christian Dorsey.

These aims and others need to be tackled with a budget that, despite being impacted by high office vacancy rates, must put the wages of county employees first, they said.

“By no means is this pandemic over, but since it’s clear that COVID-19 will be providing us no respite for reflection, we will have to make our own,” Cristol said in her opening speech as chair. “Given the uncertainty of our commercial revenues, let me be clear: These commitments almost certainly mean less funding available for implementing new priorities or programs, but after two pandemic years, it is time to put our money where our ‘Thank you essential workers!’ window signs are.”

She celebrated the county’s high vaccination rates as a sign that Arlington will get through the pandemic, and the newest wave of cases fueled by the Omicron variant, together.

“[E]ven in this peak, our hospitalizations numbers remain in the very low single digits, and if we keep getting vaccinated, getting boosted, masking and demonstrating responsibility to one another, we will get through this — not as fast as we had all hoped, nor with the finality with which we all long for — but we will,” she said.

Dorsey likewise expressed his confidence Arlington will come out on the other side of the pandemic as a stronger county.

“I am not going to predict when we get to our new normal or even what our new normal will be, but I am certain and quite confident that if we rely on the resilience that has been honed during the pandemic and remain focused on achieving our goals for sustainability, housing our community and achieving racial equity, we will emerge on the other side both better and stronger,” he said.

Cristol will pick up her chief priority — child care — where she left off when she was last the Board’s leader in 2018.

“This pandemic has exposed what we’ve always known to be true: Our country is a hard place to raise children,” she said. “Arlington alone can’t fix all the obstacles facing families, but we can continue to make progress on our own vision, which is that all Arlington County families have access to high quality, affordable childcare.”

This year, she said, the county will focus on increasing the number of child care providers and eligible families who participate in Virginia’s child care subsidy program and providing child care during non-traditional hours.

2022 will be a big year for working toward Arlington’s energy goals for 2025, 2035 and 2050, Dorsey said. Arlington aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

“I propose we prioritize taking every practical opportunity through our budget work this year to de-intensify carbon use in our government operations, and as we look to develop our capital improvements plan, we should plan to utilize sustainable products and systems — even if they are not quite practical today. Let’s envision and dare to dream for when it might be,” he said.

And on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, Board members Libby Garvey and Takis Karantonis were thinking about the state of the nation’s democracy. Garvey said she will encourage civil discourse as much as she can in 2022.

“There are lots of angry people in this country and they have guns,” Garvey said. “We here are relatively sheltered, but some of those who attacked the [U.S. Capitol building] stayed in Arlington and many drove through Arlington on their way to the Capitol. The danger to our democracy is not a local issue but it is a local threat. I am not sure what we should do about it, but I do know that we and the entire region need to stay close and keep our public safety systems strong and nimble.”

One in four people getting tested in Arlington are positive for Covid

By ARLnow.com
Covid positivity rate in Arlington as of 1/4/22 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

Exactly one month ago, the average Covid test positivity rate in Arlington was 3.5%. Today that rate is 26.1%.

The positivity rate has been soaring amid a Covid wave fueled by the highly-contagious Omicron variant. The wave has produced sky-high case totals, but has yet to correspond to a surge in serious illness.

Yesterday Arlington reported its highest seven-day moving average of new cases, 491 cases per day, before dropping today as the New Year’s holiday and the winter storm tamp down on testing. On Friday, before the holiday, Arlington set a fresh single-day case record, with 784 new Covid cases reported.

Covid cases in Arlington as of 1/4/22 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

The average daily rate of hospitalizations for Covid among Arlington’s highly-vaccinated population has risen slightly, to just over one per day, but that’s a far cry from the levels of serious illness earlier in the pandemic.

No new deaths have been reported over the past week, per Virginia Dept. of Health data.

Covid hospitalizations in Arlington as of 1/4/22 (via Virginia Dept. of Health)

While the hospitalization numbers in Arlington are relatively low, that’s not necessarily the case statewide. Hospitals across the Commonwealth “are becoming overwhelmed” amid rising illness, the Virginia Dept. of Health said last week.

“The VDH urges everyone to reserve hospitals for emergencies,” the state health department said. “If you have mild coronavirus symptoms or a non-serious illness, avoid unnecessary hospital trips.”

Virginia Hospital Center ER chief Mike Silverman wrote in his weekly update this past Friday that the hospital is also seeing an increase in cases.

Although Omicron appears less dangerous than Delta, last week our hospital inpatient COVID volume was 40% of our prior peak number. This week, it’s over 70%. Although the overall morbidity and mortality rates may be lower with Omicron across the population, the actual numbers of patients getting sick with COVID may exceed any hospital’s capacity to care for those requiring it. In the ER, we’ve set records when it comes to the numbers of patients we’ve diagnosed with COVID. COVID isolation orders have doubled in the past week and represents about half of our daily volume. Fortunately, the admission rate on these patients is about 15%. In previous surges, this number was 40%.

Consistent with all the other places you’ve seen case counts, we’ve had a 10-fold increase in the number of positive covid tests in our ER compared to 2 weeks ago. About 41% of our patients are testing positive -this is about a 60% positivity rate when looking at symptomatic patients (was 13% one month ago) and 25% positivity when screening patients (admissions, transfers, non-covid symptoms). This number was <1% a month ago. The number of tests we perform weekly has doubled from a month ago while the positive numbers have increased 30-fold (this was tricky math for me, but I think it’s right).

Despite the continued rise in cases, the high positivity rate and challenges with testing suggest that there are potentially a lot more people getting infected than are getting tested and submitted to the VDH database as positive cases.

After closures over the weekend for the New Year’s holiday, for instance, county Covid testing booths — which have seen huge lines for the past couple of weeks — are closed again today due to the winter storm.

https://twitter.com/ReadyArlington/status/1478372102692560897?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1478372102692560897%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.arlnow.com%2F

At-home tests, meanwhile, remain hard to come by. At a CVS on Columbia Pike today, a sign says that due to the winter storm the store will not receive more test kits tomorrow, as originally expected.

(more…)

APS decision to pause sports and activities causes confusion, backlash

By Jo DeVoe
A sign in support of Arlington athletes playing amid Omicron concerns outside Arlington Public School headquarter (courtesy photo)

(Updated 2:35 p.m.) Some parents and students are pushing Arlington Public Schools to reverse its decision to temporarily halt sports and other extracurricular activities due to COVID-19.

After the snow clears, the majority of APS students will return to their classrooms for in-person learning, but their sports practices and games, band and choir classes and club meetings will be “paused” until Friday, Jan. 14.

APS announced its decision to cancel two weeks of extracurricular activities and prioritize in-person learning in response to the surge in new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. Some families are speaking out about the impact this will have on students and are pressuring APS to reinstate extracurriculars, coaches are privately dismayed, and more than 1,500 people have signed a petition to resume sports and activities.

“We aren’t going to be able to practice for the upcoming meets, which means our risk of injury is pretty high — especially for gymnasts who are doing skills that require intense training and repetition on specialized equipment,” says Grace Chen, a senior varsity gymnast. “As a senior, it is especially disappointing because now the rest of the season could be a disaster. We are hoping to compete at States again for the fourth consecutive year.”

There was a similar outcry in November 2020, when APS decided not to participate in winter sports while most students were virtual. Within four days it reversed course, following the groundswell of support for sports and conversations with neighboring school systems.

Back then, parent Mark Weiser had a dozen “Let them play!” signs made. He almost threw them away last summer but decided to keep them. Now, they’re back up in yards around town.

“I didn’t want to have to use them,” he said.

Weiser says the decision is extreme. APS requires that student athletes be vaccinated or submit to daily Covid testing, and he says his son’s fully vaccinated team is also undergoing daily testing. Fairfax County Public Schools, which also requires vaccinations or negative tests, has not paused sports, he adds.

“For Arlington to go out on an island and do this by themselves is beyond frustrating,” he said. “We have no indication these games will be made up.”

Others say the risk for transmission will remain even with this decision, as kids will continue playing for club teams and find ways to play or practice together outside of school.

Weiser said parents couldn’t get more answers for four days after the news due to the holiday weekend and storm.

“There was no one to talk to,” he said on Monday. “Offices were closed Thursday through Sunday, and there’s snow today.”

He says some families intend to speak at the School Board meeting this Thursday, during which the newly-elected Mary Kadera will be sworn in.

The new guidance needs explaining, says the County Council of PTAs. President Claire Noakes says parents want more details on how the decision was made and how it will be implemented for non-athletic activities.

(more…)

More closures Tuesday amid refreeze concern, plow crew shortages

By ARLnow.com
Looking down Lynn Street in Rosslyn toward Georgetown, in the snow (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 10 a.m.) A frigid night is on tap and the refreezing of melting snow could make roads and sidewalks extra slippery.

The National Weather Service on Monday issued a Special Weather Statement about the ice concerns overnight:

…Icy Patches Likely Overnight Into Tuesday Morning… Falling temperatures and water from melted snow will result in patchy ice on area roads overnight into early Tuesday. This will be especially problematic on untreated roadways. Motorists should exercise extra caution overnight into early Tuesday, and assume that any surfaces which look wet or slushy may in fact be icy.

Adding to the driving danger in Arlington: many neighborhood roads have yet to be touched by a snow plow. As of Monday night, the county remained in “Phase 2” of its snow removal plan, during which crews focus on primary and secondary roads only.

Arlington snow plow map as of 10:15 p.m. The roads in red have not yet been plowed. (via Arlington County)

Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services says that crews will “work throughout the night to clear roadways,” but the county said Monday night what some had suspected: that Covid has reduced snow plow staffing.

“The County’s snow removal is currently impacted by COVID-19 related staffing shortages,” the county said. “Roads are being cleared as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Monday’s winter storm was one for the record books.

The 6.9 inches of accumulation recorded at Reagan National Airport is a new official D.C. record for Jan. 3 and the first major snowfall event in about three years. In Arlington, storm spotters reported between 6.5 and 9.2 inches of snow, with higher amounts generally to the south.

The storm’s impact will be felt Tuesday and perhaps beyond.

As previously reported, Arlington Public Schools will be closed while trash collection has been cancelled for both Monday and Tuesday. Additionally, Arlington County government offices, recreation centers, vaccination clinics, and — as of Tuesday morning — Covid testing booths will be closed on Tuesday.

The federal government will be opening on a three hour delay on Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management said tonight.

While unnecessary travel is being discouraged, particularly overnight, limited bus service is now available.

After being suspended for most of the day, some Metrobus service started a gradual return as of 6 p.m. ART bus service in Arlington is currently expected to be restored at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

It’s going to be a cold night, meanwhile, for more than a thousand households around Arlington.

As of 10:30 p.m., 1,240 homes and businesses were without power in Arlington, according to Dominion. It could be days before the outages, scattered across the county, are fully resolved.

“Please prepare for the possibility of being without power for multiple days,” power company spokeswoman Peggy Fox said tonight. “This is a multi-day restoration effort.”

Dominion reported more than 90,000 customers without power across Northern Virginia — and even more statewide — Monday night.

Arlington teachers union press release gets national attention after local mom’s edits go viral

By Jo DeVoe
Screenshot of a Arlington Education Association press release that got grammar-checked by a local mom

A tweet correcting the grammar and style of a press release from the Arlington teachers union has gotten some national media attention.

A local homeschooling mom tweeted pictures of the corrections she says she and her children made to a press release sent by the Arlington Education Association, which represents educators and staff in Arlington Public Schools.

The New York Post, Fox News and the Daily Mail have since picked up Ellen Gallery’s edits, and her tweet has gone viral, garnering nearly 2,000 likes and 740 retweets as of Monday morning. AEA President Ingrid Gant has since released a statement taking ownership of the errors and explaining that the release was actually a draft that had not been edited before publication.

Gant sent the initial release after APS announced Wednesday evening that in the new year, amid record levels of reported COVID-19 cases, it would continue in-person instruction and halt sports and activities for up to two weeks. School was set to resume today (Monday) but the snow storm has delayed the start of school until at least Wednesday.

Gant’s letter to Superintendent Francisco Durán, sent early Thursday morning, called on APS to require negative COVID-19 tests of every returning student and staff member, something being done by D.C. public schools. Gant also drew attention to the possibility of increased COVID-19 transmission with lunch indoors, calling for stronger mitigation measures.

But the errors in grammar and style drew more attention than the release’s substance, Gallery told Fox News via Twitter.

“Being able to write a clear, persuasive letter is a fundamental skill all students should master before high school,” she said. “The quality of this writing was so glaringly terrible that it distracts from the writer’s message.”

On Saturday, Gant released a follow-up statement in response to the viral Tweet and the national news coverage.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has persisted far longer than any of us in the Arlington community had anticipated. A draft letter was sent in place of a fully edited one in a rush to address the latest challenge. While I personally take full responsibility for this mistake, errors in my letter should in no way distract from its message: Arlington’s students and educators are returning to school Monday without sufficient testing supplies and with a lunch plan that fails to address the increased risks associated with the Omicron variant. Arlington’s students and educators deserve a safe return to in-person instruction.”

“It is clear that a layered mitigation strategy is the key to safe and effective teaching and learning in our county’s classrooms. As a community, we must focus on acquiring a sufficient supply of tests for every student and staff member prior to our first in-person day in January and on enhancing our meal service mitigations. The children of Arlington deserve no less.”

This week, Smart Restart APS — a group that advocates for improved COVID-19 protocols in schools — is outfitting APS staff with the higher-grade masks reportedly needed to lower the transmission of the highly contagious, but less deadly, Omicron variant. It called on Durán to provide better masks, promote the booster shot and upgrade air filters in school buildings.

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