health department

Testing Up, Deaths Now Over 100 As Reopening in Sight

By ARLnow.com
1/5

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) Arlington and other Northern Virginia localities say they’re ready to reopen by the end of the week.

That’s according to a letter signed by Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey and other elected officials, sent to Gov. Ralph Northam and posted by Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson on Monday evening.

“We have enclosed the updated May 24th assessment by the five [Northern Virginia] public health directors,” the letter says. “They have noted the regional attainment of four of the critical metrics and assessed the need for continued focus on expanding our contact tracing capability and developing sustainable supplies of PPE.”

The letter says the region is prepared for a Phase 1 reopening on Friday.

“Each of our jurisdictions have been making preparations to support a transition into Phase 1 at midnight on May 28,” the letter says, adding that “we would like the Northern Virginia region to move to Phase 2 in concert with the rest of the Commonwealth when that date is established.”

Hospitalizations and positive coronavirus tests have been trending down over the past two weeks, the letter says, while testing is increasing and hospitals have sufficient spare capacity.

The backdrop of the letter, in Arlington, is a surge in testing that has pushed the average tests per day over the past 7 days to over 200, as well as a hospitalization rate — 36 hospitalizations over the past week — that is well below the peak of 92. The test positivity rate, meanwhile, has fallen below 20%.

The increase in testing is due for another bump, thanks to a free COVID-19 testing event at the Barcroft Fitness and Recreation Center on S. Four Mile Run Drive today.

As of 9:45 a.m., testing had started early and was slated to run through 6 p.m. Police are assisting with traffic control, with cars lining up for blocks around the facility. The testing does not require a doctor’s order or an appointment.

“This is a state-sponsored event and is similar to other large-scale testing events in Northern Virginia,” Dr. Reuben Varghese, Arlington Public Health Director, told ARLnow over the weekend. “This site will be a one-day event with drive-through and walkup testing. We expect to test 1,000 people.”

As of 1:35 p.m., the site had reached capacity and was no longer accepting new patients.

Increasing testing is a priority after several weeks of the testing rate seeming to have plateaued in Arlington.

“As private health care providers ramp up to offer testing, the state is also making opportunities available to ensure testing is offered for those who seek it,” Varghese said, also noting that the county’s drive-through and walk-up testing sites remain open.

With the increased testing and decreased hospitalizations locally comes optimism today on the medical front. The stock market is up Tuesday morning thanks to word from several pharmaceutical companies that their coronavirus vaccine development is advancing, with positive early data.

On the less optimistic side, cases in Arlington County continue to increase. While the rate of increase is below the peak of three weeks ago, there are still around 300 new cases reported every seven days.

And a grim milestone was reached over the Memorial Day weekend: the number of COVID-related deaths in the county has passed 100. As of Tuesday morning, the latest data from the Virginia Dept. of Health shows 1,935 cases, 367 cumulative hospitalizations and 104 deaths in Arlington.

JUST IN: Distance Learning to Start School Year ‘Very Probable,’ APS Says

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools will “likely” start the new 2020-2021 school year with students staying at home, the interim superintendent told families Friday afternoon.

In a School Talk email, Cintia Johnson — who is soon to be succeeded by newly-hired superintendent Dr. Francisco Durán — said that APS is planning for three scenarios to start the fall: in-home distance learning, a return to classrooms, or a hybrid of the two.

Distance learning is “a likely scenario,” Johnson wrote, noting that APS is awaiting expected guidance from the Virginia Dept. of Education next month. A presentation linked in the email describes distance learning, at least to start, as “very probable.”

“Starting the school year with distance learning, should public health officials advise us it is not safe to reopen. Based on current conditions, this is a likely scenario, and we are preparing for a distance learning model that includes synchronous instruction of new content,” wrote Johnson.

By contrast, “reopening schools as normal with in-person instruction… is the least likely scenario.”

ARLnow previously reported that the school system was gearing up to teach new material via online classes in the fall, if need be, after facing criticism over holding off on teaching new things once the pandemic closed schools. One concern that prompted the decision to hold off on teaching new material — that of equitable access — is getting addressed: Arlington County is spending some of its federal grant from the CARES Act to provide free broadband internet access to households that currently lack it.

The new school year is slated to start Aug. 31.

The full email from the interim superintendent is below, after the jump.

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National Guard Conducts Mass Testing at Local Senior Care Facility

By ARLnow.com
1/5

A contingent of National Guard members, some in camo and others in full protective gear, descended on the Sunrise at Ballston Park senior living center today for mass testing of staff and residents.

The coronavirus testing comes amid a worsening outbreak at the facility, located at 5910 Wilson Blvd. While Sunrise had for weeks avoided the kind of large outbreak that has sickened dozens at Regency Care of Arlington in Pentagon City and Brookdale Senior Living in Virginia Square — and possibly others — on Tuesday the facility’s executive director informed families that it had just confirmed the first cases among residents.

“We unfortunately need to report that we currently have three (3) residents who have tested positive for COVID-19,” Sunrise said in an email, obtained by ARLnow. “We continue to serve residents in our community and are working closely with impacted families to support them during this challenging time.”

“We now have had a total of four (4) team members who have tested positive for this virus, 2 more than from our last update,” the email added. “We continue to have ample staff to appropriately serve our residents and are following CDC guidelines to determine when a team member is free to return to work following any exposure, symptoms or diagnosis.”

Sunrise said in the email that it was participating in a state program to test everybody, all at once, at nursing homes and senior living centers that request it.

“We are pleased to confirm that we will be participating in the State of Virginia’s Point Prevalence Survey this Thursday, May 21,” the company told family members. “Virginia’s National Guard will administer COVID-19 testing for all residents and team members… The results are expected back in approximately 72 hours and we will be reaching out to any families where a COVID positive outcome is the result.”

The Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) program was announced by Virginia officials last month as an early intervention tool for slowing outbreaks that spread quickly at long-term care facilities. PPS testing has been conducted in at least one other such facility in Northern Virginia, as reported by NBC 4. A county spokeswoman declined to say whether other facilities in Arlington have received the wide-scale testing.

“The Commonwealth receives and approves the requests for point prevalence surveys at facilities,” said Cara O’Donnell. “Arlington Public Health has encouraged all facilities to conduct point prevalence surveys, and submits the requests from the facilities to the state. We cannot provide information on which facilities have requested this due to health privacy laws.”

As of this morning, the Virginia Dept. of Health reported 14 known COVID-19 outbreaks in Arlington, including nine in long-term care facilities and three in healthcare settings. The county has 1,763 known cases, 346 hospitalizations, and 89 coronavirus-related deaths, according to the latest VDH data.

Nearly half of the 89 deaths were among those ages 80 and above.

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What’s Next: Multi-Unit Buildings are Giant Petri Dishes

By Nicole Merlene

What’s Next with Nicole is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

The Centers for Disease Control updated guidance to slow the spread of COVID-19 by suggesting multi-unit buildings such as apartments and condominium buildings:

“Clean and disinfect shared areas (laundry facilities, elevators, shared kitchens, exercise rooms, dining rooms) and frequently touched surfaces (e.g. tables, hard-backed chairs, doorknobs, light switches, phones, tablets, touch screens, remote controls, keyboards, handles, desks, toilets, sinks) using EPA-registered disinfectants more than once a day if possible.” April 25, 2020.

Two-thirds of Arlington households are in multi-unit buildings. From anecdotal feedback, buildings ranging from luxury to affordable have done almost nothing to change their normal cleaning habits unless a COVID-19 case has been identified.

“Every day when I go down the elevator to walk my dog, I am in a gigantic petri dish,” one person told me. “I am in an enclosed space, touching hundreds of people’s germs on buttons and door handles. We are in a viral pandemic and our building has still not changed our once a week cleaning schedule”.

As Northern Virginia plans to reopen in the next few weeks, we will collectively increase our chances of germ spreading. Part of Arlington and Northern Virginia’s path for reopening should include CDC recommendations for multi-unit building cleaning and disinfecting as a part of their plan.

Arlington County has already done an impressive job collecting information about building managers for their effort to inform landlords about courts being closed for evictions and renters’ rights during COVID-19. This contact information data can and should be used in a proactive effort to remind buildings about CDC recommendations to clean multi-unit building high-touch spaces multiple times a day. This seems like a little, easy, accomplishment that we should be able to get done and might be able to save lives upon our reopening.

Contrary to public belief, people of all ages live in multi-unit buildings. With the knowledge that a significant amount of virus carriers are asymptomatic, we should not be waiting for residents to proactively tell management that they are sick to trigger regular cleaning of common spaces. Extraordinary measures that the CDC has laid out in their guidance should be taken when you have over 1,000 people living in one building sharing the same front door.

Between dog care, groceries, and taking a mental health break, it is inevitable that people will need to go outside. It is in the interest of public health for the majority of Arlingtonians that live in multi-unit buildings to have a safe home to walk in and out of. I hope the Department of Community Planning, Housing, and Development can work with the communications and public engagement team to get the word out to apartment and condominium management about updated CDC guidelines for disinfecting as part of our reopening plan.

Resources if you are in need of assistance:

Do not feel ashamed to ask for help.

If you are in need of assistance for rent, food security, help filing for Medicaid or unemployment benefits go to this website: Department of Human Services Assistance, call 703-228-1350, or if necessary visit 2100 Washington Blvd in Arlington. Someone will work with you to get the help you need.

Nicole Merlene is an Arlington native and former candidate for Virginia State Senate. She has served as a leader in the community on the boards of the Arlington County Civic Federation and North Rosslyn Civic Association, as an Arlington Economic Development commissioner, in neighborhood transportation planning groups, and as a civic liaison to the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

Arlington County Planning to Distribute Free Masks

By ARLnow.com

Masks significantly reduce the transmission of coronavirus, making their usage during the pandemic a public health priority.

To encourage wider use of masks, Arlington County is planning to give them away for free.

Earlier this month County Board member Katie Cristol revealed that Arlington had “recently put in a pretty significant order for cloth face coverings that were intended to be distributed around the county.” The idea, she said, was to encourage rather than mandate mask usage — a carrot vs. stick approach.

During last night’s Board meeting, County Manager Mark Schwartz said the masks will be given out in various parts of the county.

“We’re going to be setting up locations across the county where people who do not have masks could go and get them if needed,” he said, adding that more details will be released next week.

The county, Schwartz noted, has established something of an “emergency logistics operation” since the start of the pandemic, distributing hundreds of thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment to first responders, healthcare providers and others.

A county spokeswoman tells ARLnow that much of the new mask distribution effort will be accomplished through community organizations and nonprofits.

“Arlington County has procured cloth facial coverings to distribute to Arlington’s most vulnerable populations,” said Jennifer K. Smith. “The County is planning to enlist the help of community-based organizations (CBOs), including safety net nonprofit partners, to help distribute the facial coverings. The County will be reaching out to these CBOs in advance of the delivery of the face coverings, which is expected in the coming weeks.”

Arlington Devotes Portion of $21 Million from CARES Act to Closing Digital Gap

By Vernon Miles

(Updated 1 p.m.) The County Board is directing $500,000 in federal coronavirus stimulus and recovery funding towards closing a digital divide that the pandemic has made impossible to ignore.

“Broadband connectivity is not a luxury, it is essential for households,” County Board member Christian Dorsey said.

Dorsey said the digital divide between households with broadband internet access and those without was present before COVID-19, but social distancing and the school from home has made closing that gap more urgent than ever. Ten percent of Arlington households have no internet access, either through a wired or a mobile connection, according to a presentation Tuesday afternoon.

“This will be a critical piece in ensuring students don’t fall behind simply because they don’t have sufficient family income,” Dorsey said. Arlington Public Schools has said its rationale for not teaching new material remotely during the last half of the spring semester was because of concerns about equitable access to online resources.

Some 5,000 to 8,000 families could qualify for the county’s new program, which will provide 25/3 mbs “Internet Essentials” access and will be administered by Arlington Public Schools through a contract with Comcast. Dorsey said that internet access will also be vital for many to seek employment during and after the pandemic.

The funding is a relatively small piece of the $20.66 million in CARES Act funding allocated to Arlington and aimed at supporting programs and services impacted by COVID-19.

“This will be broadband connectivity with decent download speeds and upload speeds,” Dorsey said. “There will be no necessary costs to incur for equipment to access connectivity, it will be provided through Comcast with a self-installation kit.”

Dorsey said there will be no activation or installation fees. Internet access will also be bundled with an option to purchase a computer for $149.99.

“This pandemic has made it clear that the internet should be a utility, like water and electricity, and that everyone is going to need it in this day and age,” County Board Chair Libby Garvey said.

At its meeting last night the Board also approved $400,000 for the Arlington Food Assistance Center and Arlington Thrive, the nonprofit that provides emergency cash to those in need, and allocated an additional $500,000 to Thrive for emergency assistance, including rental assistance, to residents in need.

That’s on top of another $1 million allocated to Arlington Thrive via separate federal grants, an action that was also approved last night.

CARES Act funding will also go toward the purchase of personal protective equipment, staffing for coronavirus testing sites, and hiring more public health workers, among other things.

More from a county press release, below.

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Data Shows Demographic Disparities in Arlington’s Coronavirus Cases

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Coronavirus is disproportionately sickening Arlington’s Hispanic community, while disproportionately killing the elderly.

New demographic data from the Virginia Dept. of Health shows that 51% of COVID-19 cases in Arlington are among those identified as Hispanic or Latino, while according to the county only 15% of the population is Hispanic or Latino. That data only includes instances in which ethnicity was reported.

That disparity seems to be reflected in the geographic distribution of cases in Arlington. The two zip codes with the highest number of coronavirus cases and the highest test positivity rates are 22203 and 22204, both of which are home to sizable populations of Hispanic immigrants.

The demographic disparity is also reflected in statewide numbers: 46% of cases in which ethnicity is reported involve Hispanic or Latino residents, while only 9.6% of the state is Hispanic or Latino, according to U.S. Census data.

The spread of the virus among the Hispanic community is attributed, at least in part, to the fact that many are working in jobs deemed essential, in industries like cleaning, food production, retail and construction. The pandemic has also caused economic devastation for many lower-wage workers, leading to scenes like that pictured above, when on April 17 a huge crowd gathered for a food giveaway at a store on Columbia Pike.

“We have a problem, a big problem, with the level of assistance that the vulnerable Latino community is getting right now in Virginia,” former Arlington County Board member Walter Tejada told the Virginia Mercury. Tejada is president of the Virginia Latino Leaders Council.

“These are frontline workers — frontline heroes — who do not have the luxury of staying home and making a living doing Zoom conferences or teleworking. They wipe our floors, pluck feathers, pick crops, clean our rooms,” Tejada said. Other leaders quoted by the Mercury were similarly critical of the level of outreach and aid to Latinos in Virginia.

Arlington County, for its part, has been providing some of its coronavirus information in Spanish, and last week opened a new walk-up testing site on Columbia Pike.

“At the County-level, there has been a concerted effort to deliver our messages in multiple languages,” said county spokeswoman Jessica Baxter. “In early April we sent a mailer to every household in Arlington providing information on steps our community needs to take to slow the spread of the virus and made it available in Spanish, and 7 other languages on our website. Public Health, along with other departments, has been using the County’s network of trusted partners to help disseminate key information.”

“Public Health also dispatches volunteers to ensure individuals with confirmed cases of COVID-19 can meet their basic needs while under isolation,” Baxter added. “This includes having groceries picked up, prescriptions refilled and delivering cleaning and medical supplies, as needed and as available.”

Baxter said that while those who are Hispanic or Latino are overrepresented in the data, it’s not as bad as it currently looks due to issues with the information reported to the state health department. As of Monday, “Hispanics represent 28% of the confirmed cases” in Arlington, Baxter said in an email sent after the initial publication of this article.

“For half of our cases, Hispanic origin is not reported,” she said. “Original information about the ethnicity (Hispanic origin) of reported cases was missing from the doctors and laboratories that submit case reports to the Virginia Department of Health. Arlington, during its case interviews, has captured this information and is backfilling the missing information.”

“Unfortunately, the disparities and the inequities existed prior to this emergency and are being reflected in the communities being hit the hardest,” Baxter added.

Those who are dying from COVID-19, meanwhile, are disproportionately the elderly.

As of Tuesday morning, the state health department reported 1,688 cases, 331 hospitalizations and 79 deaths in Arlington. Of those 79 deaths, all but five — or 94% — were among those 60 years of age or older. More than half were among those 80+.

Statewide death statistics were similarly skewed heavily toward those 60 and older.

When ethnicity was reported, only 13% of deaths in Arlington were among Latinos, despite the much higher proportion of cases.

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Thousands of Arlington Residents Having Trouble Paying Rent

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 8:10 p.m.) More than 3,500 local residents are having trouble paying their rent during the pandemic, according to a survey of nonprofits conducted by Arlington County.

The figure was included in a staff report for an item to be considered by the County Board later today.

“Arlington County conducted a survey to assess community needs related to the COVID-19 public health crisis and to inform staff recommendations for the use of funds being made available through the federal CARES Act,” the report says. “The survey was sent to 73 nonprofit organizations that serve low and moderate income residents in Arlington, with 26 responses… Of the clients served during the past month, service providers reported that over 3,500 clients were having difficulty paying the rent, with many others unable to pay utilities or access resources or school because of internet/technology issues.”

Lower-income workers have been particularly hard-hit by the pandemic, which has prompted mass layoffs in the restaurant, retail and hospitality industries, among others.

The county is citing its community needs survey in a plan for how to allocate supplemental Community Development Block Grant and Community Services Block Grant funding under the CARES Act — the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus and recovery bill passed in March.

The County Board is set to vote tonight on a staff proposal for allocating around $1 million in federal funding — intended to help localities respond to the coronavirus crisis — to “provide emergency rent, utility and internet assistance to prevent 200-600 households from becoming homeless.”

The funds will be dispersed by Arlington Thrive, the staff report says. Andrew Schneider, executive director of the nonprofit, tells ARLnow that needs in the community are rising.

“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Thrive has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of requests,” Schneider said. “We have had approximately a 150% increase in request for basic financial needs like rental assistance, utility assistance, and medical and dental assistance. We anticipate this increase in demand to continue through the summer.”

More from the report:

Based on the survey results and consultation with staff from the Department of Human Services, Department of Libraries, and Department of Technology Services, Arlington County proposes utilizing CARES funding to support an emergency assistance program to include rent, utilities and internet costs for low- and moderate-income Arlington renters who have experienced loss of income directly related to COVID-19. Monthly payments will be based on need, and will not exceed $1,500 per month per household, for up to three months. The program will be administered through Arlington Thrive, a nonprofit emergency assistance organization that will conduct outreach, handle intakes, and make emergency payments directly to landlords and/or utility companies. An estimated 200-600 Arlington households will be served by this program and may avoid eviction as a result. Additionally, Arlington Thrive will provide information on food resources to clients and community partners.

Coronavirus Hospitalizations Down, Cases Continue to Rise in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

Arlington has seen a week-long decline in the rate of new coronavirus hospitalizations, according to the latest state health department data.

Should that trend hold for another week, it would help meet the county’s five conditions to begin a phased reopening. Officials have said that a sustained 14-day downward trend in hospitalizations is No. 1 on the county’s reopening criteria.

Another criterion — an increase in testing — does not appear to be coming to fruition yet. State data shows the average number of daily tests remaining steady over the course of last week.

New data from the Virginia Dept. of Health reports 1,638 known COVID-19 cases in Arlington, along with 323 cumulative hospitalizations and 77 deaths. That’s an increase of 104 cases, 17 hospitalizations and 6 deaths from Friday.

A total of 37 hospitalizations have been reported over the past 7 days, down from a peak of 92 just a week ago.

On Friday Virginia Hospital Center, which has been treating patients from both Arlington and surrounding areas, reported — via a sign inside the hospital — that it has discharged 536 coronavirus patients and had 19 successfully get off ventilators. The hospital is not publicly reporting current hospitalizations or ventilator usage.

As of Monday there had been 6,213 standard lab-based coronavirus “testing encounters” in Arlington, according to state data. The seven-day moving average test positivity rate was down slightly, to 23.9%, but well above the 10% rate considered an indication of adequate testing.

Statewide, as of Monday, there have been a total of 31,140 COVID-19 cases, 3,822 hospitalizations and 1,014 deaths in Virginia, according to VDH.

Officials Say Arlington May Reopen in Mini-Phases

By Vernon Miles

(Updated 5/18) Large portions of the state partially reopened today, but not Northern Virginia.

As the region moves closer to a potential reopening after Memorial Day, however, Arlington officials say residents should expect things to move slowly, and a bit unevenly.

Within the parks department, for instance, officials said in a virtual town hall today (Friday) that different facilities will be reopening at different stages of recovery.

While some trails in Arlington remain open to socially distant outdoor uses, Assistant County Manager Jim Schwartz said facilities like basketball and tennis courts will continue to be closed until at least May 29, the earliest that Northern Virginia is expected to join other parts of the Commonwealth in a phased reopening plan.

Schwartz also said that some facilities within the parks department could experience further delays in reopening.

“Recreation centers may be opened later,” Schwartz said. “Indoor activities have to be managed differently.”

The county has not reached a decision on whether or not to cancel summer camps, he added.

“We will be making a decision next week for upcoming summer camps,” Schwartz said. “Just about all of our regional partners have announced they are closing or not doing summer camps. We will make that decision next week.”

Dr. Reuben Varghese, the county’s Director of Public Health, said Arlington is bracing for a bump in coronavirus cases once the restrictions are lifted, regardless of warnings and advice offered by county health officials.

“We will be expecting a bump,” Varghese said. “I will be very happy to be wrong… but people will be having physical interactions within six feet.”

Officials asked the public not to rush into public interactions once the restrictions start easing off.

“Even though we’re all eager to get back to the things we love,” said County Board member Matt de Ferranti, “if we aren’t careful and play it safe we can put people at risk.”

The video of the hour-long town virtual hall is below.

Staff photo by Jay Westcott

BREAKING: Arlington Test Positivity Rate Still Well Above 10% Goal

By ARLnow.com

New data from the Virginia Dept. of Health suggests there is not nearly enough coronavirus testing being done in Arlington.

The state health department has added testing data, sortable by locality, to its COVID-19 information page. The data for Arlington shows that there are currently only around 150 virus tests being performed and reported per day, and an average positivity rate just above 25%.

While that’s in line with overall figures discussed by Gov. Ralph Northam earlier this week — about 25% positivity in Northern Virginia compared to 10% for the rest of the state — it’s well above the 10% positivity rate that the World Health Organization recommends as an indication of adequate testing.

The VDH data only includes PCR tests reported by labs and excludes serology tests and, presumably, less sensitive tests on point-of-care machines like the Abbott Labs device used by the White House.

The lack of testing is a hindrance to hopes for a safe, phased reopening of Arlington and the rest of Northern Virginia. While the rest of the Commonwealth starts to reopen today, Gov. Ralph Northam is — for now — giving Northern Virginia and some other localities until Friday, May 29. Arlington County officials have said it’s too soon to safely reopen here.

Unless the testing rate increases, labs will be testing less than 2% of the Arlington population each month, despite efforts like the new walk-up testing site along Columbia Pike. County officials have said that increased testing is one of the five conditions that should be met in order for Arlington to start reopening.

The state health department, meanwhile, reported 35 new COVID-19 cases in Arlington overnight, bringing the county’s total known cases to 1,534. One additional death and only one new hospitalization were reported, bringing those totals to 71 and 306 respectively.

Statewide, VDH is reporting 28,672 total cases, 3,657 hospitalization, 977 deaths and 176,681 PCR-based “testing encounters.”

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