health department

ACPD Expands Online Report System to Include Property Damage Crashes

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Police Department is expanding its online reporting system, to allow more police reports to be filed online during the era of social distancing.

ACPD says members of the public can now file reports of minor property damage crashes online, instead of needing to do so in person. The online reporting system has also now been translated into Spanish, the police department says.

“Out of an abundance of caution and to help mitigate and reduce any unnecessary exposure and spread of COVID-19, ACPD asks that the public report applicable non-emergency incidents using the online reporting system,” the police website says. “Officers continue to proactively patrol the County and respond to in-progress crimes and emergency calls where there is an immediate threat to life, health or property.”

More from a police press release:

The Arlington County Police Department is announcing the expansion of its online police reporting system. The system update builds upon the County’s comprehensive effort to improve service delivery through its website and online platforms to better meet the needs of our constituents.

Updates to the online reporting system include:

Expanded Reporting Capabilities: The addition of crash reporting enables you to file a property damage report online, instead of completing the report in-person or submitting it by mail. The following types of crashes can now be filed online:

  • Crash – Hit and Run: Damage caused by another vehicle in which the driver should have left information or fled the scene without stopping to provide information.
  • Crash – No Injury (less than $1,500 damage): You are involved in a minor crash and need to report the information to police for insurance purposes.
  • Crash – Private Property: You are involved in a minor crash on private property or you are the owner of the property.

Crashes with injury, or with more than $1,500 in damage should be reported to police by calling 703-558-2222 or 911 in an emergency.

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Reported Coronavirus Cases Near 1,500 in Arlington, Amid Testing Questions

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) The total reported coronavirus cases in Arlington are now one shy of 1,500, while statewide data shows a mixed picture one day ahead of a partial reopening of the Commonwealth.

The latest Virginia Dept. of Health data shows 1,499 cases, 305 hospitalizations and 70 deaths in the county. That’s a one-day increase of 39 cases, 5 hospitalizations and 1 death.

Statewide, VDH reports 27,813 cases, 3,592 hospitalizations and 955 deaths. The state health department also has released some new data showing testing and hospital-related statistics.

On the testing front, Virginia has come in for criticism over the past week for a relatively low testing rate, a relatively high test positivity rate, and for mixing diagnostic and serological tests in its reporting. Today, the health department broke out its testing data to show just diagnostic testing, which account for 169,340 test results compared to about 15,000 serological test results in the aggregate testing number.

The current stats from VDH show an increasing rate of testing and decreasing rate of test positivity.

For Virginia’s hospitals, the statistics show the number of currently hospitalized COVID-19 patients holding relatively steady over the past month, with just over 1,533 hospitalized as of today.

On the plus side, it has been two weeks since a Virginia hospital has reported difficulty obtaining personal protective equipment for its staff.

The number of reported outbreaks in Arlington is holding steady at 12, but outbreaks in long-term care facilities remain a concern.

In addition to a sizable reported outbreak at Regency Care of Arlington in Pentagon City, Brookdale Senior Living in Virginia Square has one of the county’s larger outbreaks. As of Friday, Brookdale told families that it has 31 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 9 coronavirus-related resident fatalities.

Another senior facility, Sunrise at Bluemont Park, told families on Monday that it has no COVID-19 cases among residents, but two among staff.

Sunrise said in the email that it’s working to prevent the spread of disease by delivering meals and activities to resident’s rooms, testing residents and staff twice a day for fevers and COVID-19 symptoms, providing personal protective equipment for residents and staff, and prohibiting all visitors “except for those professionals necessary to provide critical resident care.”

County Opens New Walk-Up Coronavirus Testing Site

By ARLnow.com
1/7

A new walk-up coronavirus testing site opened Tuesday along Columbia Pike.

The testing center is a partnership of Arlington County, Virginia Hospital Center and Arlington Free Clinic. At a media briefing yesterday, officials from all three spoke about the importance of the facility in the fight against the virus.

With the new testing site “we can get services to the more vulnerable and low income individuals,” who might not have access to a vehicle for drive-through testing sites or to health insurance to pay for testing, said Dr. Reuben Varghese, Arlington Public Health Director.

“They often have limited access to health care and because of their work, they don’t have the opportunity sometimes to stay home like a number of the people in our region,” Varghese said.

The new testing site is open from 1-5 p.m. weekdays, and available to anyone who makes an appointment by calling (703) 558-5766. Health insurance is not needed and those who require extra treatment after testing may be referred to the Arlington Free Clinic.

Arlington County has seen the highest proportion of COVID-19 cases in the 22204 zip code, along the Columbia Pike corridor, emphasizing the need for more testing in the area.

The latest countywide statistics from the Virginia Dept. of Health report 1,460 coronavirus cases, 300 hospitalizations and 69 deaths in Arlington. That’s an increase of 44 cases, 12 hospitalizations and 3 deaths overnight.

Statewide, VDH reports 26,746 cases, 3,520 hospitalizations, 927 deaths and just over 180,000 tests administered.

More on the walk-up testing center, via a county press release:

Arlington County, in partnership with Virginia Hospital Center and the Arlington Free Clinic, will open its first walk-up COVID-19 sample collection site at the Arlington Mill Community Center, 909 South Dinwiddie Street.

“Arlington is committed to assuring everyone in our community has access to the testing they need during this pandemic,” said Dr. Reuben Varghese, Arlington Public Health Director. “This is an important partnership that will help our more vulnerable or low-income groups who do not have access to cars to walk up and get tested.”

“This is an exciting effort to create a more equitable testing model for everyone who needs it,” said Nancy White, Executive Director, Arlington Free Clinic. “This model aligns with our mission to provide high-quality health care to low-income, uninsured Arlington residents through the generosity of donors and volunteers.”

“Virginia Hospital Center is happy to lend the expertise we have gathered from the North Quincy drive-through site to support the efforts at Arlington Mill,” said James Meenan, Director of the VHC Outpatient Lab. “Our primary focus is always the health and safety of our community and increasing access to testing is a critical step forward in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.”

  • The clinic opens Tuesday, May 12 and will operate weekdays between 1-5 p.m.
  • To be tested, patients must obtain a clinician referral and then schedule an appointment by calling 703-558-5766. Patients must schedule an appointment before visiting the collection site.
  • Residents without health insurance can still access testing through the walk-up collection site by calling the appointment number. A VHC clinician will screen for symptoms over the phone and provide a follow-up referral to the Arlington Free Clinic if needed.
  • Individuals who visit the collection site should follow the instructions of their health care provider and self-isolate while they await their results.
  • Patients with an appointment may access the clinic at Arlington Mill Community Center by entering through the outdoor plaza facing Columbia Pike.
  • Individuals must bring proof of identity (U.S. government ID not required).

To protect patient privacy, media access to the site will be restricted.

JUST IN: Governor Allowing N. Va. to Reopen After Memorial Day

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Arlington and other Northern Virginia locales will be allowed to delay reopening until May 28, after Memorial Day, following a new executive order from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.

The announcement follows pushback from local officials concerned that a potential reopening this Friday would be too soon. Arlington and neighboring localities have seen higher rates of coronavirus cases than less populous parts of the state, with 72% of new cases reported over the past 24 hours coming from the Northern Virginia region.

Initially, in announcing a plan for a phased reopening, Northam talked about the importance of the entire Commonwealth starting to reopen at the same time. This morning’s announcement is a change from that, but does not go as far as permitting local governments to delay reopening indefinitely.

Arlington officials have previously said that the county will not begin its reopening until a number of key metrics — including a ramp up in testing and a sustained reduction in hospitalizations — are met.

More from a press release from the governor’s office:

Governor Ralph Northam today issued Executive Order Sixty-Two, allowing specific localities in Northern Virginia to delay entering Phase One of the “Forward Virginia” plan to ease restrictions on certain business operations that were put in place in response to the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

Governor Northam has said that Virginia as a whole may enter Phase One on Friday, May 15, as outlined in Executive Order Sixty-One, based on achieving certain health metrics. Executive Order Sixty-Two allows the Northern Virginia localities to delay implementation of Phase One until midnight on Thursday, May 28, to allow those localities more time to meet the health metrics.

In conjunction with this executive order, Governor Northam and State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA also issued Order of Public Health Emergency Number Four.

“As I have said, it’s important that the Commonwealth as a whole can meet key health metrics before moving into Phase One,” said Governor Northam. “The Phase One policies are a floor, not a ceiling. While the data show Virginia as a whole is are ready to slowly and deliberately ease some restrictions, it is too soon for Northern Virginia. I support the request from localities in this region to delay implementation of Phase One to protect public health.”

Governor Northam had directed jurisdictions to formally request approval to remain in Phase Zero. Executive Order Sixty-Two allows the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William; the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park; and the towns of Dumfries, Herndon, Leesburg, and Vienna (Northern Virginia Region) to remain in Phase Zero, as requested by officials in those localities.

Data show that Northern Virginia is substantially higher than the rest of the Commonwealth in percentage of positive tests for COVID-19, for example. The Northern Virginia Region has about a 25 percent positivity rate, while the rest of the Commonwealth is closer to 10 percent. Further, in the last 24 hours, the Northern Virginia Region reported over 700 cases, while the rest of the Commonwealth reported approximately 270. On any given day, 70 percent of the Commonwealth’s positive cases are attributable to the Northern Virginia Region.

County Board Considers Mask Mandate but Hamstrung by Dillon Rule

By Vernon Miles

In an online town hall meeting on Friday, County Board members decried the plan to partially reopen Virginia as premature for Arlington and discussed further restrictions, like a requirement to wear a mask when in public.

“If we consider the closing of bars and restaurants, if just one locality were to loosen restrictions and allow bars to reopen before other jurisdictions,” County Board member Christian Dorsey warned, “those establishments would become magnets for patrons who could access them, which is very easy with our limited regional geography and great connectivity in the transportation network. This could result in spread across many jurisdictions and make it more difficult for public health officials to do the necessary testing and tracing to control outbreaks.”

County Board Chair Libby Garvey said to even consider reopening there needs to be more testing and contact tracing, with an ample supply of hospital beds and a sustainable supply of personal safety equipment. Dr. Reuben Varghese, the Arlington County Director of Public Health, warned that’s not the case in Arlington, at least when it comes to testing.

“We don’t have as much testing nationwide, Virginia-wide, or Arlington-wide as [we need],” Varghese said. “The supply chain has to be grown. Every day the capacity increases but we’re not to where we would like to have testing.”

Varghese said even if there is some reopening, Arlington is still a long way from being safe to go out in public without a mask.

“Ultimately we will have to have a vaccine to get away from physical distancing and face-covering recommendations,” Varghese said.

Meanwhile, Dorsey said that Arlington County officials have been discussing the possibility of a mask mandate.

“That is actively under consideration and looking at the best ways to pursue that,” Dorsey said. “For some people, until it comes with government mandate they’re not going to do it. But also we have to be mindful once something is mandated we have to have a way to enforce it.”

This is complicated by Virginia’s status as a Dillon Rule state, meaning that localities can only exercise powers directly granted to them by the state.

Also on Friday, during an interview on the Kojo Nnamdi show, County Board member Katie Cristol acknowledged the Dillon Rule as making a mask ordinance potentially difficult to accomplish, legally. Cristol said it makes more sense to focus on making masks available rather than making them a requirement.

“I think everything is a little bit of a legal question for us. You all are no strangers to the fact that we operate in a different context, those localities in Virginia, than those might do in a home rule state like Maryland,” she said. “When things are under an emergency, you know, our legal authorities may be a little different. We’ve really been making our county attorney’s office earn their keep during this pandemic by constantly returning to the statute and figuring out what we might have authority to do and what we might not.”

As we previously reported, Cristol said Arlington has ordered a large supply of masks to distribute across the county.

“I think, in general, you know, when we’ve made decisions, we’ve tried to do so on the basis of what seems to be the right thing to do from a public health and enforcement perspective,” Cristol continued. “And so I think with things like masks, for example, we’ve weighed this one quite a bit. It’s a really live question, and we generally landed on the approach that it makes more sense to make masks available and distribute those to whomever needs them.”

As with masks, Assistant County Manager James Schwartz said the goal of Arlington police is to gain voluntary compliance with the state’s emergency social distancing rules and the county’s park closures, as opposed to making arrests or writing citations.

“We are encouraging people [to adhere to restrictions] and I would call it soft enforcement,” Schwartz said. “We’re not in a position to be citing people the way we might for a traffic violation. We’re encouraging people to follow good practices and not have the heavy hand of government-imposed here.”

Staff photo by Jay Westcott

Walk-In COVID-19 Clinic to Open on Columbia Pike Tomorrow

By Vernon Miles

Arlington County is planning to open a walk-up COVID-19 testing site tomorrow at the Arlington Mill Community Center (909 S. Dinwiddie Street).

The sample collection site is part of a partnership between Arlington County, the Arlington Free Clinic and the Virginia Hospital Center. The center is scheduled to open tomorrow (Tuesday) and will be open every weekday between 1-5 p.m.

Patients are required to obtain a clinician referral and then call 703-558-5766 to schedule an appointment. Appointments must be made before visiting the site.

Residents without health insurance can still access testing by calling the appointment number. A press release said VHC clinicians will screen for symptoms over the phone and provide a follow-up referral to the Arlington Free Clinic if needed. Proof of identification, but not necessarily a U.S. government ID, is required.

Nancy White, executive director of the Arlington Free Clinic, said in a press release that the walk-up testing site is part of the organization’s commitment to helping low-income, uninsured Arlington residents.

“This is an exciting effort to create a more equitable testing model for everyone who needs it,” she said.

“Arlington is committed to assuring everyone in our community has access to the testing they need during this pandemic,” said Dr. Reuben Varghese, Arlington Public Health Director. “This is an important partnership that will help our more vulnerable or low-income groups who do not have access to cars to walk up and get tested.”

The prospect of a walk-in testing center had been discussed by county officials earlier this month. County Board member Katie Cristol said at the time that people would still be able to drive to the location, but the goal was to offer an alternative to the county’s drive-thru testing centers for those without access to a car.

Courtesy photo @TheBeltWalk

Arlington Asks for Pause on N. Va. Reopening Amid One-Week Slowdown in New Cases

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County has seen a slight, week-long slowdown in new coronavirus cases, but is pushing back on Gov. Ralph Northam’s plan to partially reopen statewide by the end of the week.

As of Monday morning, there were 1,399 known coronavirus cases in Arlington, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. That brings the trailing 7-day rise in cases to 293, down from a peak of 349 on May 4.

The state health department is also reporting 60 deaths and 286 hospitalizations in Arlington, up from 57 deaths and 227 hospitalizations on Friday.

Statewide, 25,070 cases have been reported, along with 3,300 hospitalizations, 850 deaths and 167,758 total tests.

According to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, 1,504 confirmed and potential COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalized statewide, while 3,273 have been hospitalized and subsequently discharged. There are 4,647 hospital beds available statewide and 21% of ventilators in Virginia are currently in use.

Over the weekend, Gov. Northam released more details about his “Forward Virginia” plan to reopen the state, which could happen as early as Friday. From a press release:

Under Phase One, the Commonwealth will move to a Safer at Home strategy, which continues the ban on social gatherings of more than 10 people and maintains recommendations for social distancing, teleworking, and wearing face coverings. All businesses should make modifications to maintain six feet of physical distancing, increase cleaning and sanitization of high contact surfaces, and provide enhanced workplace safety measures.

Retail establishments will be allowed to operate at 50 percent occupancy, restaurant and beverage establishments may offer outdoor dining at 50 percent occupancy, personal grooming services may begin operating with one patron per service provider, and fitness centers may offer outdoor exercise services. Campgrounds may also begin taking reservations for short-term stays.

Places of worship have had a 10-person limit and have been allowed to hold drive-in services allowed. In Phase One, drive-in services may continue, and services may be held inside at 50 percent capacity. Specific guidelines for religious services can be found here.

Many of the restrictions put in place by Executive Order Fifty-Three will remain in place in Phase One. Entertainment and public amusement venues will remain closed and beaches will continue to be open only for exercise and fishing. Childcare centers remain open for children of working families. Overnight summer camps will remain closed in Phase One.

Arlington County and other Northern Virginia governments, however, are asking for the ability to delay its implementation. The county released the following statement Friday evening.

Arlington County supports Governor Northam’s detailed framework for “Forward Virginia,” and appreciates the Commonwealth’s acknowledgement that the Northern Virginia region faces challenges that differ in number and scale from the Commonwealth as a whole. Over half of the cases and hospitalizations and nearly half of the COVID -19 deaths are here in Northern Virginia — despite our constituting a little more than a quarter of the state’s population; and we continue to see a rise in hospitalizations. Arlington is working closely with the Northern Virginia Regional Commission, which comprises other localities in the region, to coordinate with the Governor’s office to determine the safest path forward, with an extended timeframe for entering Phase One.

Arlington County’s top priority is to ensure the safety of the entire community; and we believe we must meet the criteria for entering Phase One. At this point, based on the data for our region as well as Arlington specifically, the most responsible path forward is maintaining our current operating status until these criteria are met.

That message was echoed by County Board member Katie Cristol, in an interview on WAMU Friday. She was asked by host Kojo Nnamdi about potentially opening up on Friday, May 8.

“I think that is going to be a timeline that works for some part of Virginia. And we are grateful that, in recent days, it is recognized that that is not a timeline that is likely going to make sense here in Northern Virginia,” she said.

“Generally, we are coalescing around more or less the same criteria,” she said, “downward trend in positive tests, downward trend in hospitalizations, testing, tracing PPE, and so forth.”

Cristol also revealed a bit of news in the interview: Arlington County is planning to distribute cloth face coverings, as a way to further encourage their use.

“We recently put in a pretty significant order for cloth face coverings that were intended to be distributed around the county,” she told Nnamdi. “And we’ll have more details on that, we hope, in the next week or so. So, I suppose a carrot, not a stick approach on that one.”

“It makes more sense to make masks available and distribute those to whomever needs them, rather than trying to, for example, give tickets to those who aren’t wearing them,” she added.

A Message to Our Neighbors on Metropolitan Park Construction

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

The following was written by Brooke Oberwetter, Amazon’s head of external affairs in Arlington, and Jeff King, Clark Construction’s Project Executive for Metropolitan Park Phases 6/7/8

Residents of Arlington near our HQ2 construction site may be feeling some disruption right now as we move forward with developing Amazon’s second headquarters in National Landing.

We know this can be noisy, particularly as more of us are home right now than usual given the COVID-19 outbreak. We’d like to thank our neighbors for their patience and understanding. We are pleased to share that the finish line on pile driving — the loudest phase of the construction process — is in sight.

We are more than eighty percent of the way through this phase of the project. Barring weather delays or mechanical problems, we are on track to finish this phase by May 15, two weeks earlier than initially projected.

While we move through this phase of the project as efficiently as possible, safety is our number one priority. We’ve heard from some of our neighbors who have a bird’s-eye view of the site that worker safety and physical distancing are important to them. They’re important to us, too. Since the start of COVID-19, Clark Construction — general contractor for the project — has been closely following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and local authorities to work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and enable trade partners to put crews to work in safe and healthy environments.

These measures include requiring face coverings for the entire construction workforce, more hand washing and hand sanitizing stations on site, and resequencing construction activities to create greater physical distancing. Clark has also established a designated site monitor to reinforce the importance of these measures and other safety protocols.

The COVID-19 outbreak continues to be a fluid situation, and we’ll continue to follow the latest guidance from government and public health officials to ensure the jobsite is operating in the safest manner possible to protect our construction crews and the communities where we work.

From the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, it was difficult for us to know how long these circumstances would last. Although we are hopeful that many businesses in Virginia will be up and running again soon — we realize that many people might be working from home for much longer.

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JUST IN: Zip Code Data Shows Elevated Case Level Along Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

The highest relative proportion of coronavirus cases in Arlington is along the Columbia Pike corridor, new data shows.

As of Friday morning, there were 1,281 known COVID-19 cases in Arlington, with 227 hospitalizations and 57 deaths. That’s an increase of 277 cases, 58 hospitalizations and 15 deaths compared to one week prior, and continues a slowing of new cases over the past few days.

The latest Virginia Dept. of Health data shows 22,342 total cases, 3,059 hospitalizations, 812 deaths and 143,220 tests conducted statewide.

In Arlington, the Columbia Pike corridor — the 22204 zip code — had 486 reported cases. That’s 38% of all cases in the county, though the area has only 23% of Arlington’s population. By comparison, the 22201 zip code — part of the the Orange Line corridor and neighborhoods around Courthouse and Clarendon — has 123 cases, or just under 10% of the county total, while containing 16.1% of the population, according to 2010 Census data.

The test positivity rate for 22204 is 35.6%, compared to 16.6% for 22201.

The zip code breakdown, newly related by the state health department and compiled by ARLnow, is below.

  • 22201 (Courthouse, Clarendon, Lyon Park; 16.1% of pop.): 123
  • 22202 (Crystal City, Pentagon City, Arlington Ridge; 10.9% of pop.): 103
  • 22203 (Ballston, Buckingham, Arlington Forest; 10.5% of pop.): 162
  • 22204 (Columbia Pike corridor; 22.8% of pop.): 486
  • 22205 (Westover, Tara-Leeway Heights, East Falls Church; 8.2% of pop.): 68
  • 22206 (Shirlington, Fairlington, Long Branch Creek; 9.2% of pop.): 98
  • 22207 (Cherrydale, Country Club Hills, Yorktown; 14.9% of pop.): 176
  • 22209 (Rosslyn, Radnor-Fort Myer Heights; 5.9% of pop.): 44
  • 22213 (portion of Arlington’s northwest corner; 1.4% of pop.): 10

Zip code map via Arlington County

County Scales Up Public Health Workforce

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) Arlington County has grown its public health workforce more than 10x since January amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“At the start of this emergency in January, we had approximately 15 members in Public Health leading response efforts,” Arlington Public Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese tells ARLnow. “We have since expanded to more than 250, including many resources from other parts of the Department of Human Services, temporary reassignments from other County departments and community volunteers.”

The expanded workforce is working on a number of tasks, including contact tracing. “Testing and tracing” is key to allowing the economy to reopen while mitigating the spread of the virus.

In South Korea, a robust testing and tracing effort, coupled with technology and the widespread wearing of masks, has helped to slow new COVID-19 cases to a trickle. Some states, like California and New York are planning massive contact tracing efforts, with thousands of trained tracers interviewing people who test positive and identifying those with whom they’ve spent more than a few minutes recently.

Varghese says Arlington is doing just that, detailing the labor-intensive effort.

“We identify and interview cases to identify their close contacts and to advise the individual on how to properly isolate themselves and physically separate from others for the duration of the illness,” he said. “We also interview close contacts that the individual identified in the interview. These are people who came within six-feet of the individual for at least a few minutes, including the 48 hours before you developed symptoms. We then advise these individuals to separate from others for 14 days (from their exposure) to prevent them from infecting others if they develop symptoms.”

“We actively monitor the identified and interviewed cases mentioned above,” he continued. “This includes a daily check to see if symptoms have improved, worsened or stayed the same. We assess their resource needs to help them maintain their isolation and quarantine safely.”

One issue facing Arlington and Virginia as a whole is a lack of testing, Varghese acknowledged, when asked about the relatively high positivity rate for COVID-19 tests conducted here — around 27% in Arlington as of last week.

“The percentage you are seeing reflects the limited supplies for testing and priority being given to those who are sick and exhibiting symptoms, so this will yield a much higher positive result, he said. “These percentages fall into the range of other health districts in Northern Virginia… It is important to emphasize that the numbers reflect those that have been tested and [are] not representative of the general population.”

Varghese said the state and county are working to increase testing capacity.

“Arlington is part of Commonwealth of Virginia and Governor Northam has instituted a task force to further increase sample collection and sample testing capacity. Arlington has looked to increase testing locally as well,” he said. “As you know, Arlington was the first jurisdiction in Northern Virginia to work with a hospital (VHC) to set up a drive-through testing site. Other providers have stood up testing, and we continue to look to increase sample collection opportunities locally for testing.”

“We continue to work with our regional jurisdictional partners to see how we can further increase sample collection opportunities, as well as laboratory testing capacity,” he added.

This morning, the state health department said it is working to scale up to 10,000 tests per day across Virginia. Last week, about 100-200 tests per day were being reported in Arlington.

As of Tuesday, Arlington had 1,169 known coronavirus cases, a number that continues to increase by double digit figures daily, even through weeks of social distancing efforts. Despite the continued rise in cases, Varghese said such efforts have worked.

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Independent Candidate Announces for County Board Special Election

By ARLnow.com

There will likely be at least one independent candidate in the upcoming Arlington County Board special election.

While Arlington Democrats work to select a nominee internally, Susan Cunningham — a civically-involved mother of two — has announced her intention to run as an independent to fill the seat of the late Erik Gutshall.

“I believe good local government is non-partisan,” she said in her announcement Tuesday morning. “We are all Arlingtonians; I want to work for Arlington’s common good, regardless of party.”

Cunningham outlined a wonky policy agenda, anchored by “data-driven solutions that are financially sound and make Arlington a great place to live and to do business.” Among her priorities are:

  • Planning processes for north-south corridors like Glebe Road and George Mason Drive, similar to efforts underway for Lee Highway (of which she is a participant.)
  • “Needs-based budgeting and efficient delivery of core services,” including “proactive investments in sustainable infrastructure like stormwater, sewers, and emergency management.”
  • Improving transparency and access to public information, while “streamlining community engagement processes to make them more fair, less cumbersome, and more equitable.”
  • Long-term planning for public facilities and “selective upzoning to enhance business viability and housing choice and affordability.”

The filing deadline for candidates to run in the July 7 special election is this Friday at 5 p.m. Arlington County General Registrar Gretchen Reinemeyer tells ARLnow that she has “received some inquiries” from independent candidates, but so far only Cunningham has filed partial paperwork.

One candidate not likely to run: former independent County Board member John Vihstadt.

“While many of you have encouraged me to run in the July 7 special election for the remainder of Erik’s term, I’m enjoying being back into law practice full-time,” he told supporters in an email on Monday. “I’m inclined not to run and am channeling my commitment to Arlington in myriad other ways. But these are precarious times, and I hope someone will still step forward to run who (a) shows a blend of civic leadership and fresh ideas, (b) has a sober, well-informed and independent outlook on what local government can and can’t afford and (c) will question authority and speak truth to power.”

Arlington’s elections office, meanwhile, is expected to announce today that it will not be running a party nomination event ahead of the November County Board general election. The expected announcement comes after Libby Garvey’s would-be challenger, Chanda Choun, withdrew from the primary in order to seek the Democratic nod in the special election. Polls will still be open June 23 for a Republican U.S. Senate primary.

With elections in June and July, and a presidential election in November — all amid the coronavirus pandemic and some legally uncharted territory — Reinemeyer said Arlington election officials have been keeping “very busy” in 2020.

The full announcement from Cunningham is below, after the jump.

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