health department

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Reminder: Metro Station Closures — The Clarendon, Virginia Square and East Falls Church Metro stations are closed starting today. The closures will impact several ART bus routes, as well. [Arlington County]

Kaine Lauds Passage of Coronavirus Relief Bill — In a statement late Wednesday night, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by the Senate “will backstop the American economy by protecting workers and their families.” [Press Release]

County: Hold Off on Spring Cleaning — “Although it is tempting to use the increased time in our homes to start ‘spring cleaning,’ please delay these activities or hold on to these items during this challenging time. Refuse collection crews are dealing with an increased volume of waste and disposal requests, while incorporating new protocols to limit their risk of exposure to COVID-19.” [Arlington County]

First Coronavirus Case at Pentagon — “A Marine assigned to the service’s headquarters office at the Pentagon has tested positive for COVID-19… becoming the first service member assigned to the Defense Department’s home base to contract coronavirus. The Marine tested positive March 24, Capt. Joseph Butterfield told Military Times, after a period of isolation spurred by symptoms in his wife.” [Military Times]

HQ2 Construction Still on Track — “Construction of the first of Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 towers remains on schedule, but the planning process for the green space around them may slow as the spread of the novel coronavirus forces public meeting cancellations. Clark Construction, lead contractor on Amazon’s first 2.1 million-square-foot office building, said that work at Metropolitan Park in Pentagon City is advancing with added coronavirus safety measures.” [Washington Business Journal]

Governor Orders Elective Surgeries Delayed — “Governor Ralph Northam and State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA today directed all hospitals to stop performing elective surgeries or procedures to help conserve supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). The public health emergency order does not apply to any procedure if the delay would cause harm to a patient.” [Gov. Ralph Northam]

Ballston’s Punch Bowl Social in Trouble — “Cracker Barrel announced Wednesday that eatertainment brand Punch Bowl Social has closed all of its 19 locations and laid off most of its restaurant and corporate staff and that it would not prevent foreclosure on the brand.” [FSR Magazine, Marketwatch]

Another Jump in Coronavirus Cases in Arlington, Fairfax County

By ARLnow.com

Arlington and Fairfax counties are continuing to report an expected — but concerning — upward trajectory in COVID-19 cases as testing continues to ramp up.

As of noon on Wednesday, Arlington had 46 known coronavirus cases, an increase from 36 cases on Tuesday. Neighboring Fairfax County, meanwhile, saw its reported cases jump to 76, from 43 on Monday.

Statewide, the Virginia Dept. of Health reported 391 cases Wednesday, an increase of about 100 cases compared to one day prior. The state is also reporting 59 hospitalizations, 9 deaths, and 5,370 people tested overall. Most of the known cases are in Northern Virginia.

Arlington is continuing to provide a public outreach effort that includes a local hub for COVID-19 information and a hotline: 703-228-7999. It is also seeking volunteers, via the county’s Medical Reserve Corps, to help with the response to the outbreak.

“Arlington Medical Reserve Corps volunteers have been engaged and supporting the Public Health Division’s COVID-19 response since early February,” Arlington Dept. of Human Services spokesman Kurt Larrick told ARLnow today. “Nearly two dozen volunteers have contributed nearly 400 hours in the past three weeks alone to support call center operations, risk assessment and monitoring, and case investigations.”

Arlington and other Virginia localities are currently taking applications from prospective volunteers.

“We have seen a substantial increase in new volunteers with over 75 new applicants in the past month,” Larrick said. “We are fortunate and proud to have this dedicated team working in our community.”

The county, meanwhile, accepted a grant for the Medical Reserve Corps at its meeting this weekend. From a press release:

The Board accepted $115,000 in federal Urban Area Security Initiative funds for the current fiscal year that will fund a Medical Reserve Corps coordinator position currently funded by the County. The coordinator conducts public health outreach recruitment and training. The County’s Medical Reserve Corps is one of the first groups activated in a public health emergency. Their primary mission is to support the response of the County’s Emergency Support Function 8: Public Health and Medical Services – which is currently activated to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The coordinator ensures the County has enough pre-credentialed, trained volunteers to deal with pandemics and other health emergencies.

BREAKING: Arlington Firefighter Tests Positive for Coronavirus

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 5 p.m.) An Arlington firefighter has tested positive for the coronavirus, a fire department spokesman confirms to ARLnow.

Officials are not revealing the fire station at which the firefighter worked, citing privacy concerns. The spokesman told ARLnow that the county’s health department has notified people the firefighter might have come into contact with, but ACFD personnel who worked with him or her are staying on the job.

“Because they’re not showing symptoms they’re still working, and that’s at the direction of Arlington public health,” said Capt. Justin Tirelli. “We’re monitoring everybody constantly for possible symptoms.”

Tirelli said that the fire department has plans in place, dating back to the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, for how to keep staffing levels up even if more firefighters start falling ill. Those plans include shifting trained firefighters from department staff jobs to the field, and calling in volunteers if needed.

“We’ll flex and move our staffing as needed,” he said, noting that there are also “high level” discussions for how to maintain fire department staffing as a region.

Across the river, eight members of D.C. Fire and EMS have tested positive for COVID-19 and, as of Sunday, 118 firefighters were under self-quarantine.

ACFD says it has prepared for the outbreak and has protective gear for firefighters responding to illness calls. Still, the department has been urging people who are feeling ill to contact their medical provider and only call 911 in the event of a life-threatening emergency.

There has thus far been only “a very small” increase in calls for people experiencing flu-like symptoms, Tirelli said, but ACFD expects such calls to increase significantly in the coming weeks.

One change that is being made in procedure is reducing the number of personnel who make initial contact with those reporting flu-like symptoms. Instead of a full crew assessing the patient, now a smaller assessment team will go in while others stay back, prepared to assist as needed, according to Tirelli.

As of noon today there were 36 known coronavirus cases in Arlington County, and 290 cases statewide, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health.

The Right Note: Getting Through This

By Mark Kelly

The Right Note is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

We are 10 days into an initial 15-day nationwide effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Lives have tragically been lost. Jobs that seemed secure are now gone. Uncertainty surrounds every decision being made by individuals, families, businesses and our elected leaders. Decisions are being made daily, even hourly that in some cases drastically impact our lives.

Here in Arlington, our county leaders declared a state of emergency to maximize social distancing, even closing our parks. Closed schools are still serving school lunches and breakfasts to kids who rely on them. Local leaders worked together with Virginia Hospital Center to stand up a drive-through testing site.

County Manager Mark Schwartz announced last weekend he would come back to the County Board with a revised annual budget. Certainly, county officials are expecting to lose the revenue cushion that had lead Chair Libby Garvey to speculate the Board would cut the tax rate.

At the same time, the fiscal year does not begin until July 1, which hopefully will be after we have turned the corner on coronavirus. The Board will also have access to closeout funds later in the year to bridge the gap. And, for years Arlington has banked large emergency reserves that we can tap into if necessary. In other words, we should be able to get through this without taking drastic measures.

Sadly, yesterday Governor Northam announced an end to the school year. In Arlington, the Governor turned a 30-day school shutdown into a 100-day shutdown. By contrast, the Governor’s order only required non-essential businesses to close for the next 30 days.

It is not entirely clear why the Governor did not wait until mid-April to make this long-term school decision when he would have had more information available to him. However, there will be plenty of time for after-action reports, public criticism and public praise in the weeks and months after we get through this.

In the meantime, as we make our way through this unprecedented national crisis, may we all take a measured response to the actions and decisions of our leaders. We have to trust that every elected official is trying to both protect public health, particularly for the most vulnerable of our people, and guard against the potential of an economic collapse.

Arlingtonians can stay up to date on all of the latest news and information at the county’s website. Not only does it include announcements about what the county is doing in response to COVID-19, it also outlines resources to meet community needs during this difficult time.

Right now, if you have the means, please consider helping your neighbors. You can check in with local charitable organizations or reach out directly to those who may be in need. It certainly is a cliche, but we will come out of this stronger if we continue to remember that we are all in this together.

Mark Kelly is a 19-year Arlington resident, former Arlington GOP Chairman and two-time Republican candidate for Arlington County Board.

Ask Eli: Impact of Coronavirus on the Real Estate Market, Part 3

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: What has been the impact of the Coronavirus/COVID-19 on the real estate market?

Answer: I hope you are all staying healthy and sane(ish). My wife and I are trying to wrap our heads around school being canceled through the end of the academic year… yay!

Over the last two weeks, my Coronavirus columns (one and two) have included mostly anecdotal evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on the real estate market, but now we’ve been in this for long enough that I can start using market data to measure the true effects. It will be at least a few more weeks before we can measure the effect on prices, but we can look at things like supply, showing activity and contract activity now.

What I’m Seeing/Hearing

This past weekend, most Open Houses were canceled and over the last week showing activity has dropped off dramatically. However, there are still plenty of active, motivated buyers making offers. What I’m seeing/hearing right now in the D.C. Metro market is that competition is down, prices haven’t taken much of a hit (yet), and new listings are still coming onto the market.

Mortgage rates had their most volatile week ever last week as investors basically stopped buying mortgages on the secondary market, but the Fed stepped in and has promised to stabilize the market until our economy (hopefully) returns to normal. Here are two (one and two) good reads on what happened last week to mortgages.

Impact On The D.C. Area Economy

While not real estate specific, I want to share the excellent work of Jeannette Chapman, Director of the Stephen S. Fuller Institute at our very own George Mason University, which takes an in-depth look at how Coronavirus is likely going to impact the D.C. area economy, based on current projections. Notably, they determine that the D.C. area will not be as insulated from this recession as the 2008 financial crisis. Be smart, be careful with your money folks.

While I’m slightly off the topic of real estate, I wanted to share a great website for tracking global and domestic COVID-19 data in real time, with helpful visuals. This website was shared with me by Arlington resident/Mom Elissa David, who owns the Unbroken Body to help Moms heal their bodies after pregnancy. She has temporarily turned her website into a resource for all of us parents who have suddenly become home school teachers!

Now let’s jump into some relevant real estate market data.

Market Data

SUPPLY

The number of new listings this past week in Arlington jumped 27% over the same week last year and 6% over two weeks ago. The D.C. Metro experienced less dramatic increases in new listings, but increases nonetheless.

Anecdotally, it seems many homeowners who were planning to sell in the next 4-8 weeks are accelerating their timeline, fearing the uncertainty of the future economy. A boost in inventory from motivated sellers while demand continues to fall (see below) could lead to a drop in prices in the near future.

Nationwide, the number of listings pulled off the market spiked over the past week.

Nationwide Data

SHOWINGS

The average number of showings per listing in Arlington (first chart) have dropped each of the last four weeks from 10.44 showings four weeks ago to 2.91 showings this past week.

Showings in Washington, D.C. have dropped by 41.4% compared to this time last year. The tool I have to generate this data only offers statewide info, so I chose to use Washington, D.C. (yes, I know it’s not a state) instead of Virginia because the Washington, D.C. market is much more reflective of Northern Virginia than the Virginia market. Showings are down 32.9% across North America.

(more…)

Arlington Grapples with Community Transmission of Coronavirus

By Vernon Miles

Like other nearby localities, Arlington has entered the community transmission phase of coronavirus outbreak.

As of noon Monday, the number of known coronavirus cases in Arlington again increased — to 34 cases from 26 cases on Sunday and 17 on Friday, according to the Virginia Dept. of Health. Some of those are suspected cases of community transmission, which cannot be traced back to travel abroad or contact with a person known to be infected.

At the Arlington County Board meeting on Saturday, Arlington County Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese provided an update on the county’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We have cases in Arlington, as well as in the region… there is now evidence for local transmission, community transmission,” said Varghese. “[These are] cases where you can’t find a known source related to travel… The cases in Georgetown were a known cause, but we now have evidence without being able to find a known source of transmission.”

Varghese said that this was completely expected and the work being done now on social distancing will help reduce the spread.

“With that evidence of community spread in Northern Virginia we want to remind everyone: infectious diseases don’t respect boundaries and all localities should be vigilant in helping to slow the spread of the virus,” Varghese said.

Varghese advised people to wash their hands frequently and to cover their faces when coughing, complimenting someone else in the room mid-speech with having “good technique” as they started to cough.

Statewide in Virginia, there are now 254 known coronavirus cases, including 38 hospitalizations and 6 deaths. Nearly 3,700 people have been tested, according to the state health department. Fairfax County now has the highest number of cases among individual jurisdictions in the Commonwealth: 43.

Meanwhile, the county is scrapping its previous budget.

“We’re doing the best to get a new budget proposal by April 1,” County Manager Mark Schwartz said. “It will be a very small document with increased demands in certain areas and less revenue.”

Schwartz said that, as the county did after the 9/11 terror attacks, all capital projects will be reprioritized to divert resources to essential needs. Budget work sessions have been temporarily suspended.

“We expect occupancy tax and meals tax to be low,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz said that occupancy rates at Arlington hotels are currently around 2-3% with one closing that week.

Image via Arlington County

Here’s What Happens When There’s a Coronavirus Case in an Apartment Building

By ARLnow.com

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Arlington continues to grow, those in apartments and condos might be wondering about the risks of living in close proximity to others who might test positive for the virus.

It’s worth noting that Arlington County’s health director said earlier this month that “the vast majority” of apartment dwellers have nothing to worry about in terms of their building’s heating and air conditioning systems — the air handling systems “should not lead to spread” of the virus.

But should a coronavirus case be reported in a building, there’s still concern about surfaces and people the infected person might have come into contact with. A memo forwarded to ARLnow from a resident in an apartment building near Ballston details some of the steps landlords are taking to mitigate such coronavirus exposures.

Key to the response: notification of residents and deep cleaning of the building’s hallways and common areas.

The memo is below, with the address and other details redacted to protect the privacy of the infected person.

TO:  Residents
FROM:  Dittmar Management Team
DATE:  March 20, 2020
RE:  Deep cleaning program

As you are aware, earlier today we were notified by a resident that a person living in the same apartment was diagnosed with the Covid-19 virus. Dittmar has not been notified of any diagnosis directly from the resident, the CDC or the Arlington County Public Health Department.

Later this afternoon, our third party service provider will begin sanitizing all public areas through a direct contact process. As an additional precaution we have contracted the company to fog the hallway with the EPA approved chemical Sporacide. In order to minimize the impact on your residency the work will be done overnight. At 9:30pm, the company will begin covering and taping off all apartment doors from the hallway. They will effectively be making the hallway a containment zone. Once the hallway is contained, they will begin a six hour fog. Please do not return to your home after 9:30pm or plan to depart until at least 5am. They will have staff on site throughout. At the conclusion of the sanitizing process, the plastic will be removed and you are free to leave your apartment.

In the unlikely event that the fire alarm is activated and you are required to evacuate, the fogging will stop and you may tear away the plastic barrier.

Please continue to follow the guidelines established by the CDC.  The website is https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus.  Additionally, Arlington County has established a Covid-19 hotline to answer questions that you may have.  The number is 703/228-7999.

Thank you in advance for working with us to maintain a healthy home for all.

BREAKING: GMU Reports Coronavirus Case at Arlington Campus

By ARLnow.com

A student who attended classes at George Mason University’s Arlington campus has tested positive for the coronavirus, the university says.

GMU says it was notified about the positive test last night.

“On the evening of March 19, George Mason University was made aware that a student who attended classes in Arlington tested positive for coronavirus and is receiving treatment at a local hospital,” the university said in a statement. “An investigation is being conducted by the local health department to determine if anyone else within our community should take additional precautions such as self-isolation or quarantine.”

“The student does not reside on campus, and to our knowledge, the last time that this student was on the Arlington campus was on March 4,” the statement continued.

As of noon on Friday, there were 114 known COVID-19 cases in Virginia, out of 2,325 tests, according to the state Dept. of Health. Arlington’s case count remained steady at 17.

The full statement from GMU, which was emailed to students and staff, is below.

Dear Mason Patriots,

On the evening of March 19, George Mason University was made aware that a student who attended classes in Arlington tested positive for coronavirus and is receiving treatment at a local hospital. While this student is undergoing treatment, please be considerate of the student’s privacy and wellbeing. We all wish the student a quick recovery and the university is working to provide the student with assistance and support.

An investigation is being conducted by the local health department to determine if anyone else within our community should take additional precautions such as self-isolation or quarantine. The student does not reside on campus, and to our knowledge, the last time that this student was on the Arlington campus was on March 4.

The university has taken aggressive steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus within the Mason community by moving classes to an online format, cancelling events, and promoting telework whenever possible. Given these precautions and what we know about the situation, the risk of exposure to other students, faculty, and staff who visited the Arlington campus remains low.

We encourage anyone that has concerns about potential exposure to await official guidance from the health department or university before taking additional precautions.  Individuals who were at risk of exposure will be contacted directly and provided specific guidance. The actions the university is taking are consistent with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Virginia Department of Health guidelines, but we understand that this situation may cause some anxiety in our community.

If you have individual concerns about the university’s response, please contact [email protected]. At this time, we continue to stress the importance of general precautions; wash your hands, practice good hygiene, monitor yourself for illnesses, remain home if you are sick, and continue to practice social distancing. If you feel ill or have concerns about your health, please contact your healthcare provider.

For more information about coronavirus, please visit www.gmu.edu/coronavirus.

Photo via Google Maps

Local Catering Company Faces Possible Closure Due to Coronavirus

By Vernon Miles

Updated 3/23 — Owner Rich Vizard thanked the Arlington community for recent support, noted the sanitary precautions they are following, and thanked the County Treasurer for tax relief options passed after publication of the story.

Allspice Catering wants to thank the community for its support during these unprecedented times. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we respond to questions and orders. We want to stress that we are staying vigilant during this time and continue to follow all the ServSafe Guidelines to prevent the Coronavirus in a food establishment. We are committed to taking all precautions to protect our customers and our staff including being mindful of proper habits to follow outside of the workplace to protect ourselves and each other. I’d also like to thank Treasurer Carla de la Pava for taking quick decisive action on local tax relief options for restaurants and hotels. Be safe and take care of each other.

Earlier: In the span of a week or two, Allspice Catering (6017 Wilson Blvd) has gone from having a decent balance sheet to having roughly two months left to live — tops.

“There’s no business,” said owner Rich Vizard, owner of the company since he bought it from the original owners in 2013. “I normally do $15,000 a week. This week I had $235 in orders. We are completely, utterly dead in the water.”

Like Allspice Catering — formerly based in Rosslyn but now in Dominion Hills — businesses across Arlington have felt the strain of the coronavirus crisis. Allspice Catering has attempted to pivot to takeout, but it faces stiff competition against restaurants that are familiar and household names attempting to do the same, in a bid to survive.

Vizard said he recognized that people were more likely to order from a restaurant that they already knew and it puts his company at a significant disadvantage.

“We’ve done some takeout menus and had some personal takeout for people who want to order breakfast, lunch or dinner,” Vizard said. “We signed up for DoorDash and did a lot of promotion on social media.”

It wasn’t enough to keep the company from facing layoffs.

“In seven years I never had to lay off an employee, now I had to lay off all of them,” Vizard said. “The only one I’ve kept on is my chef because I can’t afford to lose him. I’m paying him full salary and I don’t know how.”

Vizard said his company has weathered government shutdowns and their original Rosslyn location being slated for demolition. Time after time, Vizard said his company had to fight its way to the finish line but he always knew they could come through.

“This one… we can’t,” Vizard said. “It’s so beyond our control. There’s just no business. We’re a heavily corporate catering company. Our bread and butter was corporate [events] and a few weddings, but everyone is teleworking and all the events are canceled.”

Vizard said all of the orders between the last week and the middle of April — $45,000 total — have canceled. Adding insult to injury was an order planned with Arlington County government that he called repeatedly to confirm, only to hear back after the meals had already been prepared that someone in the administration had forgotten to cancel the order.

“If we don’t pay a single bill and beg our landlord to extend us time, I think we could hold on for a month or two,” Vizard said. “After that we exhaust all lines of credit — two months max.”

While Alexandria is suspending its meal tax collection, Vizard shared an email correspondence with Arlington’s business tax supervisor saying businesses should continue paying their taxes to Arlington and there was no explicit permission from the state allowing Arlington to grant exceptions to tax collection for businesses in the event of a disease or other public health concern.

In the meantime, Vizard said he’s filed for a Small Business Association loan and he hopes takeout and gift certificates will be enough to weather the crisis.

“We have some inexpensive meals that can be delivered or picked up,” Vizard said. “Hopefully something good will happen… we’re going to try to ride it out as best we can and push off payments.”

File photo

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

APS Creates Learning at Home Guide — “We have created a Learning at Home webpage that pulls details on instruction, additional educational resources for families, activities and resources for coping with stress. If you have questions, please send them to [email protected].” [Arlington Public Schools, Twitter]

How to Report Price Gouging in Virginia — “If you see excessive price increases for coronavirus (COVID-19) necessities, report it to Attorney General Mark Herring’s office.” [Facebook, Attorney General Mark Herring]

Costco Encouraging Social Distancing — Costco in Pentagon City has had lines out of the door every morning since the start of the coronavirus crisis. The line has gotten longer — and more spread out — in the interest of social distancing. [Twitter]

Airports Remain Open — Reagan National Airport remains open, reportedly with no plans to limit access. Most stores and restaurants at DCA also remain open, but with modified hours. [Twitter, Twitter]

Signature Theater Show Goes Online — “Signature Theater in Arlington, Va., is looking to make its production of Dani Stoller’s ‘Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes’ available online to ticketholders.” [New York Times]

Ramen Shop Offering Free Food for Seniors — “Gaijin Ramen Shop management and staff are heartbroken by elders without food because of the COVID-19 pandemic… We are offering FREE delivery of fresh vegetable ramen soup to any elderly in need.” [Community Post]

Free Pizza for Kids at Troy’s Italian — “On March 20, from 12-8 p.m. we will be doing free pizza slices for kids. We are also offering contactless curbside pickup. Call us at (703) 528-2828 when you get here, and we will bring the food out, and put it into the trunk of your car for you.” [Facebook]

Vehicle Inspection Enforcement Suspended — “Governor Northam has directed the Virginia Department of State Police to suspend the enforcement of Motor Vehicle Safety Inspections for 60 days.” [Gov. Ralph Northam]

New Local Facebook Page — “Community activist and Arlingtonian Kellen MacBeth has centralized tools and resources for people in need during the coronavirus outbreak. His Facebook page, Arlington Neighbors Helping Each Other Through COVID-19, is up to 2,000 members in just one day of its existence.” [WDVM]

Nearby: Coronavirus Strikes Falls Church Senior Center — “A resident at The Kensington assisted living center in the City of Falls Church has tested positive for COVID-19, the Fairfax County Health Department reported today. It is the first reported case of the coronavirus in the City.” [Falls Church News-Press, Twitter]

Officials Say Testing Held Back by Limited Supply

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 10:25 p.m.) In a small press conference, local officials explained that the second day of drive-in coronavirus testing went well but efforts are hamstrung by a lack of coronavirus tests.

“We’ve been able to process 63 patients,” said Melody Dickerson, Virginia Hospital Center’s Chief Nursing Officer. “We are training more laboratory staff to help with the process. The limiting resource is the testing supplies. That is a finite resource and we continue to monitor that closely.”

Dickerson said the facility, on county-owned property across from Washington-Liberty High School, could test 12 people per hour, but the number of available tests limited them to 63 patients.

Aaron Miller, Director of Arlington’s Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management, said the efficiency of Arlington’s operation can and should be applied elsewhere.

“We’ve taken the successful model you’ve seen here and the plans we’ve worked on and provided that with our regional partners as a templated guidance,” Miller said. “We’ve encouraged not only regional partners but state partners to use this as an example of what can be accomplished with these public-private partnerships.”

Arlington is supporting the requests from other state and regional leaders to get more testing from the federal government, he added.

Following the announcement that Arlington has set up a coronavirus hotline — 703-228-7999 — for resident questions, Miller requested that Arlingtonians save 911 calls for emergencies.

“We saw a spike in calls to 911 asking about testing,” Miller said. “Please, if you do not have an emergency, please don’t call 911.”

Also Thursday, Arlington County released a video showing the new protective gear firefighters might be wearing on medical calls to protect them from disease.

“Please, do not be alarmed,” the video said. “This does not mean that the patient we are attending to is sick with the coronavirus.”

The extra precautions are necessary to keep first responders healthy at a time when there is evidence of “community transmission” in Northern Virginia.

More from Arlington County:

As of March 19, 2020, public health officials have noted evidence of community transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus in parts of Northern Virginia.

Local governments in Northern Virginia have already taken a number of actions to promote social distancing and protect those at increased risk for severe illness. Individuals are urged to:

  • Wash your hands frequently
  • Stay home when you are sick
  • Avoid close contact with those are sick
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your elbow and wash your hands afterwards
  • Avoid crowded areas and non‐essential travel if you are over age 65 or have a chronic medical condition
  • Follow local government social distancing guidance.
  • Infectious diseases do not respect boundaries. Each individual is a critical part of slowing the spread of COVID-19, in addition to government action at the local, state and federal levels.

For more information about the COVID-19 coronavirus and how you can help protect yourself and those around you, visit arlingtonva.us/Coronavirus.

Photo via Jay Westcott

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