ALIVE! is providing food at a number of free distributions this week, and needs volunteers to help pack groceries for food-insecure homes in Alexandria with COVID-19 positive residents.
“We need volunteers to pack shelf-stable food to distribute to people in quarantine,” ALIVE! Executive Director Jennifer Ayers told ALXnow. “We’re also ready to go with four food distributions this week.”
Gov. Ralph Northam announced yesterday that the delayed reopening of Northern Virginia will start on Friday (May 29), but with that came a mandatory mask order for anyone in public places.
“Everyone will need to wear a face cover when you’re inside at a public place starting this Friday,” Northam said at his weekly coronavirus press conference. “That’s at a store, a barbershop, a restaurant, on public transportation, at a government building or anywhere where people can congregate in groups.”
With Alexandria health officials expecting the total number of COVID-19 cases to go up during Phase 1 of reopening, the City Council discussed the line between what coronavirus restrictions can be put in place and what can be enforced — particularly when it comes to playgrounds.
During a City Council discussion last night (Tuesday), James Spengler, Director of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, said city playgrounds could not open until Phase 3 of the reopening, which could be in the fall.
An Alexandria man in his 50s has died of COVID-19, and there are now 1,824 cases in the city, an increase of 49 new cases since yesterday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
There are now 42 deaths in the city related to the virus, and the most recent victims were two Alexandria men and a woman. The number of known cases is expected to rise in the city, as 3,000 tests were administered at Cora Kelly School and Landmark Mall on Monday.
A 34-year-old Alexandria taxi driver has been indicted for conspiring and attempting to provide material support to al-Shabaab, a militant group designated operating in Somalia and designated by the United States as a terrorist organization.
Alexandria resident Liban Haji Mohamed, 34, was charged Wednesday by a grand jury at the Alexandria Federal Courthouse.
‘Good. Works. Alexandria’ Giving Event is Today — “Alexandria’s stores and restaurants will give a percentage of their sales to the charities of the customers’ choice. For every lunch or dinner ordered OR purchase made, we will share those profits with clientele’s charity of choice located on the Spring2ACTion website.” [Old Town Business Association]
Here’s What Services Will Open Under Phase 1 — “As the region proceeds through the reopening phases the Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities, City of Alexandria, VA has released the schedule of how recreation services, facilities and programs will be restored.” [Facebook]
Del Ray eatery South China Restaurant (1302 Mount Vernon Ave) is now reopened for takeout and delivery.
Staff at the restaurant confirmed that the location reopened yesterday, Memorial Day, with a new menu available online.
Northern Virginia will join the rest of the state in reopening its economy on Friday, and that same day all Virginians will have to wear face masks indoors in public, Governor Ralph Northam announced today.
“Everyone will need to wear a face cover when you’re inside at a public place starting this Friday,” Northam said at his weekly coronavirus press conference. “That’s at a store, a barber shop, a restaurant, on public transportation, at a government building or anywhere where people can congregate in groups.”
For Alexandria City Public Schools students this year, summer school is not exactly optional.
ACPS announced last week that students will be expected to participate in a summer learning program to compensate for time lost in classrooms in the latter half of the 2019-2020 academic year. Parents who do not want their children to participate will be required to submit a form explaining why they want to opt-out of the summer program.
Carrie Beyer and Jeff Flannery considered it their civic duty to get tested for COVID-19 on Memorial Day. Along with thousands of Alexandrians on Monday, the couple took their 18-year-old son to get tested at Cora Kelly School.
“We look at it as our civic duty,” Flannery told ALXnow. “I don’t think we would have come out at all unless Carrie convinced us, because we need to collect the statistics and get an accurate database of what’s going on in the city.”
Alexandria Police are investigating a report of shots fired in a residential area in the city’s West End on the early morning Sunday, May 24.
Police announced the incident at 2:16 a.m. via Twitter, and arrived at the 100 block of Ellsworth Street to find a number of spent shell casings from a handgun, Alexandria Police spokesman Lt. Courtney Ballantine told ALXnow.
