Kate Garvey, Director of the Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services, says COVID-19 has helped lay bare existing islands of food insecurity in the city.
As her department has worked extensively with community partners like ALIVE! for food distribution, Garvey said the pandemic emphasizes a growing need.
An earlier plan to close a portion of King Street for pedestrian-and-bike-access-only could be making a comeback as restaurants look for ways to do outdoor dining as a social distancing measure.
In a virtual town hall, Mayor Justin Wilson addressed questions about the possibility of closing streets to promote pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The prospect has gained ground in New York City, San Francisco, and other urban localities. There has been pressure from some advocates in D.C. for the city to do the same.
Alexandria has met three of the five criteria for reopening, Mayor Justin Wilson said in a weekly town hall yesterday (Thursday), but the last two remain elusive.
Standards set out by the CDC, and reinforced at every level from the state to the local health director Dr. Stephen Haering, says that there are five standards that need to be met
The Alexandria Department of Transportation and Environmental Services was repairing a water main break on King Street yesterday when a historical discovery was made.
A work crew uncovered streetcar rail lines from the city’s electric streetcar, which ended in 1932.
There are now 1,396 people with COVID-19 in Alexandria, an increase of 47 cases since yesterday, and no new deaths have been reported, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
There are 32 fatalities related to the virus, but the did not update any of its demographic data for Alexandria and sex, age, racial and ethnic and ZIP code data yesterday. All that is publicly known is that a woman and a man are the latest victims of the virus. One victim was in their 80s and another was in their 70s.
Arlandria in Crisis Over COVID-19 Spread — “Azucena Esquival lives in a cramped apartment in the Arlandria neighborhood of Alexandria, where the problem of community spread isn’t just theoretical. The pandemic is in her household. Earlier this month, she tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Another adult in her household paid $300 to get a test, which was also positive. They are living with two people who have not been tested. None of them are currently working, and they have no source of income.” [Gazette]
Alexandria Unemployment Claims Spike — “As of the Times’ print deadline, Alexandria residents had filed 10,609 initial unemployment claims, according to the Virginia Employment Commission. Initial claims began pouring in throughout mid-March, climbing from 33 the week of March 14 to 797 the week of March 21.” [Alex Times]
The following Letter to the Editor was written by John Liss, co-executive director of New Virginia Majority, a statewide racial justice and pro-democracy organization based in Arlandria.
Perhaps no greater community illustrates the tone-deaf nature of ignoring the most vulnerable communities than Arlandria/Chirilagua.
A local nonprofit is planning to renovate an office building in Old Town into a facility dedicated to helping individuals with special needs get access to job training.
The Joey Pizzano Memorial Fund (JPMF), an Alexandria based nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of children with special needs and their families, is planning to build a Community Integration Center — a facility aimed at providing adults with disabilities with training and resources for their personal and employment goals — at 919 Prince Street. The facility will also include two accessory dwelling units.
(Updated 5/17) T.C. Williams High School seniors in the class of 2020 may not have their chance to walk across the stage, but a small group of seniors are working to make sure their classmates still get a moment of public celebration.
The Instagram page tctitans_seniors has profiled 92 seniors in the school so far, sharing a picture with their post-graduation plans and other small bits of information about them.
“Northern Virginia is not the only area in the state that should have a delayed opening,” said John Liss, the co-executive director of New Virginia Authority in a Zoom press conference. “This is no consolation for uninsured or underinsured Virginians, for those who have to choose between taking care of their health, paying their rent or putting food on the table.”
Liss was joined by the Arlington NAACP, CASA, Care in Action, the Fairfax NAACP, the Loudoun NAACP, the Prince William County NAACP, the Richmond for All, the Virginia Coalition of Latino Organizations, and the Virginia Student Power Network.
Inmates at the Alexandria Jail have also had to adapt to the coronavirus, and with visitation limited are now having weekly 10 minute-long Zoom meetings with family members.
There are 210 inmates in the jail (well below capacity at 338 inmates) and currently none are infected with COVID-19, according the Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Amy Bertsch. Inmates are required to move around common areas with face masks and observe social distancing.
