Even as Alexandria businesses struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of them are providing Inova Alexandria Hospital with respirator masks, meals and cupcakes.
“Alexandria Hospital needs these things desperately. If you have them, donate them,” said Mike Dameron, a co-owner of The Garden, which along with Live Oak Restaurant is donating more than 50 meals to Alexandria Hospital on Friday afternoon. “We had to close down The Garden, and we had all of this food left over.”
For many women at Friends of Guest House, self-quarantining bears an uncomfortable familiarity to the jails and prisons they just left.
The Alexandria shelter helps women emerging from incarceration reenter their communities. But coronavirus has put a new wrench into those plans and spokesperson Marisa Tordella says there’s some extra frustrations and tensions for women who once again feel like they are in lockdown.
Alexandria’s goal of reshaping the Del Ray and Arlandria plans is still moving forward, but the once town hall-driven process is going entirely digital to combat the spread of coronavirus.
The long term plans for the neighborhoods shape policies on things like retail, residential and public spaces in Del Ray and Arlandria. These plans were last updated in 2003 for Arlandria and 2005 for Del Ray. With Amazon moving in next door, the new plans aimed to help these neighborhoods hold onto their sense of community.
Alexandria’s farmers’ markets are adapting to the new coronavirus restrictions with a new Market To-Go program.
Under the new system, visitors will browse vendors online and place orders, then pick them up at the market with minimal social interaction.
Over the last several weeks, the Alexandria Health Department has worked closely with hundreds of businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.
Rachel Stradling leads the department’s interaction with approximately 860 permitted food establishments in the city, and that’s meant advising them on new rules from Richmond. Her small staff of 10 is also advising Alexandria City Public Schools on their emergency food distribution and helping grocery stores during hours allotted for senior citizen shopping.
City Finalizes Freedom House Purchase — “What happened at 1315 Duke St. had a terrible and lasting impact on America. Freedom House encourages us to speak truth to power and delve deeper to confront the hard, honest truths about race, class and equity in this country.” [City of Alexandria]
The Birchmere Starts GoFundMe Fundraiser For Staff — “As you know, we have had to cancel or postpone all of our shows for the foreseeable future, at least into May. With no shows this means that all of our hourly and tipped workers (kitchen, wait & bar staff) are not getting paid. We have been asked by many fans of The Birchmere if there was a way they can help so we have setup this GoFundMe page for them.” [GoFundMe]
The Alexandria Health Department is advising that customers who visited Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub on King Street on March 10, 14 and 15 may have been exposed to COVID-19 and to self-quarantine.
According to the city, “On the evening of March 25, 2020, the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) was notified that a non-resident of Alexandria later confirmed to have the COVID-19 coronavirus spent time at Murphy’s Irish Pub (713 King St.).”
Alexandria City Public Schools have added three “grab and go” breakfast and lunch distribution locations for children over the age of two.
Food distribution at all the ACPS locations has also been limited to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to encourage social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic that has shuttered the school system for the remainder of the academic year.
A letter-writing campaign in Alexandria is underway to help break the isolation at some local senior care facilities.
The campaign is aimed at getting letters to three facilities: Sunrise of Alexandria (3520 Duke Street), Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center (2729 King Street) and Brandywine Living at Alexandria (5550 Cardinal Place).
ACT for Alexandria is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by moving the Spring2ACTion fundraiser from April 29 to April 15.
Spring2ACTion is the largest annual fundraiser in Alexandria.
In addition to a series bus line closures due to coronavirus, Metro is suspending service of Metroway-Potomac Yard — a bus line running between Pentagon City and Braddock Road.
The Metroway runs between Arlington and Alexandria through Crystal City and the Potomac Yard Shopping Center. The move comes after a day after Metro shut down several stations, including the Eisenhower Avenue and Van Dorn stations in Alexandria.
