It was just before midnight on Tuesday night when Two Nineteen Restaurant was forced to temporarily close down.
Really it was more like three businesses closing at once since the building at 219 King Street is home to The Bayou Room, an upstairs cigar lounge and the New Orleans-style French Creole restaurant. Old Town was quiet by the time the doors shut at 11:59 p.m. and there were hardly any cars or people outside.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alexandria yesterday jumped from nine to 13 as the city struggles to manage a pandemic that may just be getting started.
“Ordinarily would be talking about Potomac Yard and housing crisis — we’re pushing that aside,” said Mayor Justin Wilson at an emergency tele-City Council meeting last night. “It’s been a heartbreaking week, with the promise of more heartbreak ahead.”
Metro Closing Eisenhower and Van Dorn Stations — “Metro’s Pandemic Task Force today announced the strategic closing of 17 additional stations, effective Thursday, March 26, 2020, in an effort to conserve critical resources and protect the health and safety of Metro employees and the public. This follows drastic measures already taken to reduce travel on Metro to essential trips only, leading to a Metrorail ridership decline of 90 percent.” [WMATA]
Inova Blood Services Needs Donors — “COVID-19 has heightened awareness of the necessity to be continuously diligent in protecting our donors both in our donor centers and while we are out in the community. Inova Blood Donor Services is fully committed to the health and safety of our blood donors and the patients who benefit from the generous blood, plasma, and platelet donations.” [Inova]
Local small businesses have until the end of the week to file for a grant that could help them retain their workforce during the pandemic.
The Alexandria/Arlington Emergency Layoff Aversion Assistance Program, a state-funded program, aims to save jobs in Alexandria City and Arlington County.
Alexandria City Manager Mark Jinks said Monday that the COVID-19 pandemic has created the worst financial crisis he’s ever seen, and has asked staff to make $100 million in budget cuts and prepare for a $35 million revenue shortfall in his fiscal year 2021 budget.
“We crashed, and we don’t know how long this is going to last, when we’re going to come back up,” Jinks told the City Council/School Board Subcommittee in an online meeting. “I’ve told staff we need $100 million in cuts and savings between the current fiscal year and next fiscal year, is my rough guess. That will be savings and looking at capital projects and seeing what we need to cancel or what we need to reschedule to a future year.”
A 42-year-old Alexandria man was arrested for a hit and run and driving under the influence after allegedly smashing his Land Rover into a telephone pole in the West End on Monday, March 9.
At around 11:30 p.m., an Alexandria Police officer was on mobile patrol when he reported finding vehicle debris and a snapped telephone pole in the area of Lincolnia Road and Quantrell Avenue.
As Alexandria grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commonwealth Attorney’s office is figuring out how to keep running the city’s Treatment Court.
The Treatment Court is an alternative to jail for individuals with substance abuse issues, and most participants have been to jail multiple times. There are currently eight participants in the court, which launched in August and usually meets every Thursday in the Alexandria Courthouse. But the building at 520 King Street is largely shut down now due to COVID-19.
Following the shutdown of nearly all of its locations last week, Alexandria Restaurant Partners (ARP) has reopened Mia’s Italian Kitchen (100 King Street) for take-out and delivery.
The Italian restaurant will offer a limited menu available for delivery through Postmates, GrubHub and UberEats. Take-out orders can be placed through ChowNow.
Regional Program Awarding 11 Grants to Local Businesses — “The Governor is authorizing $87,619.00 of funding to the Alexandria/Arlington Regional Workforce Council, through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, for employers eligible to remain open during the COVID-19 emergency. Period of performance is from March 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020.” [Twitter]
Beyer to Host 5 p.m. COVID-19 Telephone Town Hall — “I’ll update you on my work to support the public health response and minimize the economic damage, hear from a local public health official, and take your questions.” [Twitter]
The Alexandria Health Department has confirmed three additional cases of COVID-19 since Friday, bringing the total number of cases in Alexandria to nine.
“Locally in Alexandria, we have had nine cases [with] dozens and dozens of contacts, meaning when somebody has a positive case we do an investigation and determine everybody they have had close contact with,” Alexandria Health Department Director Dr. Stephen Haering told City Council and the school board in a joint meeting on Monday night.
The Alexandria Police Department is reducing some of its in-person services to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
Police announced today (Monday) that several of the departments are closing their in-person services and switching either to online services or appointments only.
