It was a busy week in Alexandria, and there is plenty to talk about.
The city is moving forward with phase three of reopening its economy on July 1, and the news comes as the death toll from the coronavirus moved up to 50 and the number of cases steadily rise.
The number of coronavirus patients being treated at Inova Alexandria Hospital is now in the 20s — a far cry from the more than 90 patients at the facility during the peak of the virus.
Still, that doesn’t mean residents should throw caution into the wind, hospital President Dr. Rina Bansal told ALXnow.
Beyer Lauds Supreme Court LGBT Decision — “This is such a big step forward. Employers shouldn’t be able to fire people because of who they are or who they love. After a long and difficult struggle by activists and civil rights organization, an historic decision and a great moment for the country.” [Twitter]
Former Mayor Silberberg Marched in D.C. on Saturday — “All around me, there were poignant reminders of all that had transpired in this location in recent days and weeks — handmade signs attached to the remaining fence and bouquets of flowers. And then that evening, there was breaking news about another tragedy, this time in Atlanta. Heartbreaking.” [Facebook]
Assisting pregnant mothers, raising money for unemployed workers and buying meals for hungry residents are just a few of the causes Alexandrians are tackling through a number of GoFundMe campaigns.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a lot of need throughout the city, and a number of individuals, businesses and nonprofits have raised tens of thousands of dollars with local fundraisers.
Inova Alexandria Hospital is seeing about half of its usual flow of emergency room patients, and hospital President Dr. Rina Bansal says patients are staying away due to fears of being infected with coronavirus.
“We’ve seen a significant decline in number of patients coming in for heart attacks, we’ve seen a significant decline in number of patients coming in for strokes, and these are not disease processes that have magically just vanished because we have COVID,” Bansal said in a teleconference hosted by ACT for Alexandria. “I think it’s because people are actually suffering at home.”
Developer Gets Financing to Build Apartments in West End — “Monday Properties announced Tuesday it secured a $66.8M construction loan from EagleBank and broke ground on the development at 2000 North Beauregard St. The project is planned to include 300 units in six to seven stories of wood-frame construction atop a two-level concrete podium. The apartments will be wrapped around an internal, 420-space parking garage.” [Bisnow]
Inova to Build Hospital, Considers Alexandria Campus Modernization — “The health system is also looking at options for ways to modernize the current Inova Alexandria Hospital — and noted that ‘all options, from renovating in place to relocation, are under evaluation. Additional information will be made available as this project develops.'” [Alexandria Living]
Alexandria Family Recovers From COVID-19 — “In early March, 18-year-old Ana Murphy came down with a sinus infection. But as her symptoms persisted, her parents, Gregg and Monica Murphy, both became ill. It was then that the family began to suspect that this was not a normal seasonal virus.” [Gazette]
Beyer Criticizes Maskless President Trump at Memorial Day Ceremony — “It’s true today and every day: the President should lead by example instead of ignoring health precautions designed to protect the public.” [Twitter]
In his weekly virtual town hall, Mayor Justin Wilson said signs are good that Alexandria could be pulling out of the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our percent of positive tests have been going down for an extended period of time,” Wilson said on Thursday night. “Our new hospitalizations are either going down or level at the moment. There’s still a number of days to go, but we’re heading into a situation where we could be ready to go for phase 1.”
Inova Alexandria Hospital remains at about half capacity, and the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is not going down, according to a hospital spokesperson.
As of yesterday, the hospital was treating 59 patients for COVID-19, and the hospital system has capacity for more patients.
Feed The Fight Alexandria has given out more than 4,000 meals to Inova hospital workers during the pandemic, and the nonprofit’s founders plan to continue as long as there is a need.
Neighbors Ali De Jongh Whitley and Jennifer Kearney Desiderio modeled their work after Feed The Fight D.C., and since April have delivered daily meals to Inova Alexandria Hospital, Inova Mount Vernon Hospital and Inova Fairfax Hospital.
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
