Alexandria now has 2,045 cases of COVID-19, an increase of 14 cases since yesterday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
There are no new fatalities, and just as earlier in the week, VDH reduced the number of COVID-related deaths in Alexandria. There are now 45 coronavirus-related fatalities in the city.
High School Student Assaulted Walking Home — “The assault occurred near the intersection of Russell Road and Rosecrest Avenue in the Del Ray/Rosemont neighborhood. The victim was a member of the T.C. Williams High School baseball team.” [Alex Times]
Officers Complain of Toxic Work Culture at Alexandria Police Department — “There are employees, including some who resigned after allegedly being subjected to retribution, who blame Chief Michael L. Brown for establishing an environment without discipline or accountability, where misconduct is swept under the rug. They say that under Chief Brown’s leadership, problems have gotten worse, which has fueled retirements and resignations from the department.” [Alex Times]
Alexandria’s Mayor Justin Wilson said the city could be ready to move into Phase 2 of reopening next Friday — if the city’s gradual COVID-19 recovery continues.
While the rest of Virginia is scheduled to start moving into Phase 2 of reopening tomorrow (Friday), Northern Virginia has to wait.
After COVID-19 led to the suspension of some trash pick-up services, Mayor Justin Wilson announced yesterday (Wednesday) that some of those will begin resuming during the phased reopening.
Many of the city’s collection services are scheduled to restart Monday, two weeks from now.
There are now 2,031 cases of COVID-19 in Alexandria, an increase of 15 cases since yesterday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
No new fatalities have been reported, and the death toll remains at 46. A large percentage of deaths occurred at long-term care facilities, and there has been one death of a person in their 20s. There are now 21 reported deaths of residents in their 80s and 13 deaths of residents in their 70s.
Regal Potomac Yard Movie Theater Closed for Good — “Regal Cinemas has scrubbed the 16-theater multiplex at 3575 Potomac Ave. from its list of Virginia locations on its website. Couple that with the fact Virginia Tech and JBG Smith Properties (NYSE: JBGS) plan to redevelop the North Potomac Yard site on an accelerated timeline, it’s likely the theater showed its last film months ago — when Disney’s “Onward” was No. 1 at the box office.” [Washington Business Journal]
Governor Releases ‘Forward Virginia’ Phase Two Guidelines — “Most of the state will enter phase two on Friday, June 5. Northern Virginia, including the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County, might enter about a week later — but only if local coronavirus and health metrics indicate it is safe to do so. The governor has not given Northern Virginia a projected date for entering the second phase.” [Alexandria Living]
For Alexandria restaurants, reopening is not a return to the pre-pandemic dining experience.
Across the city, restaurants that were closed or had only been open for take-out and delivery are adjusting to new standards to keep customers and staff healthy during Phase 1 of reopening.
Two Alexandria women in their 80s have died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 46, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The number of cases in the city also increased by 16 since yesterday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,016.
Sen. Kaine Features T.C. Senior Graduation Speech — “Thank you to Mathieu from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria for encouraging the Class of 2020 to be leaders and always lend a helping hand.” [Facebook]
Beyer Calls on U.S. Attorney General to Resign — “The Attorney General is the top law enforcement officer in the country, the leader of an agency meant to protect Americans’ constitutional rights. Barr betrayed that mission by ordering the violent and systematic violation of peaceful protesters’ rights. He should resign.” [Twitter]
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.”
Local dry-cleaning shop Yates Dry Cleaning has donated hundreds of masks during the pandemic and added another 150 to their total in a donation to at-need children in Alexandria.
According to a press release from Yates, the company donated 150 face masks designed to limit the spread of coronavirus to PK Move, a local parkour company putting together boxes promoting physical activity during the pandemic.
