Fresh from a bout with Covid that left Mayor Justin Wilson isolating in Spain, Wilson’s first virtual town hall of 2022 launched with a discussion of the current situation with COVID-19.
Alexandria has seen record-high levels of confirmed Covid cases thanks to the highly infections omicron variant. Wilson implored locals to swap out the simple cloth masks for more effective N95 or KN 95 masks.
The number of COVID infections in Alexandria continues to rise at an alarming rate, as the number of reported infections has reached 23,325, an increase of nearly 2,500 cases in less than a week. In the meantime, staff at Inova Alexandria Hospital are seeing hospitalizations rise to 2020.
“The staff is working overtime,” Inova Alexandria Hospital President Dr. Rina Bansal told ALXnow. “We’re making sure that they’re not working overtime to the extent where it compromises their safety or patient safety.”
Alexandria School Board members say they want to keep in-person instruction going, but amidst a surge in Covid cases the Alexandria City Public Schools system now has an official plan to revert to virtual learning on a school-by-school basis.
“There may be cases in the future where we have to transition into a virtual learning setting due to that and we want to just prepare for that,” Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., told the Board Thursday night.
After six months of waiting for the city’s Permit Center to approve an expansion of her nail salon, Kathleen Le was ready to throw her hands up in resignation.
“I tell my staff that if they hear me talk about opening another location or expanding to please kill me instead,” Le told ALXnow. “Don’t let me do it.”
With the pandemic and snow prompting a completely virtual ceremony, the new Alexandria School Board was sworn into office on Tuesday (Jan. 4).
Board Chair Meagan Alderton was also unanimously reelected by her colleagues to serve as leader for another year, and Member Jacinta Greene was named vice chair.
As Inova Alexandria Hospital deals with an upswing in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, the hospital is asking those who suspect they may have the disease to test at home or a community testing site rather than the hospital.
“If you suspect you might be infected with COVID-19, please do not visit the emergency room for a COVID-19 test,” the hospital said in an email. “Instead seek out a community testing site or a home test kit.”
Alexandria surged past 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 going into the New Year, and on Sunday (Jan. 2) set yet another single-day record for the most reported cases ever.
COVID-19 peaked in Alexandria on Sunday with 1,040 newly reported cases, according to the Virginia Department of Health. As of today (Tuesday, Jan. 4) there have been 20,875 reported cases, which is more than 3,000 within the last week.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson’s vacation to Spain just got extended a few days due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Wilson is isolating in Spain, where he was with his family on vacation. His family has since returned to the United States after testing negative, Wilson said on social media.
A number of New Year’s Eve parties are being voluntarily canceled in Alexandria, and some businesses scaling back their services. All of this, of course, is in response to a dramatic jump in COVID-19 infections over the last month.
According to the Del Ray Business Association, the following businesses have stopped in-person service:
With Alexandria’s recorded COVID-19 cases at an all-time high, some changes have been made to the installation of the new City Council on Monday.
According to an email from the City of Alexandria, the location has been moved from Alexandria City High School to the Council Chamber in City Hall.
Inova discourages ER visits for mild, asymptomatic COVID testing — “With demand for COVID-19 testing high, Inova Health System says emergency room visits should be reserved for emergency and critical needs.” [Patch]
New restaurants coming to Shirlington — “Chinese-Korean eatery opens first Virginia location; beer hall to take over Capital City Brewing spot.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
