Port City Brewing Co. Closes Tasting Room — “Effective Sunday, March 15, 2020, we will be closing our Tasting Room until further notice. We are doing this to help the community try to get a handle on the spread of Coronavirus.”[Facebook]
ACPS Provides Food Access Update — “Starting Monday, Alexandria City Public Schools will be providing emergency meals at no cost for any child under 18 and any family who needs it.” [ACPS]
Businesses, nonprofits and hotels around the city are feeling the initial effects of COVID-19.
Many businesses are offering contact-less service, delivering goods from door-to-door, and providing workouts and other services online for customers who would otherwise have to venture from home.
Inova hospitals, including the one in Alexandria, announced today that it is implementing new restrictions on visitation to try to combat the spread of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
According to a social media post, effective today (Thursday):
City Releases Multi-Language Coronavirus Fact Sheets — “The Alexandria Health Department has made multiple resources available regarding the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (now called “COVID-19″), and the Department of Community and Human Services encourages residents to read and share this information, especially in communities where languages other than English are primarily spoken, and with vulnerable residents, including those who may not have access to traditional media.” [City of Alexandria]
ARHA Looks to Redevelop Affordable Housing Properties — “Alexandria is now looking to redevelop five of its public housing communities, putting out a call for developers to replace 288 affordable homes around the city while building new “mixed-income communities… The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority recently issued a request for qualifications for interested developers on the projects, renewing a similar effort launched more than six years ago.” [Washington Business Journal]
A survey of Alexandria City Public Schools’ drinking water sources has come back with relatively high levels of copper and lead in George Washington Middle School (1005 Mount Vernon Avenue).
Many of the schools had no outlets or very few that tested above action levels — amounts that require equipment replacement — for copper or lead. The EPA’s action levels for copper are 1.3 mg/L and much lower for lead, 0.015 mg/L. At T.C. Williams High School, 259 samples were collected and only four tested above actionable levels.
Nearly one year after the expansion of Virginia’s Medicaid benefits took effect, nearly 70 percent of eligible Alexandrians have signed up.
(Updated 12/13) The results are in for the Department of Community and Human Services’ five-year study of the well-being of Alexandria’s children.
While much of the Children and Youth Master Plan’s five-year report showed improvement, there were several areas where the situation worsened, including abuse of e-cigarettes.
It’s been a rough couple months for George Washington Middle School.
First, an old mold problem at the school resurfaced. Then there was the series of fire-related incidents at the school. School administration is hoping an environmental test can help provide a light at the end of the tunnel.
Alexandria’s efforts to build a healthier community has shone a light on inequity in the city.
From food insecurity to chronic illnesses, the Alexandria Health Department’s Community Health Assessment indicates that minority groups in the city are far more likely to be impacted by health issues than white residents.
