Arlington Democrats say they’re planning to conduct the upcoming School Board endorsement caucus via the mail, due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“This extraordinary procedural change supports Virginia’s stay-at-home order and recommended social distancing measures necessitated by the global coronavirus pandemic,” the local party said, in a press release.
Three COVID Cases at Pentagon City Apartment — “Three residents of the largest apartment building in Arlington — The Bartlett owned by JBG Smith Properties — have tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to messages sent to Bartlett tenants.” [Washington Business Journal]
Elton John Tweets About Barrett Elementary Video — “The staff at @BarrettAPS recorded their own music video to @TaronEgerton’s version of ‘I’m Still Standing’ and it’s so much fun!” [Twitter]
No raises, few areas of additional spending and a couple of delayed openings.
That’s the summary of County Manager Mark Schwartz’s revised budget proposal, as announced by Arlington County on Monday afternoon.
The past week has seen rising coronavirus cases and concerns in Arlington, but also considerable springtime beauty.
For those largely stuck at home, here are some scenes from around the county from the last seven days.
Just six days after the number of COVID-19 cases in Arlington topped the 100 mark, the county is now reporting more than 200 cases.
As of Monday morning there were 203 known coronavirus cases in Arlington County, according to the latest Virginia Dept. of Health data. An additional 35 cases were reported Sunday, the county’s steepest daily increase so far.
During normal times, spring break allows teachers and students to get a needed week-long break, leading up to final exams and the end of the school year. It also allows parents to plan vacations and getaways.
During the coronavirus crisis, however, everyone is (or should be) staying at home, so vacations are not really a thing. Parents, many of whom are working from home, have to pull double duty as their kids’ at-home enrichment coordinator even with school in session — more so when it’s not. Meanwhile, the workload for students, who no longer need to worry about SOLs and other high-pressure tests, has been greatly reduced.
Governor Urges Va. Residents to Wear Masks — “Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday urged all residents to wear a cloth mask if they must leave their home… In light of the state’s prohibition of wearing masks law, Northam said Friday that “no law enforcement will be bothering anybody because they have a covering on their face.” [Patch]
One-Day Donation Drive Results — Arlington County collected 3,484 food items, 269 boxes of N95 masks, 323 boxes of surgical masks and 740 homemade masks during a one-day donation drive on Friday. [Arlington County, NBC 4]
On Friday, Arlington Central Library was transformed into a storage space for donated goods, serving as a symbol for the county’s efforts to improvise solutions in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
The idea of today’s one-day donation drive was to “to collect unused, unopened containers of essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, and certain food to assist essential employees, nonprofits and community organizations with coronavirus (COVID-19) response operations.”
Arlington County is an affluent place. So affluent, in fact, that according to one analysis we are expected to get the second-lowest percentage of coronavirus stimulus checks in the U.S.
The study by the financial website SmartAsset ranked the 200 largest U.S. cities by the predicted percentage of residents who will receive the means-tested checks from Uncle Sam.
Four weeks after the first COVID-19 case was reported in Virginia, the Commonwealth has passed the 2,000 mark.
On Friday morning the Virginia Dept. of Health reported 2,012 cases, 312 hospitalizations, 46 deaths and 19,005 tests administered. Fifteen of the deaths were in Northern Virginia.
Police Searching for Groping Suspect — “N. Glebe Road at 24th Road N. At approximately 7:45 p.m. on April 1, police were dispatched to the report of an assault just occurred. Upon arrival, it was determined that at approximately 7:30 p.m., the female victim was walking in the area when the unknown suspect approached her from behind and grabbed her buttocks. The victim turned around and yelled at the suspect, who fled on foot prior to police arrival.” [Arlington County]
Beyer Concerned About Small Biz Loan Program — “U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) this evening held an urgent conference call with representatives of over a dozen Virginia lending institutions to discuss questions and concerns about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan program.” [Press Release]
There are now 128 known coronavirus cases in Arlington, the second-highest total among Virginia localities.
Only neighboring Fairfax County, with 328 cases, has more. That’s according to the latest Virginia Dept. of Health data, which today (Thursday) reported 1,706 cases statewide, along with 246 hospitalizations and 41 deaths.
