Arlington County is set to receive more than $3 million to entice tourists to visit Arlington and help the hard-hit tourism industry recover from the pandemic.
The county’s tourism division, Arlington Convention and Visitors Service (ACVS), would use the $3.25 million grant for advertising, media outreach, marketing research, promotional events and tourism development to support the travel and hospitality industry, according to a county report.
Covid-related staffing shortages are forcing Arlington libraries to shutter some services, including shutting down two branches this week.
Cherrydale and Glencarlyn libraries will both be closed through Sunday (Jan. 23), including the book drops, according to an announcement on Monday (Jan. 17).
(Updated at noon) Arlington Public Schools is bringing athletics back early and reducing quarantine periods, despite more than a thousand Covid cases reported among students and staff this past week.
Starting next week, the school system will adopt revised CDC guidance, Superintendent Francisco Durán wrote in an email to the school community Wednesday. The isolation period for staff members who test positive will be halved to five days. The new guidelines also reduced the quarantine period to five days for a student or staff member who is considered a close contact to someone who tested positive.
Columbia Pike Optician Robbed — “Security camera video captured the tense moments when a group of thieves robbed an Arlington County store owned by a man known in the community for his charity work… The five suspects take hammers to the cases and fill bags with Cartier, Dior and Gucci frames, about $60,000 of merchandise.” [NBC4]
Mail Delays Frustrate Residents — “Residents across the D.C. region have become increasingly frustrated over delays in mail deliveries, with last week’s snowstorms, a spike in coronavirus cases and long-standing problems with the U.S. Postal Service contributing to a breakdown in services… Arlington resident Diana Wahl said she received no mail between Dec. 27 and Jan. 9. She finally received some mail on Monday and Tuesday, but older mail.” [Washington Post]
Arlington has set yet another record for the daily rate of Covid cases, while hospitalizations are rising in the county.
Nine people were hospitalized f0r Covid yesterday, Arlington’s largest single-day hospitalization total since January 2021, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. The seven-day moving average of daily hospitalizations is now just above four, also the highest point since last January.
A free Covid testing kiosk opened Monday at Central Library near Quincy Park.
Arlington County sponsors the new kiosk that Curative operates daily between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. at 3809 10th Street N., the southwest corner of the park near the tennis courts.
(Updated at 1:25 p.m.) There’s some hope that the current Omicron wave of Covid cases in the D.C. area may be near a peak, but new data in Arlington is a mixed bag in terms of whether that’s actually the case.
The county’s seven-day moving average of new cases hit a fresh high today, with 548 new cases being reported each day, on average. Saturday also reached a new single-day case record, with 867 new cases.
At-home Covid tests have been hard to come by in Arlington, but distributors are promising that more tests will be available soon.
Tests haven’t been available at many Arlington pick-up sites and stores for a number of days, but some could be available as soon as tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 8.
Local child care centers will have to stay the course with longer quarantine and isolation periods, says Arlington County’s Public Health Division.
That could mean multiple contingency plans for parents with kids in child care, who have already weathered holiday closures and winter-weather closures. (Many facilities follow the snow closure or delay lead of Arlington Public Schools, which was closed all week.)
(Updated on 1/7/22) Residents of Arlington’s northern reaches will have a new Covid testing option starting next week.
Marymount University announced today that it will host an appointment-only, walk-up testing booth, for use by students, university employees and the general public, on its main campus.
County Covid Testing Booth Still Closed — From Arlington County: “The @curative #COVID19 testing kiosk at Arlington Mill Community Center will be closed tomorrow, Jan 6, due to COVID-related staffing shortages. The kiosks at Court House Plaza and Virginia Highlands Park are scheduled to open at 9 AM. Thank you for your flexibility.” [Twitter]
APS Orders Tests for All Students, Staff — “We have ordered a supply of KN95 masks, particulate filters for an APS provided mask, and at-home rapid antigen test kits for every staff member and student. Supplies for these items are limited but we anticipate them soon and will send additional communication when available.” [Arlington Public Schools]
A group will be protesting vaccine mandates in D.C. later this month but staying in Arlington — due to forthcoming vaccine mandates in D.C.
Defeat the Mandates, D.C. is planning a rally in the District on Sunday, Jan. 23. The group describes the rally on the National Mall as a bipartisan event that will have a “wide range of featured guests” including “recording artists, prominent doctors, journalists, pro athletes, actors and premier thought leaders.” It will feature “a series of inspiring ‘TED talks’ and musical performances.”
