Thirty people have died from the novel coronavirus in Fairfax County, according to information the county released yesterday (Thursday).

All of the people who died from the illness were above the age of 50.

Fairfax County is currently leading Virginia in the number of coronavirus cases and outbreaks.

As of this morning, the Fairfax Health District had 1,478 cases — two of which are in the City of Fairfax, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

More data on the Fairfax Health District:

• 268 hospitalizations
• 7,657 tests
• 21 outbreaks — 19 at long term care facilities and one each at correction facility and healthcare setting

The Fairfax Health District includes Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and towns in the county.

Data via Virginia Department of Health

McLean Teacher Turns to Virtual Art Classes — “McLean art teacher and mom of two Pamela Saunders wasn’t too familiar with online technology before the coronavirus outbreak. But when schools closed for the academic year, the teacher children call ‘Miss Pam’ had the motivation to quickly her adjust small business Young at Art.” [Patch]

Meridian Group Buys Two Tysons Buildings — “The Meridian Group has acquired a pair of Class B Tysons office buildings for a combined $58.25 million, tacking nearly 430,000 square feet to its D.C.-area portfolio. Bethesda’s Meridian, developer of The Boro mixed-use project in Tysons, bought 1951 Kidwell Drive for $24 million and 1953 Gallows Road for $34.25 million, according to public records.” [Washington Business Journal]

West Falls Church Station Closed This Weekend — “In addition to the station closure, Orange Line trains will share a single track between West Falls Church and Vienna, with trains every 36 minutes, rather than every 30 minutes… A free shuttle bus will be available between West Falls Church and Dunn Loring stations for any essential rider affected by the closure.” [Metro]

FCPS Speeding Up Work — “Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) officials are forging ahead briskly with an extensive list of construction, maintenance and repair projects during the COVID-19 pandemic… FCPS officials also have accelerated… expansion of the parking lot at Shrevewood Elementary School in the Falls Church area.” [Inside NoVa]

Obituary for Falls Church Resident — “Thomas (Tom) Duggan, 71, of Falls Church, Virginia, passed away in his home surrounded by his family on April 8, 2020 after battling a very aggressive cancer.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Praise for Local Middle School Student — “Anna Wisniewski, a seventh-grade student at Cooper Middle School, has been named winner of the 2020 STEM Essay Contest, sponsored by the McLean area branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).” [Inside NoVa]

Outbreaks at Falls Church Senior Homes — “Three Falls Church area senior homes are now confirmed to be fighting outbreaks of the coronavirus, with Chesterbrook Residences telling the News-Press today that a total of 17 of its residents and staff have tested positive for Covid-19.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Today is National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day.

The “holiday” started when Pajamagram started a campaign in 2004 to give people a chance to relax after filing their taxes, according to National Day Calendar.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, wearing pajamas while working from home might have been more of a rare treat than the “new normal” for many people.

For essential workers, teleworking isn’t always an option. And there are some people who get dressed up to work from home.

Whether you’re in cozy flannel, pairing a dress shirt with pajama pants or wearing your uniform, let us know in the poll below if you’re participating.

Photo by FLOUFFY on Unsplash

Turn Tysons Streets For Recreational Use? — “Select a few roads and open them to people by closing them to all but local traffic. By doing so, we’ll make space for people to get fresh air and exercise without risk of spreading the coronavirus or getting run over. The cost will only be a few traffic cones, temporary signs, and asking a handful of drivers to go a few minutes out of their way.” [Greater Greater Washington]

Mark Keam Hosting Virtual Town Hall Tonight — “As he returns to Richmond for the reconvene session on April 22, Mark will also answer questions about the Governor’s amendments to some of the bills that passed the legislature this year. Of particular interest to voters in the Town of Vienna, Mark will explain the Governor’s recommendation to move the Town Council elections from May to November.” [Facebook]

Locals Start T-Shirt Fundraiser — “Inspired by a friend’s philanthropic effort in Texas, two Falls Church residents have started their own fundraising campaign to help out during the pandemic, raising money by selling Little City-themed t-shirts. After barely a week in operation, more than 700 shirts have been sold and more than $12,000 has been raised.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Falls Church Cancels Memorial Day Festivities — “The City of Falls Church announced today the cancellation of its biggest event of the year, the annual Memorial Day Parade and Festival, set to take place next month, citing recent executive orders issued by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam urging localities to cancel large-scale events through June 10.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Dranesville School Rep to Host Virtual Town Hall — “Thursday, April 16, and next Monday, April 20, Dranesville School Board Representative Elaine Tholen will hold open town hall meetings with At-Large Representatives, Karen Keys-Gamarra and Rachna Sizemore Heizer, respectively. Leigh Burden, Assistant Superintendent for Financial Services at FCPS will participate in the April 16 town hall as well.” [John Foust newsletter, Blackboard, Blackboard]

New Virtual Exploration Center — The Fairfax County Park Authority created a new virtual exploration center for people who want to explore while staying home. [Fairfax County]

County officials are urging Fairfax Connector passengers to cover their faces while riding the bus.

Fairfax County announced today (Wednesday) that passengers should use non-medical face coverings or cloth masks to help prevent spreading the coronavirus.

“While the use of cloth face coverings is strongly encouraged, no one without such a face covering will be denied entry to Fairfax Connector buses,” the announcement said.

Additionally, passengers should practice social distancing, avoid public transportation when sick and wash their hands often.

The bus service has taken several recent steps to combat the virus from implementing rear door boarding to suspending fare collection. The buses are also being cleaned more frequently.

In the announcement, county officials shared a video Dawna Poyner, a public health nurse with the Fairfax County Health Department, taking about face coverings.

(Updated 3 p.m.) As the number of coronavirus cases grows in Virginia, Gov. Ralph Northam has extended restrictions on non-essential businesses.

In a press briefing today (Wednesday), Northam announced that he is extending his previous order affecting schools and non-essential businesses.

Now, his order that closed recreational and entertainment businesses, along with non-essential businesses that cannot limit patrons to 10 people or less, will expire on May 8 instead of next week.

Virginia is also under a stay at home order, which will last until June 10.

“I don’t have any intentions as of today extending that,” Northam said about the stay at home order, adding that he may considering moving the June 10 deadline back.

“This is such a dynamic situation. It is fluid. It literally changes every day — the data that are being put into these models,” he said. “For me to stand here almost two months before June 10 and say what we’re going to do at that time is really difficult to say.”

Northam said that social distancing — staying at least six feet apart from people — “is working” and that Virginians’ recent efforts are slowing the spread of the virus.

“Our entire sense of normal life is out the window,” Northam said, adding that once the order expire, people will still need to take precautions.

The “new normal” will likely include wearing wearing face coverings, teleworking if possible, social distancing, staying away from large gatherings and spending more time in homes, Northam said.

“Things are not going back exactly the way they were before,” he said.

Image via Twitter

Kirby Road in McLean will be closed for much of next week for a culvert replacement.

That the road closure of Kirby Road at Claiborne Drive is expected to last from Tuesday (April 21) to Friday (April 24), according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

In a letter to constituents, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said that work to repair flooding damage to Kirby Road last summer led to the discovery of a failed pipe.

More from Foust’s letter:

The work will be done during the week as daily traffic levels are significantly reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home order. In addition to electronic notices, variable message boards will be installed at the intersections of Route 123 and Kirby Road and Old Dominion Drive and Kirby Road this week to inform drivers of the upcoming closure.

Following the massive July 8 storm event that occurred last year, an extensive emergency repair project was completed to reopen Kirby Road, which had been significantly impacted. While that work was underway, the failure of the pipe that will be replaced during this effort was discovered.

It was determined that additional survey, utilities research, easement acquisition, plan design, and construction would be needed and that the work would take until early 2020 to complete, which was well after Kirby Road was planned to reopen to traffic.

Thus, VDOT decided to substantially complete the Kirby Road emergency project and was able to reopen the road in December 2019. Since then, necessary survey and utilities investigation was completed, access rights were acquired, design plans for the culvert were developed, and materials were acquired to prepare for work to begin next week.

People will still be able to access properties along Kirby Road. “However, traffic will not be able to go beyond the point of pipe replacement in either direction,” according to VDOT.

Photo via VDOT/Twitter

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors plans to tackle traffic problems along Old Meadow Road as the Tysons One East project advances.

Yesterday, the board approved a rezoning request to increase the floor area ratio for a planned office tower near the McLean Metro station.

Akridge and the Ronald D. Paul Companies are plan to develop 1690 Old Meadow Road, a triangular spot between Dolley Madison Blvd and the Old Meadow Road, into a 15-story tower with Class A offices, restaurant, retail space, parking podium and outdoor terrace.

The development was held up by the acquisition of a public right-of-way.

“This application was filed on land area inclusive of VDOT right-of-way which was in the process of being acquired by the applicant,” according to county documents. “While VDOT on behalf of the Commonwealth concurred in the filing of the application, they generally will not sign the proffers, and would not in this case.”

Now that the right-of-way woes have been resolved, the county, developers and residents are trying to find ways to change the Old Meadow Road.

Scott Adams, the attorney with McGuireWoods who is representing the developer, said that the project includes a proffer for a traffic signal improvement at Colshire Meadow Drive and funds to build and improve roads in Tysons.

Amy Tozzi with the Old Meadow Coalition told the county officials during the public hearing yesterday that nearby residents have traffic and safety concerns that they worry won’t get addressed by the project.

“We understand all development is messy, but it shouldn’t imperil existing communities,” she said.

In response to Tozzi, Adams said that issues with the grid of streets in Tysons and accessing Old Meadow Road from Route 123 are too large for the project to address.

“Some of the concerns that they have are broader in scope than the smaller application we have,” he said.

As part of the board’s approval, county staff will work to create a plan to speed up transportation improvements to calm traffic along Old Meadow Road.

The changes could include:

• realigning the Old Meadow Road and Route 123 intersection
• constructing Lincoln and Roosevelt streets from Old Meadow Road to Magarity Road
• advance previously approved proffered transportation commitments like the traffic signal at the intersection of Old Meadow Road and Colshire Meadow Road and the Tysons East grid of streets

“In identifying improvements and solutions, staff should coordinate with stakeholders on Old Meadow Road, including residents and business owners and property owners,” according to county documents.

Image via One Tysons East

Fairfax County’s top official says new demographic data is expected to get shared publicly soon as the county continues to lead the increase of COVID-19 cases statewide.

Fairfax County now has two more coronavirus outbreaks since yesterday, bringing the total to 19, according to the Virginia Department of Health. There are 17 outbreaks at long term care facilities, one at a correction facility and one at a “healthcare setting.”

Virginia has 108 total outbreaks, with more than half at long term care facilities.

In a Twitter Q&A yesterday, Jeff McKay, the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said that demographic case data is expected to get posted online “shortly.”

At this point, the Health Dept is not providing case data on less than a county level. Thankfully, I know this will change soon. The Health Dept will have a dashboard online shortly with demographic case data. https://t.co/OOwdy7v5EQ

— Jeff McKay (@JeffreyCMcKay) April 14, 2020

Overall, 6,500 cases and 195 deaths have been reported statewide. More than 44,000 people in Virginia have been tested for the virus.

As of this morning, the Fairfax Health District had 1,298 cases — 91 more cases than yesterday’s count.

The Fairfax Health District includes Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and towns in the county.

In the Fairfax Health District, 256 people have been hospitalized, while 6,827 have been tested.

Yesterday, Fairfax County reported 21 deaths. All of the individuals who died from the illness were age 50 or older, with 18 of the people age 65 or older.

Data via Virginia Department of Health

Drive-Thru Testing Site in Falls Church — “Right by Washington-Liberty High School on Quincy St. is a drive-thru coronavirus testing site. Testing at the site, run by Arlington County and Virginia Hospital Center, is by appointment only.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Vienna Officials Tackle Budget Scenarios — “Because various revenue sources likely will take hits before and during fiscal 2021, which begins July 1, town officials provided the Council with three budget scenarios that calculated revenue losses based upon different dates for when government operations and society at-large return to normal.” [Inside NoVa]

No Reopening Date Yet For Farmers Markets — “Many farmers markets were expected to open within the next few weeks but were indefinitely delayed because of safety concerns over COVID-19, according to Fairfax County’s website.” [Reston Now]

Support Local Journalism! — Our sister site Reston Now now has a Patreon account for $6 or $10/month memberships. If you are able to, please consider supporting to keep the lights on at a local news site. [Patreon]

We recommend people wear face coverings when they are in public settings, especially when it is hard to maintain social distancing, such as in a store. Cloth face coverings should be made of tightly woven fabric and should fully cover the mouth and nose. https://t.co/1XAzn7dOTa

— Jeff McKay (@JeffreyCMcKay) April 14, 2020