It might look like it’s getting torn down, but the Safeway Fuel Station in McLean is really getting a makeover.

The gas station at 1698 Anderson Road has been listed by Patch as one of the cheapest places to get gas during the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We are planning a remodel [and] expansion of the fuel center to provide more offerings,” Beth Goldberg, a spokesperson for Safeway’s parent company Albertsons, told Tysons Reporter.

In lieu of the scheduled City Council meeting, Falls Church officials will host a virtual town hall tonight (Monday) about the coronavirus.

Two COVID-19 cases — both involving residents at The Kensington (700 W. Broad Street) — have been recently announced in the city.

Mayor David Tarter, School Board Chairman Greg Anderson, City Manager Wyatt Shields and Superintendent of Schools Peter Noonan are scheduled to provide updates during the town hall. Additionally, a Fairfax County Health Department representative will provide a briefing on the virus.

The event is set to start at 7:30 p.m. Viewers can watch it by streaming the video on the city’s website and submit questions to [email protected] for the officials.

After the town hall is over, a recording will be made available on the city’s website.

Image via City of Falls Church

Fairfax County Public Schools has changed the time for its grab and go meal sites at 34 school locations.

Starting Tuesday, March 24, FCPS will have the meals available from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The altered times will not affect the breakfast and lunch availability, according to FCPS.

Families can also find breakfast and lunch at 10 pop-up locations around the county and bus stop locations in several school neighborhoods. The complete list is available online, along with an online map created by the county to find food distribution sites.

Curbside pickup is available at Westgate Elementary in Falls Church and Oak View Elementary in Fairfax from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

Meals are free for kids and $2 for adults. Families must bring their kids when requesting meals.

Photo via FCPS

(Updated at 12:55 p.m.) The streets and shops around Tysons are growing increasingly deserted as more and more people stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

It appears that local residents are taking social distancing and staying at home — if possible — seriously from photos sent to Tysons Reporter by readers to a visit by our staff photographer last week.

Traffic data from Google Maps showed that traffic was reduced around 10 a.m. than it normally is at the same time on most Mondays.

The Virginia Department of Transportation’s traffic cameras show few cars on Leesburg Pike in Pimmit Hills, Chain Bridge Road at the Tysons-Vienna border, Route 50 in Falls Church and I-66 in Merrifield.

Meanwhile, I-495 near Old Dominion Drive in McLean had some cars on the highway, the cameras show.

On Wednesday (March 18). Jay Westcott, Tysons Reporter’s staff photographer, noticed a “fair amount” of traffic in the area, but less congestion on I-66 in the morning.

Westcott noted that usually busy streets around Tysons were empty.

Traffic camera footage in Tysons, McLean, Vienna, Falls Church and Merrifield this morning: https://t.co/lUBvJiaKJx pic.twitter.com/cnGaRqyp02

— Catherine Douglas Moran (@c_douglasmoran) March 23, 2020

@TysonsReporter Right now on Route 7 Leesburg Pike.
Photo by Ed Schudel pic.twitter.com/MdIH6XAq1h

— WFO (@WFOcom) March 22, 2020

Not that there would be much to do for people who decide to venture outside — movie theaters, performing arts centers and many retailers are temporarily closed or pivoted to online options, while events have been canceled.

While they are still open, Tysons Galleria and Tysons Corner Center have altered their hours of operations and upped their cleaning schedules.

Local resident David Endres recently spotted seating blocked off at various spots in Tysons Corner Center:

To lower the risk of spreading the virus, eateries that have not temporarily closed have switched to delivery and take-out only options.

Westcott spotted orange plastic fencing around the seats at the McDonald’s at the intersection of Old Courthouse and Chain Bridge roads.

Meanwhile, Endres noticed these signs around Capital One’s headquarters near the McLean Metro station:

While Westcott saw few people in downtown Tysons by the malls, he did spot several people getting fresh air at local parks, like Spring Hill District Park, and along the W&OD Trail in Vienna.

While Fairfax County has closed its indoor park facilities and recreation, nature and community centers through March 29, people can still use the county’s outdoor parks and trails.

Have you recently snapped some photos of what the Tysons area is like right now? Feel free to share them with us by sending them to [email protected] or DMing us on our social media accounts: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Staff photographer Jay Westcott contributed to this story 

A second resident in a senior living facility in Falls Church has tested positive for COVID-19, according to Fairfax County health officials.

The county announced the new coronavirus case at The Kensington (700 W. Broad Street) on Sunday (March 22) — a few days after the first case was announced on Thursday (March 19).

“Fairfax County Health Department, The Kensington, and the City of Falls Church are fully collaborating on the investigation and taking immediate action to prevent further spread,” according to the county.

The man who first tested positive was isolated after he started having respiratory illness symptoms on Saturday, March 14, county officials said.

Seven other people who were sick at the assisted living and memory care facility received negative test results for the virus, the city said in a press release.

The City of Falls Church, which is a part of the Fairfax Health District, declared a local emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, March 16.

Image via Google Maps

An employee at Tysons-based Alarm.com has tested positive for coronavirus.

“We can confirm that an employee who works in our Tysons HQ facility tested positive,” Christopher Basso, a spokesperson for the company, told Tysons Reporter.

Headquartered at 8281 Greensboro Drive, Suite 100, the company offers security systems for homes and businesses.

“We continue to make the health and security of our employees and our communities our top priority and have taken the recommended actions to reduce the likelihood of further spread,” Basso said.

Several other employees at other Tysons-based businesses have tested positive for the virus as well, including someone who works for a tenant at 8075 Leesburg Pike, a Capital One employee and an employee for a tenant at  7799 Leesburg Pike.

Image via Google Maps

Superintendent Scott Brabrand said during a Facebook Live event today (Friday) that he is not aware of any new coronavirus cases with Fairfax County Public School employees.

FCPS announced on Saturday (March 14) that a teacher at Lynbrook Elementary School tested presumptive positive for coronavirus.

“We received no additional information about any of our employees receiving such a diagnosis,” he said.

Lynbrook Elementary School has been “thoroughly cleaned,” Brabrand said.

Fairfax County Public Schools closed last Friday (March 13). “It is our plan to return to school on April 14,” Brabrand said today. “This situation continues to evolve from day to day.”

Brabrand said that grade books are not closed and that students will have opportunities to complete assignments from the closure.

Brabrand said that he is trying to delay decisions on canceling proms and find ways for students to participate in graduations, which run from late May to June.

Brabrand said that a decision will be made next week about the laptop distribution that was supposed to happen on Monday (March 16).

More updates from Brabrand:

• April 13 is still planned as a Teacher Work Day
• FCPS is “committed to pay employees during the closure”
• will share decisions on pay for substitute teachers next week
• working on an access plan to schools for an emergency or critical school supplies
• parents should wait for schools to reopen before registering their kids
• teachers will get distance learning training in a distance learning environment

“This is not an optimal situation for any of us here in Fairfax County Public Schools,” he said.

Image via FCPS/Facebook

The Vienna Police Department has recently been dealing with alleged crimes connected to the coronavirus.

The first incident involved a cyclist and a boy along the W&OD Trail around 6 p.m. on Sunday (March 15).

According to the police report:

A juvenile reported that he was on the bike trail near the Whole Foods Market with his friends when he sneezed. A cyclist who was riding by stopped his bicycle and began yelling at the juvenile about the pandemic. The man grabbed the juvenile by the sweatshirt and shook him, then left the area westbound on the trail.

Separately, the police department received several reports from residents about two men who allegedly claimed to be from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or from T-Mobile — depending on who they were talking to.

On Tuesday (March 17), a resident in the 500 block of Nanterry Circle SW reported that two men said they were with the CDC and doing welfare checks.

“The men continued to go to other residents in the area,” police said. “At 7:20 p.m., the men returned to the residence, this time advising they were from a cellular company.”

Around 3 p.m. on the same day, a resident in the 900 block of Frederick Street SW reported to police that two men claiming to be from T-Mobile were soliciting door-to-door.

Shortly before 8 p.m., police were able to find the men after a resident in the 500 block of Echols Street SE said the men were soliciting.

“Officer Farr located the two men who confirmed that they had been soliciting throughout the Town during the day, unaware that they needed a town permit in addition to their Fairfax County permit,” according to the police report.

Police issued a summons to the men — a 22-year-old from Annandale and a 20-year-old Germantown, Md. — and charged them with Soliciting Without a Town Permit. The men were released on their signatures.

Photo via Facebook

The fire station in Tysons is at the top of Fairfax County Fire and Rescue’s list of old fire stations that need updates.

During the Planning Commission’s hearing on the Capital Improvements Program for fiscal years 2021-2025, Assistant Fire Chief Jason Jenkins said that Tysons Fire Station 29 is one of six stations built in the 1970s and 1980s that the fire department wants to revamp.

“Any of the fire stations built in the 1970s through the 1980s are reaching the end of their life,” Jenkins said. “Their capabilities, their flexibilities, their workforce — it becomes challenging to have to relocate personnel due to the lack of capabilities.”

Fire Station 29 in Tysons (1560 Spring Hill Road) was built in 1978 and is roughly 9,500 square feet, according to the CIP presentation.

Jenkins gave an overview of the plethora of deficiencies at Fire Station 29, which include:

• too few apparatus bays (three)
• inadequate living quarters for women
• limited gym and fitness area
• lack of decontamination area
• lack of fire sprinklers in apparatus bays

As the population boom continues in the county, Jenkins said that the fire facilities need to be able to expand.

In response to Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner’s question “How do we do fire fighting in the high-rise level?” Jenkins said that fire stations need to have double the equipment to cut back their response times, which are increased due to building heights.

“So in lieu of waiting for a neighboring station to respond to a high-rise, you have duplicative resources that can respond simultaneously,” he said, adding that those resources include double the engines and paramedic units.

Now, the fire department is looking to double the size of the fire station, which would have five drive-thru bays, with funding from development proffers.

A proffer for the fire station that was negotiated in 2011 currently covers about 10% of the project’s cost.

More from the proposed CIP:

$1,417,152 has been received to date from negotiated proffer obligations to support the design and construction of a 5-bay replacement Tysons Fire Station. Additional proffer funding for the fire station will be provided as the designated Tysons development occurs.

“We have enough funding to start the design of the project,” a staffer from the Department of Public Works said.

Originally, the fire station was going to be built on the bottom of high-rise, but the plans fell through, Laurie Stone, a planner for the fire department, said. Now, the developer is providing the proffer funding over time.

“It was going to be the first proffered fire station,” Stone said. “We’re going to need the station before we have all of the proffer funding.”

The design process for the fire station begins early this spring, Jenkins said. Elsewhere around Tysons, work is underway to build the new Fire Station 44 near the McLean Metro station.

Image via Google Maps

As malls shut down around the U.S, Tysons Galleria and Tysons Corner Center are currently still open.

Macerich, the operator of Tysons Corner Center, said the COVID-19 situation is being monitored and listed the preventive actions being taken.

“We want you to feel confident when visiting our properties,” according to Macerich’s website. “We recognize that places where people gather, like shopping centers, need to be clean, welcoming and safe.”

Macerich said that it’s using sanitizing and disinfectant formulas recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to clean entrance door handles, handrails and restrooms several times a day and play areas twice daily. The cleaning staff is wearing gloves and Macerich wants sick employees to stay home.

In a statement, Tysons Corner Center said staying open helps the employees at the mall:

Our centers and our retailers employ hundreds of individuals, across many job types, who are dependent on their jobs to meet their families’ needs.  We are doing our best to remain open to serve our community and our retailers and continually assess the situation. We remain in close contact with government health authorities and will continue to implement our intensified cleaning and sanitizing procedures as long as we remain open.

The mall currently has reduced hours of 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sundays as of March 17.

Meanwhile, Tysons Galleria has adjusted its hours so that the mall is open from noon to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and until 6 p.m. on Sundays.

Tysons Galleria said that it is letting restaurants and bars decide how to operate in compliance with the recent cap of 10 patrons maximum. The mall is not allowing people to sit in the food court.

As for cleaning, Tysons Galleria says its staff is disinfecting “high traffic areas,” increasing the frequency and intensity of cleaning “touchable surfaces” and offering hand sanitizer dispensers.

Around the country, malls are closing due to orders from state officials or by operators over concerns that shoppers and employees could spread the virus.

Fox 5 reported that Simon Property Group announced on Wednesday that it would close all of its retail properties, which include the nearby Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. Taubman Centers, which operates Fair Oaks Mall, also plans to temporarily shutter its malls, USA Today reported.

Indoor shopping malls in New Jersey are closing due to orders from the governor, Retail Dive reported. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan recently ordered malls to close.

A growing list of retailers — including Macy’s, Sephora, Nordstrom, H&M, Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Apple — are closing all of their locations temporarily, leaving the malls that are still open with limited retail options for shoppers.

Diners, though, can find food at malls as restaurants pivot to pick-up and delivery options. Here are what some of the restaurants are doing in the two malls.

Tysons Galleria:

• The Cheesecake Factory — curbside pick-up and delivery via Doordash
• Wildfire — temporarily closed
• Maggiano’s Little Italy — delivery via Doordash and take-out
• P. F. Chang’s — delivery, take-out and curbside pick-up
• Lady M Boutique — take-out

Tysons Corner Center:

• &pizza — take-out and delivery
• Barrel and Bushel — pick-up and delivery via Doordash
• Coastal Flats — take-out and delivery with a limited menu
• Eddie V’s — take-out
• Turkish Coffee Lady — temporarily closed

Shoppers and diners will need to check the websites and social media to see if the store or eatery is open, closed or just open for delivery and take-out options.