Gov. Ralph Northam said during a press conference today that local health officials are pointing to a “significant shift” of people in their 20s or younger getting COVID-19.
As of today (Tuesday), just over 19% of the total reported cases statewide affected people in their 20s, making it the highest percentage of all age groups, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). In the Fairfax Health District, that age group represents 16.6% of the cases — the third-highest age group behind people in their 30s (19.3%) and 40s (18.5%).
Kids and teenagers have roughly the same percentage of cases (10%) compared to people ages 70 and older both statewide and in the Fairfax Health District, VDH says. People ages 70 and older account for the majority of the deaths related to the virus.
Long term care facilities account for roughly half of the outbreaks statewide and just over 75% of outbreaks in the Fairfax Health District. Northam shared that almost 3,000 people have covered from COVID-19 in nursing homes, bucketing the statistic under one of the several “major steps forward.”
Many school systems around the country, including Fairfax County Public Schools, have been struggling recently about how to return to school during a pandemic as health officials learn how the virus affects kids.
The Fairfax Health District has two of the state’s eight cases of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). Here’s what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about MIS-C:
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. We do not yet know what causes MIS-C. However, we know that many children with MIS-C had the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been around someone with COVID-19. MIS-C can be serious, even deadly, but most children who were diagnosed with this condition have gotten better with medical care.
In addition to noting the age demographics for COVID-19 cases, Northam said today that Northern Virginia is one of the areas of the state with an encouraging percent positivity rate of COVID-19.
“There’s been a dramatic decrease in Northern Virginia,” Northam said.
He noted Northern Virginia’s rate is 5.7%, while the western region of the state is at 5%. Statewide, the percent positivity rate is right around 7%.
Concern about a surge of COVID-19 cases in Hampton Roads prompted the governor to announce restrictions for that region.
“I’m worried that people are starting to lose hope and that’s not a good thing,” Northam said.
Photo via Governor of Virginia/Facebook
About a year after Wee Chic opened in the Mosaic District, COVID-19 restrictions temporarily closed the brick and mortar store. Now, the newly reopened kids’ clothing boutique is preparing for the fall.
Started in Maryland a little more than 10 years ago, Wee Chic made a quick pivot to e-commerce with curated boxes and an online store this spring. Just like owner Bridget Quinn Stickline predicted back in May, the reopened stores are currently offering steep discounts as Wee Chic looks to shed excess inventory and make way for fall clothing.
“We still have too much inventory,” Stickline told Tysons Reporter in mid-July. “Currently, we’re selling product up to 60% off. This is the good stuff that would have sold full price.”
With fall approaching, Wee Chic plans to make changes again — a “giant pivot cycle” as Stickline calls it — to keep the business going during the pandemic. Stickline stressed that the store is committed to serving shoppers with various comfort levels around COVID-19 precautions, from in-store browsing with required face coverings to online shopping.
Curated Boxes Returning
Wee Chic first promoted its curated “Shop Box” in the spring to help with the inventory overload, but put a pause on the box due to the summer sale.
As the store now looks to move away from being heavily discounted, Stickline said that she plans to relaunch the box for fall merchandise.
Here’s how the box works: employees talk to shoppers over the phone to pick out 10-20 pieces, which can include multiple sizes. When the box arrives, kids try on the clothes and parents send back whatever they don’t want. Shoppers who keep a certain number of pieces get a percentage off their entire order.
Because the box is not a subscription model, Stickline said that her employees work hard to pick out the right products.
“[Subscription services] have a chance to get it right,” Stickline said. “In our model, it’s one box. That one box has to be good enough.”
Stickline noted that while Wee Chic had been offering the box for awhile, the store hadn’t given it a name or marketing until the pandemic.
Loyalty Program
Bringing back the box isn’t the only upcoming move for the fall. Wee Chic is also looking to start a loyalty program — “Something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” according to Stickline.
Stickline sees the loyalty program as a way to make her customers feel appreciated and also ease any strain on their wallets from the pandemic.
“Everyone I think is more concerned about spending right now,” she said.
Inventory Changes
Regular customers might notice some changes to Wee Chic’s inventory this fall. Unlike previous years, the store is now looking to reduce its party dresses and ramp up its toy and gift options as the pandemic affects clothing demand.
Wee Chic is also selling masks for kids and tweens, which Stickline calls “a little bit of a heartbreaker.” The masks include pastel colors, sharks, unicorns, corgis and more. “
“You still have to buy clothes,” Stickline said. “Some kids are going back to schools a few days a week.”
Even for families and school systems opting for fully virtual learning, Stickline noted that kids outgrow clothes quickly.
Parents normally have to size up for a few or all of their kids’ clothing pieces every season, with ages 2-5 usually seeing the fastest growth and ages 6-8 most likely for growth spurts, Stickline said.
Online Wish List
When the pandemic prompted social distancing and canceled in-person events, Stickline noticed that shoppers started to spend more on kids’ presents.
“I feel like people are giving slightly nicer gifts because they can’t go to showers,” she said. “[People] want to make more of a gesture. You’re sad for a kid who can’t have a birthday party when they’re 6.”
In pre-COVID times, kids could pick out items in the store for wish lists. Now, work is underway to create an online registry.
Stickline sees the online wish list as a way for would-be guests to send “a big box full of fun” to kids and their families celebrating birthdays and holidays.
“The role I see for us in the world as a business is we’re here to spread some cheer and make things better,” she said.
Photo via Wee Chic/Facebook
Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk has released a new website that serves as a one-stop-shop for all previous and future law enforcement data in Fairfax County to increase transparency.
Lusk, who is also the chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisor’s Public Safety Committee, said the project was launched in response to residents’ requests for clear and detailed data from the Fairfax County Police Department.
The website aggregates all public safety data into one location, including FCPD’s annual report, reports by the police auditor, arrest and traffic citation dates for 2019 and other resources.
“This is about accountability and transparency,” Lusk said in a video announcing the website.
The platform also includes a police reform matrix that tracks the progress of suggested reforms. This year, the board’s Public Safety Committee began pooling together a matrix of reforms. The status of each reform will be updated on the online document as information becomes available.
Lusk noted that the website will change in response to input and feedback from the community.
Photo via YouTube
Portions of Northern Virginia including the Tysons area will be under a Flash Flood Watch starting Tuesday afternoon.
The National Weather Service said that the watch will be in effect from 3-11 p.m. Forecasters say that storms and gusty wind are expected today.
More from NWS:
A slow-moving cold front will intersect a hot and humid air mass resulting in scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms late this afternoon and evening. Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are possible, which could result in isolated rainfall amounts of 2 to 3 inches in a short amount of time. These rainfall amounts may result in rapid rises of water on small streams and creeks, as well as in urban and poor drainage areas.
Sct'd showers & t'storms this afternoon/evening may contain gusty winds, flooding rain and frequent lightning, especially east of the Blue Ridge into the DC metro. pic.twitter.com/WQZhOwBAwL
— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) July 28, 2020
Jewelry store Alex and Ani seems to have left the Mosaic District.
The Merrifield location has an empty storefront and has been removed from the company’s website in addition to the Mosaic District’s directory.
No social media posts have been made regarding the closure, and attempts to reach the company have been unsuccessful. However, their Facebook page indicates that their location is permanently closed.
Meanwhile, the Alex and Ani location in Tysons Corner Center is still listed on the company’s website and mall’s directory. While both sites say the store is “closed,” a mall employee said that the store is open.
Photo courtesy Patrick Raffaele
The Fairfax County Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on a proposed late-night cafe along Leesburg Pike ahead of its August break.
The sit-down restaurant would be open until 1:30 a.m. every day at the now-closed United Bank branch (7787 Leesburg Pike), according to county documents. Located within Tysons’ East Side neighborhood, the cafe would add to the area’s growing food scene.
County staff recommends approval of the proposed cafe, according to the staff report released earlier this month.
If approved, the restaurant plans to have four employees to serve up to 72 customers, according to county documents.
“Since most of the use of the restaurant will be during the evening hours, then the main operation hours will be outside the peak (rush) traffic flow for the area,” the applicant said. “It is not anticipated to change the overall traffic level for the existing Leesburg Pike.”
The county’s Planning Commission was originally set to consider the proposed restaurant in late June. Now, the commission plans to hold its public hearing on the plans on Wednesday (July 29) — the last meeting date in July, according to the agenda.
Image via Google Maps
The Mary Riley Styles Public Library in Falls Church is looking to move forward discussions about police reform in the community.
The City of Falls Church announced today that the library will host an online forum next Wednesday (Aug. 5).
The panelists for the event include the city’s police chief, the president of the Fairfax County NAACP and the city’s HR director. Jennifer Carroll, the library’s director, will moderate the event.
“Learn more about the national Mayor’s Pledge (which was signed by Mayor [David] Tarter in June); the City’s Use of Force Review Committee; the principles of 21st century policing; and what issues lie behind the ‘defund police’ movement,” according to the event description.
The event is set to start at 7 p.m. People can register for the Zoom event by emailing [email protected].
File photo
Kiln & Custard served up a sweet surprise for National Ice Cream Day.
On Sunday (July 19), the woman-owned custard and ice cream chain rolled out two monthly subscription options. The Kiln & Custard locations are inside the Kiln & Co. pottery stores in Vienna, Falls Church and Reston.
Customers can get either four pints of frozen custard with toppings and cones delivered one or two per month. The custard comes in the business’s signature glass jars, according to its website.
The custard does not contain any artificial coloring or flavorings, according to the website.
People with a sweet tooth interested in the subscriptions can contact Kiln & Custard at 703-255-7155 and [email protected].
Kiln & Custard also recently extended the hours for the Vienna and Falls Church locations. Now, they are open from noon-7 p.m. in Vienna and from 1-8 p.m. in Falls Church Wednesday-Saturday. The website says that the Reston location is closed for the season.
For the second year in a row, a local student wants people to support a 50-mile walk fundraising for World Vision International, a global Christian humanitarian organization.
Last year, Alex Covell and a group of James Madison High School students organized the first 50-mile walk, which raised $9,000 — almost double the $5,000 goal to benefit World Vision’s efforts to provide clean to people in developing communities, Covell said.
The World Health Organization estimates that 800,000 kids die each year due to diarrhea, which can be caused by unclean water.
“We were inspired to do this walk because of the staggering number of people who lack access to clean water, a resource us in the developed world don’t think twice about,” Covell said. “We are walking 50 miles because it takes on average $50 to get one more person lifelong access to clean water.”
Covell, who now attends Northern Virginia Community College, said that he came up with the idea for last year’s walk after he broke his wrist and was looking for something to do. “I probably had not walked more than 10 miles,” Covell noted.
So he decided to walk 50 miles from his family’s house to Baltimore, but no one wanted to join him.
Things changed when he saw the Vienna Presbyterian Church was hosting a 6K to support World Vision. “I really liked the cause,” Covell said. Working with the church’s missions team, Covell was able to find walkers for his 50-mile walk.
“We’ve shown that we can do it,” Covell said. “It’s been a little bit easier this year to get excited about it.”
This year’s walk will start at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 1. Walkers can expect six rest stops along the route.
Initially, Covell said he was aiming for 100 walkers, but cut his goal back to 20 due to safety precautions because of the pandemic. The roughly 20 students and young adults will walk 50 miles from the W&OD Trailhead in Purcellville to the National Mall in D.C. Covell said he expects they will reach D.C. around 9 p.m.
For people wondering what walking 50 miles is like, Covell said the joints start to ache and blisters pop up on the feet. “It was a really cool experience — a little bit painful,” Covell said.
While there wasn’t any group training last year, Covell said the team had two 20-mile walks recently to prepare.
As of today, the event has raised $9,700 of the $50,000 goal. “The reaction has been very positive,” Covell said. “As people are donating, oftentimes they leave messages that are encouraging.”
Like last year, the donations will support World Vision. “By walking, we are trying to help World Vision elevate this suffering,” Covell said. To date, World Vision has helped 3.2 million people get access to clean water, according to its website.
People who want to support the cause can donate, sign up to walk or volunteer to help on the day of the walk.
Many election officers in the county fall in high-risk categories for COVID-19.
The Fairfax County Office of Election is seeking more election officers this year to assist voters on Election Day, which is on Nov. 3.
The county is the largest voting jurisdictions in the state, with 243 precincts nationwide. Officers must be registered voters.
Training for new officers will begin online in September. Compensation begins at $175.
The application is available online. The deadline is Oct. 10 and mandatory online training must be completed by Oct. 14.
More information is available on the county’s website.
