After her graduation from McLean High School in 2018, Isabel Romov received a prestigious scholarship that allows her to study a rare heart disease that can cause sudden death in young adults.
Romov is an upcoming junior studying biotechnology at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. As the inaugural Beckman Scholar, Romov will assist JMU Chemistry Professor Nathan Wright with research over the course of a roughly 15-month period, according to a press release.
Romov will focus on arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. The disorder is transferred genetically from someone’s family and causes arrhythmias and thickens the walls of the ventricles in the lower chambers of the heart, the press release said. It affects roughly one in 5,000 people, according to Boston Childen’s Hospital and can cause sudden death, cardiac arrest or the sudden loss of consciousness.
Though Romov hasn’t worked with Wright before, she first expressed interest in his work after viewing one of his guest lectures.
For the research, the team is looking at the DNA, learning how to block the disease mutation and creating a “molecular Band-Aid” to cover it up, Romov said.
The scholarship includes $18,600 to funnel into her research.
Romov said the scholarship is competitive, and she thinks she was chosen because of her dedication to perfection, high grades and drive to help people after her mother passed away from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) almost two years ago.
“It has given me a motivation I don’t think anyone else has unless they’ve been in that situation,” she said. “I want to help people and the fact that science works for me and I love it is secondary.”
Growing up, Romov said she struggled during high school because many of her teachers didn’t realize what was going on in her family life, but she said she was thankful for the competitive curriculum that helped her prepare for college.
Now at JMU, Romov serves on the board for Delta Gamma, a social sorority she said strives towards high grades, and is also a member of TriBeta, an honor society for biology students.
After college, she hopes to work with a biotech company or another institution that will help her pursue a graduate degree. Since Romov said she has been working since she was 14 years old, one of her main goals in life is to become financially independent.
“Going to a job is very exciting for me and I’m excited to learn and work in the science field.”
Photo via JMU/Facebook
The Town of Vienna celebrated its 100th birthday in 1990 with the ringing of bells and a giant birthday cake — and now its 130th birthday this year, residents are challenged to participate in a virtual race.
Titled “Distance Matters,” the race is inviting all Vienna citizens to walk, run, bike or hike a 130K throughout the month of July. People who complete the 80.8 miles will receive a medal at the end of the month.
People who are interested in participating will receive a log to track their miles over the course of the month. Miles can be achieved by running on a treadmill, cycling around the town or walking down the trail — participants’ choice. Whatever mode of exercise residents choose, the race is an easy way to maintain a feeling of community despite social distancing restrictions.
The town was originally planning a large community event called “Bluez and Brewz” on Saturday, June 20, to commemorate Vienna’s 130th birthday. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the idea was changed to something that people could safely participate in — at a distance.
The celebration had included live blues bands, barbecue trucks and more, according to Natalie Duncan, the town’s teen center program coordinator.
“Upon the realization that we had to cancel Bluez and Brewz, we came up with the idea for the 130K,” said Duncan.
The organizers noticed other jurisdictions holding virtual races and decided it would be a fun way to keep the community participating. “The month of July is Parks and Recreation Month… the 130K is a way of keeping residents engaged and involved.”
Local sports and bike merchants, as well as coffee shops, are promoting the event. While running and biking have always been a staple of Vienna with the Washington and Old Dominion Trail running through town, the pandemic has fueled resident interest in the outdoors, according to Duncan.
“Now with the coronavirus, people are more open to using the trail and running around their neighborhoods,” she said.
In the past, Vienna has drawn major crowds for town events including birthday celebrations, Civil War reenactments and celebrating the new millenium, according to the Vienna Recreation Program Manager Amy-Jo Hendrix.
“Vienna is such a close-knit town,” said Hendrix. “Everyone comes together and enjoys whatever activities we have going. It’s a lot of fun to put these on and see the success that we have and how it brings all the neighbors together.”
Celebrate the Town's 130th #Birthday with our 130K #DistanceMatters Challenge for the month of July!
Register by June 29 at https://t.co/4fyEAuMvFd for $10. Receive s log to track your progress and a medal at completion.
Questions? Email [email protected] pic.twitter.com/R90r348NrK
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) June 3, 2020
Owners of CrossFit gyms in the Tysons area are distancing themselves from an insensitive tweet by CrossFit’s CEO.
Greg Glassman, the CEO, recently apologized for saying “It’s FLOYD-19” in response to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s tweet calling racism a public health issue, according to BET.
Reebok and several CrossFit athletes have since cut ties with the branded fitness regimen because of the tweet, and hundreds of gyms across the U.S. have disaffiliated from CrossFit over the tweet, according to reports from Forbes and People.
Tysons Reporter reached out to CrossFit gyms located in Vienna, Falls Church and Tysons. Six of them have denounced Glassman’s tweet.
The staff behind the CrossFit Tysons Corner (8453-K Tyco Road) told Tysons Reporter in an email that they do not condone Glassman’s statements. “We are exploring options for de-affiliation,” the email said.
Curtis Blake of CrossFit Falls Church (130 W. Jefferson Street) said that its members are aware of the gym’s stance.
“I was deeply saddened by the insensitivity that was shown and/or the malice in Glassman’s post,” Blake told Tysons Reporter. “I would like to see him step down and a change in leadership before we personally [make] a decision.” Blake declined to comment further.
CrossFit Route 7 (8504-B Tyco R0ad) and CrossFit North Vienna (234 Dominion Road NE) — a.k.a. the Phoenix Athletix Club — both shared on social media that they do not support Glassman’s comments.
“At this point, we do not know exactly what the next steps look like for the gym,” CrossFit Route 7 said in its Facebook post.
Meanwhile, CrossFit Fairfax (2831 Dorr Ave) wrote on Facebook that it will honor the Black Lives Matter movement on Saturday, June 13, but did not include a direct mention of Glassman’s tweet.
“Racism and discrimination have no place in our gym, the broader fitness community, or the world at large,” the post said.
Marcus Ford of Tinner Hill CrossFit (336 S. Washington Street) said that the gym took to Facebook yesterday to reaffirm the location’s beliefs.
“I simply wanted to iterate to our extended community that we are steadfast in our beliefs, have always and will always operate without discrimination,” Ford told Tysons Reporter. “We openly welcome ALL people with no concern for race, religion, gender(s), sexualities or otherwise.”
Ford said that the incident “called into question the beliefs of CrossFit affiliates all over the world, and I personally and professionally felt the need to remind our community that no matter what methodology we use for fitness, we are resolute in the principles we’ve been known for by our community.”
The location is still a CrossFit gym, “however only time will tell what the future may hold for us in terms of affiliation,” Ford said.
Photo via CrossFit Tysons Corner/Facebook
Fairfax County’s Hispanic community is bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although Hispanic individuals comprise just under 17% of the total population, they account for nearly 66% of all confirmed cases in the county.
The gap has raised alarms about equity issues between different racial groups in the county. County health officials say that higher infection rates may be caused by the need to go to work, lack of sick leave, the inability to socially distance while on the job and lack of unemployment insurance.
Cases have grown over the last three months in the Hispanic community, while the effort to flatten the curve in the black and white communities has been more successful, county data show.
“This risk reflects a group’s niche in society rather than a particular racial effect,” said Benjamin Schwartz, a medical epidemiologist with the Fairfax County Health Department.
Many local Hispanic residents work in jobs where the risk of transmission is especially high.
Roughly 25% of Hispanic men in the county work in natural resources, construction or maintenance, according to the 2018 American Community Survey. That’s compared to just 5% of blacks in the same industry.
Similarly, 45% of Hispanic women work in the service industry, more than double the percent of black women in the same industry, according to the survey.
Additionally, roughly 12% of Hispanic households are defined as overcrowded based on county metrics, compared to 4% of the black community and less than 1% of the white community.
But the same racial disparity is not prevalent in other parts of the county. In Richmond, for example, blacks are being hit hard by the pandemic while poor whites are disproportionately impacted in southwestern Virginia.
On a national level, blacks account for a higher share of confirmed cases and deaths compared to the rest of the population, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Roughly 20% of the COVID-19 cases in the Fairfax Health District, which includes the county, do not contain race and ethnicity information.
Exacerbating the Divide
At Cornerstones, a nonprofit organization based in Reston, the pandemic has exacerbated the daily struggle with housing, poverty, quality education, and living-wage jobs.
Already, 33% of families in Cornerstones’ affordable rental housing have lost all or some of their income due to mass layoffs. Some have limited access to daycare and the internet, complicating long-distance learning, even if the school system provides a laptop for students.
Parking lots may offer free wifi access, but a car and time are needed to park there. Others turn to families and friends to watch their children, increasing the risk of exposure for all.
Public health officials are also seeking ways to improve community communication and increase testing in local hotspots, including the Town of Herndon.
In April, 385 new households came to Cornerstones’ pantry in need of food. That’s more than six times the number of new households in fiscal year 2019.
“For low-income members of the immigrant community in the time of COVID, it’s never one thing. The pandemic only exacerbates their daily struggling with housing, poverty, quality education, and living-wage jobs,” said Sara Newman, the division director of community change partnerships at Cornerstones.
For these residents, the financial burden of COVID-19 is “inescapable,” Newman said.
“Unpaid rents are continuing to accumulate. People keep working or look for employment regardless of the viral spread so they can keep a roof over their family and food on the table.”
Photo by Morgan Von Gunten/Unplash
As Northern Virginia localities prepare for the second reopening phase on Friday, here’s what people can expect.
Northern Virginia and the City of Richmond delayed entering phase two when the rest of Virginia started the phase last Friday (June 5). Gov. Ralph Northam said that trends of COVID-19 data indicate that Northern Virginia is ready for the next phase.
Here’s a snapshot of the phase two guidelines:
- “safer at home” guidance, telework encouraged
- face coverings required in indoor public places
- social gathering maximum raised from 10 to 50
- restaurants can have indoor dining at 50% occupancy
- fitness centers can open indoor spaces at 30% occupancy
- indoor and outdoor swimming pools can open
- still closed: overnight summer camps, indoor entertainment venues, amusement parks, fairs and carnivals
Museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens and outdoor concerts, sports and performing arts venues may open with some restrictions as long as they don’t have shared equipment.
“All businesses should still adhere to physical distancing guidelines, frequently clean and sanitize high contact surfaces, and continue enhanced workplace safety measures,” the plan says.
Meanwhile, phase two continues current guidelines for religious services, non-essential retail and personal grooming services, according to the plan.
School Schedule
Northam also unveiled yesterday his phased plan to reopen K-12 schools.
“I know that parents are very interested in our plans for how to safely return children to our classrooms,” Northam said.
Previously, Northam closed schools on March 23 for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. “I believe these closures have helped mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
Northam said that the plan will let schools “slowly” offer in-person classes for the summer and 2020-2021 school year.
“We’ll start with small groups, and we will allow each school division the flexibility that it needs to respond to the needs of its own locality,” Northam said, adding that the plan provides schools with options instead of serving as a mandate.
In every phase, the schools must follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including daily health screenings of students and staff, remote learning and working options for high-risk students and staff, required face coverings for staff — and encourage used for students — when social distancing isn’t an option.
More about the plan from Northam’s website:
The K-12 phased reopening plan was developed by the Office of the Secretary of Education, Virginia Department of Health, and the Virginia Department of Education and is informed by guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
All PreK-12 schools in Virginia will be required to deliver new instruction to students for the 2020-2021 academic year, regardless of the operational status of school buildings. The PreK-12 guidance is aligned with the phases outlined in the Forward Virginia blueprint and provides opportunities for school divisions to begin offering in-person instruction to specific student groups…
Local school divisions will have discretion on how to operationalize within each phase and may choose to offer more limited in-person options than the phase permits, if local public health conditions necessitate. Entry into each phase is dependent on public health gating criteria, corresponding with the Forward Virginia plan. School divisions will have flexibility to implement plans based on the needs of their localities, within the parameters of the Commonwealth’s guidance.
The opportunities for in-person instruction in each phase are as follows:
- Phase One: special education programs and child care for working families
- Phase Two: Phase One plus preschool through third-grade students, English learners, and summer camps in school buildings
- Phase Three: all students may receive in-person instruction as can be accommodated with strict social distancing measures in place, which may require alternative schedules that blend in-person and remote learning for students
- Beyond Phase Three: divisions will resume “new-normal” operations under future guidance
Beginning with Phase Two, local divisions and private schools must submit plans to the Virginia Department of Education that include policies and procedures for implementing Virginia Department of Health and CDC mitigation strategies.
State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, MD, MA has issued an Order of Public Health Emergency that requires all Virginia PreK-12 public and private schools to develop plans that demonstrate adherence to public health guidance. Public schools must also outline plans to offer new instruction to all students regardless of operational status.
Graph via Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam
Black Lives Matter Protest Today in McLean — “Six McLean High School students are planning a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest on Wednesday afternoon. The protest is scheduled for Wednesday (June 10) from 3-5 p.m. and will start at McLean High School.” [Tysons Reporter]
Helping Hand for Paws — “A Fairfax County Boy Scout wanted to earn his Citizenship In The Community merit badge by lending a helping paw. For his project, 11-year-old Jackson Hayken chose to help McLean-based Paws of Honor, which helps retired police and military dogs.” [McLean Patch]
Nordstrom Returns — “The Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores in Tysons will reopen for customers on Thursday, according to a company release.” [McLean Patch]
More on Stun Gun Incident — “Prosecutors in Fairfax County told a judge on Tuesday that Officer Tyler Timberlake, who has been charged with assault and battery after using his stun gun last week, shocked a man he mistakenly thought he recognized. Timberlake’s lawyer said the police officer believed the man he stunned was someone who he knew had a criminal past.” [Inside NoVa]
Vienna Officials Talk New Police Station — “Vienna Town Council members at a June 8 work session reaffirmed their intention to move ahead with the town’s largest capital project — a new police station — and expressed support for the project’s environmental and architectural features.” [Inside NoVa]
Corona Cough — “Jacob Gooch, a former state trooper assigned to patrol in Virginia’s Fairfax Division, allegedly sent a text to his brothers in mid-April that said he gave a Mennonite man a ticket and coughed on him ‘so he would spread Corona to the wedding they were going too.’… Jacob Gooch has since resigned from the Virginia State Police department.” [WJLA]
Policing Pledge — “City of Falls Church Mayor David Tarter signed Former President Obama’s Mayor’s Pledge calling for mayors, city councils, and police oversight bodies to address police use of force policies. At their June 8 meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to join the Mayor in taking this pledge.” [City of Falls Church]
Farmers Market is open this Saturday, so be sure to check the Optimist Club website: We are very excited to open on with all our lovely offerings of fruit, veggies, meats, eggs, pies, donuts, juices, coffee, sausages and breads. Masks are a must: https://t.co/nf4tmxI4f3 pic.twitter.com/yLiPEzZZFt
— Town of Vienna, VA (@TownofViennaVA) June 9, 2020
(Updated 5:30 p.m.) Fairfax County officials want to see the rollout of body-worn cameras for Fairfax County police happen as soon as possible to increase transparency with policing.
“The events in the last couple of weeks both across the country and in Fairfax made the importance of expanding the police body-worn camera program apparent both for improved public safety and transparency,” Chairman Jeff McKay said in a statement.
Today, the Board of Supervisors approved asking county staff to look for potential revenue sources to implement the second phase of the program as quickly as possible. The county directed staff to report back by June 30 with the funding options and a potential timeline for the rest of the phases.
McKay said that the county wants to resume the implementation of the program’s second phase during the 2021 fiscal year.
Earlier this year, the county board delayed funding for the phased program due to budget challenges posed by COVID-19, but still kept an increase of $1.77 million for the first phase of the program.
Three county district stations already have the cameras, including the Reston District Station. The McLean District Station is slated to receive the cameras during the second phase.
The motion follows recent calls from several supervisors, including Walter Alcorn and John Foust, to continue the program in the other parts of the county.
County officials are looking for ways to move forward with the program in response to rising concerns about police transparency and use of force following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and a Fairfax County police officer allegedly assaulting a black man in the Mount Vernon area. The Fairfax County officer is facing three counts of misdemeanor assault and battery.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said that he was initially willing to delay the cameras before, but now said he sees an immediate need for them.
Storck noted that the body-worn camera footage of the Mount Vernon incident, which the police department released on Sunday (June 7), “dramatically changed” conversations between the police and the community.
Storck added that the police officers he’s spoken to support the cameras.
“I join my colleagues in deep disappointment in what we saw on that police camera this weekend,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said. “It shows that it works.”
McKay mentioned said that the action of a handful of officers “is not indicative” of the thousands of officers in the Fairfax County Police Department, calling the police department “committed” and “well trained.”
He thanked both the police chief and commonwealth’s attorney for their “quick response” to the incident.
Fairfax County Adding Equity Task Force
Work to speed up the police cameras is one of several steps the county is taking to address inequity.
“There is no one policy or program we can enact today that will solve every issue,” McKay said, pointing to previous efforts like adding the county’s Police Civilian Review Panel and independent police auditor.
The Board of Supervisors also announced today a new equity task force. “We know this is an issue that requires constant vigilance,” McKay said.
“The Chairman’s Taskforce on Equity and Opportunity will explore the range of situations and conditions that contribute to disproportionate trends, facilitate shared responsibility and collective action, build on the strengths of our community and lift up solutions to make all residents and neighborhoods more resilient,” according to county documents.
McKay said that the task force will be coordinated by Karla Bruce, the county’s chief equity officer, and her staff with his office. Costs will be absorbed within the existing budget, McKay said.
Each supervisor will provide recommendations for who should serve on the task force, McKay said. The goal is for a geographically and demographically balanced membership “to make sure this group is attempting to represent this county as a whole,” he said.
The task force is expected to present a preliminary report to McKay in December, followed by final recommendations by the end of June 2021.
Palchik noted that the county took the “first step forward as we battle through this crisis,” adding that she wants the county to address housing and pre-K programs to combat inequity.
“Racial injustice is finally at the forefront of the country’s dialogue,” Palchik said in a statement after the meeting.
(Updated at 5:20 p.m.) As the Black Lives Matter movement sweeps across the world in response to George Floyd’s death, Fairfax County locals are taking to the streets to call for racial equality.
Already, there have been protests and marches in Reston, Falls Church and Vienna. An upcoming protest is slated to take place in McLean on Wednesday.
Tysons Reporter interviewed Sean Perryman, the president of the Fairfax NAACP, to gain insight into underlying issues in the community and how the group is advocating for solutions.
After graduating from the Vanderbilt University Law School and working as a civil litigator, Perryman decided to join the NAACP back in 2016 after Donald Trump’s election. Since becoming president in 2019, he has led the group to promote the NAACP’s mission to “ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race.”
“I threw myself in because I didn’t like what I was seeing at the national level and wanted to get involved at the local level,” he said.
The Fairfax NAACP actually originated in the Falls Church area, which Perryman said is historically significant because the county government unjustly took land from Black owners in the area.
Though Fairfax County is thought of as a progressive and liberal area, “there is a history of violence here that often gets overlooked,” Perryman said.
Throughout the last several years, Perryman recalled several incidents of alleged police brutality and discrimination against Black individuals that he claims were overlooked by the public.
Just recently, a Fairfax County police officer was charged with three misdemeanor counts of assault and battery after using a stun gun on a black man, the Washington Post reported.
Fairfax County hired a research team to look into the use-of-force incidents by Fairfax County police after a study found a disproportionate impact on black individuals. The research team is expected to reveal its findings early next year.
“The use of force here is disproportionate here for the police department [against black and brown people],” he said, adding that it is still better than some surrounding jurisdictions.
How Photos Can Influence the Perception of Law Enforcement
Roughly a week ago at a Black Lives Matter rally in Vienna, Mina Salama captured a photo of Vienna Police Chief Jim Morris kneeling, maskless alongside hundreds of other protesters.
Though Salama said she didn’t know that the officer in the photo was the police chief at the time, she said the moment and his position intrigued her.
Tysons Reporter is working to schedule an interview with Morris to talk about the photo and will update this story.
“I thought it was great — he wasn’t in the middle of the crowd. He was doing it on his own and just really feeling like he was a part of it,” Salama said.
Perryman said he didn’t want to be “cynical” and possibly discredit Morris’ true intentions behind the image, however, he said he wants to see progressive policy changes instead of social displays of support. He added that “nice” images of police kneeling don’t always portray an accurate representation of a situation.
“I don’t care about police chiefs kneeling or holding Black Lives Matter signs. Get your officers in check,” he said. “Make sure they are not abusing people. Give us transparency and data. Make real change, and anything short of that can just be seen as a photo opportunity.”
The Vienna police chief photo happened on the spur of the moment, Salama said.
Before Salama ultimately decided to post the photo on Facebook, she said she struggled with the decision but decided that the image helped to accurately describe the atmosphere at the event.
“I kind of went back and forth about posting the picture [on social media] because in a lot of communities it’s done as a photo opp and this was more organic,” she said. “Nobody promoted him.”
NAACP’s Demands for Reform
Perryman claims students of color and students with disabilities are taken into police custody disproportionally compared to their white peers in Fairfax County Public Schools.
“Sometimes these were for issues like disorderly conduct,” Perryman said. “What does this mean? For a kid, does that mean they were just being bad in school?”
Perryman said that Fairfax NAACP’s efforts have been able to reduce arrests in schools by 60%. Still, he wants to see more done: “I’ve always said we need to get the cops out of schools and put in more counselors.”
In terms of One Fairfax, Perryman said he thinks the policy is good for “looking at things through an equity lens,” but added that the county’s school board and Board of Supervisors have a long way to go before the policy is more than “lip service.”
“You can’t have One Fairfax when you have a Robert E. Lee High School, and the school is named after a Confederate general who wanted to enslave black people,” he noted as an example.
The Fairfax County School Board voted in 2019 to consider renaming seven schools, including Mosby Woods Elementary School, named after people with Confederate ties.
Recently, the school board resumed its process to consider renaming Robert E. Lee High School.
In the next several months, Perryman said that the group will continue to push for police reform at the county, state and national levels.
The NAACP wants to see qualified immunity eliminated, Perryman said. “It ensures trust in the system. If you have trust in the system, you don’t have people going through the streets looking for justice,” he said.
If elected officials are determined to enact changes, Perryman said new policies could be in place within a year. For a complete list of NAACP’s agenda items, people can visit the organization’s website.
Ways Community Members Can Support
For people who want to keep rallying and showing up to protests, Perryman said that he hopes people will try to keep in mind precautions such as wearing masks and social distancing. Last week, Fairfax NAACP held a car rally where people could listen and participate in their cars.
If people want to support the NAACP, they donate or ask how they can be of service. Though some people requested that the NAACP help them organize rallies, Perryman said that isn’t the purpose of the group.
People can become better allies by educating themselves about systemic racism in American history, Perryman said.
“One of the best things to do is to Google the origins of policing,” he said. “Our policing system is relatively new and in the course of American history, the way we do policing originated out of slave patrols,” he said. “I think a lot of people are shocked by that.”
Perryman suggested books such as “Stamped From the Beginning” and “How to Be an Anti-Racist” both by Ibram X. Kendi, who runs an anti-racism center at American University in D.C.
“Historical context helps you to solve a problem and look at things in a different light,” Perryman said.
Photos courtesy Sean Perryman
Gov. Ralph Northam announced this afternoon at a press conference that Northern Virginia localities can move into phase two starting Friday (June 12).
Northam said that the COVID-19 metrics for Northern Virginia continue to improve.
“Our hospitalizations for COVID are trending downward, particularly in the last week,” Northam said, adding that hospitals are under capacity.
The rest of Virginia entered phase two last Friday (June 5).
At the same press conference, Northam also released a plan to reopen public schools for the 2020-2021 school year. Changes will include social distancing measures and adaptations to perform health checks, according to Northam.
Students will not be required to wear face coverings, according to the Virginia superintendent, but they will be encouraged for older students.
Image via Governor of Virginia/Facebook
The Tysons area will have three blood drives this month via a partnership with local volunteer fire departments and Inova Blood Donor Services.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue announced today (Tuesday) four upcoming blood drives that will take place in the parking lots of the fire stations.
“Due to current events, blood supplies in Fairfax County and the nation are at dangerously low levels and dropping,” according to the fire department.
Here are the Tysons-area ones:
- Thursday (June 18) noon-6 p.m. at Station 13 in Dunn Loring (2148 Gallows Road)
- Wednesday (June 24) 1-7 p.m. at Station 1 in McLean (1455 Laughlin Ave)
- Thursday (June 25) 1-7 p.m. at Station 2 in Vienna (400 Center Street S.)
There will also be a blood drive at Station 5 (6300 Beulah Street) in Alexandria on Thursday (June 18) from 1-7 p.m. People can register on the Inova Blood Donor Services website.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue noted how the blood drives will address safety concerns with COVID-19.
“There will be plenty of space to spread out and use appropriate social distancing,” the post said. “To help protect our firefighters and paramedics, access to the fire station is prohibited.”
Photo via Facebook
