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.

Happy Friday. Here are the latest stories about the Tysons area that the Tysons Reporter team has been reading:

Non-Coronavirus News:

McLean Student Nabs State Pageant Title — “McKenzie Watt, the 9-year-old daughter of Philip and Andra Watt of McLean, has been awarded the title ‘Little Miss of Virginia’ 2019-20 and moves on to national competition.” [Inside Nova]

Religious Broadcaster Wants Tysons-Based Tegna — “Phoenix investment firm Najafi Cos. is teaming with a faith-based broadcaster in Texas in an effort to buy Tysons-based Tegna Inc.” [Washington Business Journal]

New Format for Vienna Candidates Debate — “The Vienna town government will record and repeatedly broadcast an audience-free Vienna Town Council candidate debate to be held April 2.” [Inside NoVa]

Coronavirus News:

FCPS Prepping for Distance Learning — “If FCPS schools cannot reopen as scheduled on April 14, our plan is to begin distance learning either online, or by learning packets at that time. Over the next two weeks, we will begin distance learning training for teachers and give teachers the opportunity to plan and prepare for distance instruction and reconnect with their students. ” [FCPS]

COVID-19 Hurting Little City Restaurants — “The hospitality industry in Falls Church and beyond is being hit especially hard with the public ramping up its social distancing effort and authorities implementing new restrictions on restaurant and bar service in an effort the prevent the spread of COVID-19.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Tysons CEO Slams Social Distancing — “Michael Saylor, the CEO and founder of Tysons technology firm MicroStrategy Inc., called social distancing measures enacted to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus ‘soul stealing and debilitating’ and stated the company would not close any of its offices around the world unless legally required to do so.” — [Washington Business Journal]

McLean Group Helping At-Risk People — “Unlike most of her peers, senior Sophie Howery has been spending her time off to help fight the spread of the virus. To do this, Howery created the Fairfax County Community COVID Aid Project, hoping to help support those who may be at risk of contracting the coronavirus.” [The Highlander]

How Will COVID-19 Impact the Local Economy? — The Stephen S. Fuller Institute at George Mason University’s recent report says that “the Washington region’s economy will also contract in the last three quarters of 2020, primarily because of decreased consumer spending and lost productivity.” [Washingtonian]

Local public health officials have found evidence that COVID-19 is now being spread via community transmission in Northern Virginia, according to a county press release.

As of today (Thursday), there are 16 presumptive cases in the Fairfax Health District, which also covers the City of Fairfax, the City of Falls Church and towns within the county, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, community transmission refers to when the spread of illness is linked to unknown sources.

“Community transmission, or ‘community spread,’ is defined by the CDC as a ‘spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown,'” according to a City of Falls Church press release.

Initial cases of the respiratory disease in the county were first linked to local residents who had contact with North Carolina residents with coronavirus. Two cases were linked to the Reston-based headquarters of the U.S. Geological Survey, according to a recent Reston Now exclusive.

Local officials continue to urge residents to practice social distancing as much as possible. Social distancing involves increasing the distance between people to avoid spreading the illness. Health officials say that staying at least six feet away from other people lessens the chances of catching COVID-19.

In roughly 10 days, the number of presumptive county cases has jumped from two to 16.

Data via Virginia Department of Health

This story also appeared on our sister site Reston Now

County officials are evaluating if the Fairfax Connector bus service should continue normal operations. For now, Fairfax Connector is operating on a normal schedule.

A spokesperson for the Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) said that changes in service levels are possible in the future, but no plans have been finalized yet.

Overall, ridership has taken a hit, but it’s too soon to tell by how much, according to Robin Geiger, an FCDOT spokeswoman.

The Fairfax Connector’s operations contractor has implemented a more rigorous vehicle cleaning cycle with “a special focus on bus interiors and critical touchpoints such as door handles, handrails, and other surfaces,” according to FCDOT.

The contractor is also working with its workforce to ensure employees are informed about coronavirus and measures to slow its spread.

Passengers should continue to practice ways to prevent spreading COVID-19 by washing hands often with soap and water, avoiding touching your eyes nose or mouth, and avoiding contact with people who are sick.

As of Thursday morning, the Virginia Department of Health says there are 77 presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the commonwealth, with 14 in Fairfax County.

This story also appeared on our sister site Reston Now

Tysons’ 1st Stage Theatre is taking it day by day as businesses around the Tysons area face closures and uncertain futures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The theater recently announced that the suspension of its upcoming productions due to concerns about spreading the coronavirus. Plans for “A New Brain,” which was set to run March 26-April 19, are still to be determined.

The coronavirus announcement came a few days after the theater unveiled its upcoming shows for the 2020-2021 season.

Tysons Reporter talked to 1st Stage’s Artistic Director Alex Levy about the upcoming season, impacts of the coronavirus and ways people can help support the Tysons theater.

Tysons Reporter: The theater announced that it will compensate the production personnel “most impacted by this sudden closure” and that the performers, designers and technicians for the show will be paid their full contract salary. Are other theaters doing that or just 1st Stage?

Alex Levy: I won’t speak for everybody else. I know a lot of other theaters are not able to do that. I’m really proud to be at this theater where all of the artists for this season and for “A New Brain” will get paid in full.

TR: Walk me through how you picked the five shows for the 2020-2021 season.

AL: It’s a long and complicated process. We read hundreds of plays every year to come to the right collage of plays to make up a season. We have an aesthetic here at 1st Stage.

As the only professional theater in our area, we are trying to provide something for everyone. The entire staff spends well over a yeat reading plays and fitting them together.

It’s a multitiered approach.

We have a database of plays we look at — playwrights who excite us or topics that are interesting to us or plays at other theaters. The rule here is that first reader should be thinking of anything practical — not if it will sell or who the actors will be — if they feel it would be right for us. If the second reader likes it, then it will go to the whole team.

Ultimately, it’s my decision, but with input from everybody.

TR: Is there usually a certain number of finalists?

AL: No. Excellence is at the top of our list. It’s about a season. We don’t stop until we get the right five plays.

We have things we look for in plays. We look for plays we think are worthy of really great artists and engaged audiences. We look for plays that have a unique place. We look for plays that have writing for the stage — we’re not looking for things that work in a movie or TV show or novel.

We also look at angles — music, comedy, drama, traditionally structured plays, more experimental work.

TR: So you’ve already started planning the 2021-2022 season?

AL: Yes. With the coronavirus, we have a lot more reading time lately. We are well into 2021-2022.

TR: How is the coronavirus impacting all of this?

AL: I don’t think I can overstate how scary this is for both organizations and for individuals. The idea of being out of business for a prolonged period of time is terrifying.

The arts usually have not been prioritized the way I think they ought to be in state and local governments. There is a fear that we’re not being remembered in conversations on how to boost businesses up.

For actors and staff, this is a gig economy. We’ve made a commitment to make sure all the artists get paid.

We are pausing our productions. We are hopeful the next show we produce will be “A New Brain.”

TR: What are some things people can do to help 1st Stage out financially?

AL: Subscriptions are a really great way to support us. It’s incredibly helpful to know people will come back.

We are a charitable organization, so people can make tax-deductible donations.

Our biggest concern right now is keeping everyone employed and paid.

TR: Are you planning fundraisers?

AL: We know that is going to have to happen. There will absolutely be opportunities to join us in the near future.

TR: Are you considering any digital or online alternatives?

AL: It’s complicated — it can be a significant expense and there are legal issues too. Some writers in the union are trying to relax those rules.

We are going to launch next week aggressive social media content with music and storytelling. People can look out for that.

We just want to put some good energy out to folks because times are tough. There’s a little piece of “A New Brain” that we recorded for our recent benefit on our Facebook page.

I suppose anything is possible. We are very aware that we don’t know what the future will look like. We have to wait and see how the changes, hopefully in weeks, not months.

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited for clarity. 

Images (2-3) via 1st Stage

COVID-19 has prompted a lot of closures, but there are still certain recreational activities in the Tysons area to help people stay healthy while social distancing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that people take care of their bodies through tactics like deep breathing, stretching and meditation during the recent outbreak.

Now that it’s officially spring, here’s where people can check out local gardens or get some sunshine while taking a walk.

Parks and Outdoor Activities 

The NOVA Parks website said that most parks will remain open for the time being, but with specific changes made to staffing. The visitor center is closed, but people are free to come and go, according to the website.

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.

Some parks in the Tysons area include:

• Turkey Run Park in McLean (Turkey Run Loop Road)
• Cherry Hill Park in Falls Church (312 Park Ave)
• Tysons Woods Park in Tysons (8425 Overlook Street)
• Ken Lawrence Park in Tysons (8081 Jones Branch Drive)
• Langley Fork Park in McLean (6250 Georgetown Pike)

The Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna are still open to the public but without programming like tours, according to its website.

“At the core of Meadowlark is a wonderful public garden; a pleasure garden for strolling and relaxing, a center for environmental and horticultural education,” the website said.

Apps and Fitness Resources 

Though it isn’t necessarily a new trend, fitness classes are going digital so that people can still exercise at home.

F45 in The Boro has suspended its in-studio workouts, but the instructors are posting daily home workout videos on Instagram.

“The workouts are designed to be done at home with little to no equipment and are uploaded each day via IG TV,” according to a press release. “Individuals have the opportunity to comment with any questions or modifications.”

Core Power Yoga closed its studios but offers digital classes so people can take guided classes on-demand from the comfort of their own home, its website said.

FitOn offers a large variety of fitness classes for clients and there is even a free version that people can take advantage of.

Digital Fitness Assessment on major app stores is yet another option for home fitness. It lets people record their goals and helps keep them on track, according to the app description.

Mental Wellbeing

For people feeling isolated, experts also suggest touching base with friends and family using digital tools such as Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts. All these software allow people to video chat and see each other without coming into close proximity.

For mental health issues, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Series Administration has a hotline where people can reach out if they are becoming concerned. People can chat with someone for free at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

The CDC also directly suggests avoiding substances like alcohol and drugs while in self-isolation.