During these challenging times, we want to know what you’re doing to try to stay happy and healthy.
Self-care ranges from physical health to emotional wellness. While social distancing guidelines and Virginia’s stay-at-home order have restricted certain activities like gathering with friends at a restaurant, shopping at malls and going to movie theaters, many businesses have pivoted to virtual offerings.
Previously, Tysons Reporter has rounded up online workout classes from local gyms, bookstores offering delivery and curbside pickup and virtual religious services.
We also have a list of restaurants offering take-out and delivery in the Tysons area. For people wanting to make their own staycation, we have a guide for that too.
Let us know how you’re practicing self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vote for your favorite from the list below and feel free to share your other top picks in the comments section.
Photo via Avrielle Suleiman on Unsplash
State officials say that social distancing has prevented nearly 36,602 cases in Fairfax County so far.
By June 10, that number is expected to balloon to nearly 134,681, according to the new data released by the Virginia Department of Health.
The department estimates that community mitigation strategies have prevented 203,669 confirmed cases statewide — with nearly one million cases prevented by June 10 — the same day that Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order is expected to expire.
Still, the number of cases continues to rise. As of today (Monday), there are roughly 19,492 cases of COVID-19 statewide, resulting in 684 deaths.
In Fairfax County, 4,615 cases are confirmed and 198 people have died from the illness, according to the state data.
Although the county has the highest numbers of cases, the incidence of the disease — when measured by rates per 100,000 — is relatively low. The case rate is 401 with a fatality rate of 17 and a hospitalization rate of 67.
The health department also released a new online tool for testing sites across the state. According to the locator, there are no testing sites in Herndon and Reston.
Photo via CDC/Unsplash
Tesla Pursuit in Tysons — “Police officers chased three Tesla vehicles likely stolen from a Virginia dealership overnight Friday, ending with two drivers fleeing and another driver getting caught, police say… A Fairfax County Police officer noticed a Tesla driving on Route 7 near the Beltway about 3 a.m.” [NBC 4]
Local Companies Going Green — “Can you imagine finishing a meal by eating the very same utensils you used to consume it? How about the ability to choose between plain, sweet, and savory flavored edible utensils? If the folks at The Mather have their way, plastic utensils will soon be a thing of the past and the planet will be better for it.” [Inside NoVa]
Shop Local on Saturdays — “Falls Church Mayor David Tarter signed a proclamation Friday declaring all Saturdays in May as ‘Small Business Saturdays 2.0’ to encourage citizens to direct their buying to the City’s small businesses during the lockdown over the Covid-19 pandemic.” [Falls Church News-Press]
Tysons CEO Talks COVID-19 — “Tysons-based business intelligence software firm MicroStrategy Inc. is heading into an economic minefield caused by the spread of Covid-19 — but CEO Michael Saylor said he feels pretty good about the future.” [Washington Business Journal]
https://twitter.com/WTOPtraffic/status/1257284370920022016?s=20
Virginia officials are looking to ramp up COVID-19 testing efforts.
Gov. Ralph Northam has said that increasing testing capacity is key to determining when to walk back restrictions on businesses and large gatherings, WTVR in Richmond reported.
The article noted that Northam created a working group to address test backlogs, increase the number of test sites and tackle shortages of equipment needed for tests.
The Fairfax Health District, which includes Fairfax County and its towns and cities, has seen more than 13,000 test results, according to data earlier this week from the Virginia Department of Health.
Fairfax County has a list of resources for people seeking COVID-19 tests. In Tysons, places with testing include the Inova Urgent Care Center (8357 Leesburg Pike) and Kaiser Permanente (8008 Westpark Drive).
Let us know in the poll below if you have gotten a COVID-19 test.
If you live in Tysons, McLean, Merrifield, Vienna or Falls Church and have gotten a test or plan to, please contact us at [email protected] if you are willing to share your experience for an article.
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Fairfax County, new data from the county and state provide more insight with age and racial demographics.
Earlier this week, Fairfax County unveiled a new COVID-19 dashboard with geographic and racial data — for the first time providing case numbers by zip code groups.
Now, the Virginia Department of Health allows for comparisons between Virginia and individual health districts for cases, hospitalizations and deaths by age groups, sex, race and ethnicity.
The new data shows that the Fairfax Health District, which includes the county, cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and towns in the county, closely mirrors the overall state data — except for cases by race and ethnicity.
For cases by reported ethnicity, the Hispanic or Latino populations have the majority of the COVID-19 cases in the Fairfax Health District but not statewide, according to the data.
Hispanics make up 16.8% of the Fairfax Health District’s population, but 52.3% of the reported race and ethnicity data for cases, according to Fairfax County’s dashboard.
Meanwhile, “Other” categorizes the reported race(s) of patients with the majority of the cases in the Fairfax Health District.
More than 3,897 cases and 137 deaths have been reported in Fairfax County, according to state data. Statewide, there have been at least 16,901 cases and 581 deaths.
Images via Virginia Department of Health
More than 120 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Fairfax County, according to state data.
As of data released today, 124 people have died from the respiratory illness — roughly 3.5% of the total number of coronavirus cases in the county, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
There are at least 3,448 cases and 585 hospitalizations in Fairfax County. In Falls Church, just over a dozen cases and two deaths have been reported.
The Fairfax Health District, which includes the county, cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and towns in the county, continues to have the most reported cases and deaths in Virginia. Statewide, there have been 522 deaths and at least 14,961 cases.
More data on the Fairfax Health District:
- 592 hospitalizations
- 13,796 test results
- 35 outbreaks with 32 at long term care facilities and one each at a correctional facility, educational setting and health care setting
Earlier this week, the Fairfax County unveiled a new COVID-19 dashboard with geographic and racial data.
Photo via CDC/Unsplash
Tysons-Based Appian Hiring — “The Tysons software firm is now hiring for more than 60 positions in sales, engineering, professional services, marketing and an array of corporate roles, from finance to recruiting to C-level roles. Appian, now with more than 1,000 employees, is supporting some of the country’s largest health care and financial organizations through the COVID-19 crisis, according to founder and CEO Matt Calkins.” [Washington Business Journal]
McLean Senior Home COVID-19 Patient Dies– “A resident who tested positive for the new coronavirus at McLean’s Vinson Hall Retirement Community died Friday, the facility announced. The resident lived at Arleigh Burke Pavilion, where 15 other residents tested positive for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 illness.” [Patch]
Eden Center Hit Hard by Pandemic — Storefront after storefront at the L-shaped enclave of roughly 120 shops, eateries, salons and grocers had closure signs prominently taped up… The pandemic that is shuttering restaurants across the country is draining the life out the Eden Center… Xenophobia lingers as yet another threat to business. And an immigrant community that’s been here for nearly half a century is watching a beacon of its vitality grow dim.” [DCist]
McLean Dentist 3-D Printing Masks — Dr. Phil Cai, a dentist in McLean, has been 3-D printing masks to give to health care workers. [WUSA9, Wall Street Journal]
Vienna MAC Woes — “Nearly six years after the Vienna Town Council approved the controversial Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning ordinance, the Council on April 27 has set a June 1 public hearing to discuss whether the ordinance should be suspended another two years or scrapped altogether.” [Inside NoVa]
Fairfax County Now Offers COVID-19 Text Messages in Spanish https://t.co/llE8yDGU8P pic.twitter.com/XKSrok30b0
— Fairfax County Government 🇺🇸 (@fairfaxcounty) April 28, 2020
More than 100 people in Fairfax County have died as a result of COVID-19, according to state data.
As of today (Tuesday), 114 people in the county died from the respiratory illness. The number of total cases continues to rise.
A dashboard created by the county offers new insights into localized data.
The number of new cases by week for the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church and towns in the county, is below:
- Feb. 28: four cases
- March 1: 27 cases
- March 8: 103 cases
- March 15: 247 cases
- March 22: 305 cases
- March 29: 411 cases
- April 5: 532 cases
- April 12: 553 cases
- April 19: 239 cases
Data for the last three weeks is incomplete due to gaps between the time of exposure and the onset of symptoms, according to the county.
So far, the pandemic continues to grow exponentially if the number of total confirmed cases is charted against the number of new confirmed cases per week. This means that the rate of new cases is equal to the rate of existing cases.
A slowdown in new cases is detected when the line begins to trend downward.
Images via Fairfax County Health Department
Budget Public Hearings Start Today — The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors starts its public hearings on the proposed fiscal year 2021 budget today. [Fairfax County]
How Vienna Candidates Campaign in COVID-19 Crisis — “Candidates told the Sun Gazette they miss door-to-door campaigning, but are reaching out to voters through social media. The election’s date, which had remained a moving target until late last week, complicated matters further, they said.” [Inside NoVa]
Gov. Northam Says Child Vaccines Declining — “Due to COVID-19, the state is starting to see a decline in immunizations, Northam said, as parents decide not to take their children to the pediatrician for their vaccines.” [Inside NoVa]
Virginia Scores Poorly for Social Distancing — “Virginia has scored a D- while the City of Falls Church has received an overall social distancing grade of C+ based on community activity using metrics comparing current mobility data to that before the Covid-19 outbreak. The assessments come from data company Unacast.” [Falls Church News-Press]
APRIL 27: COVID-19 Update for Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Personnel. Information is up-to-date as of 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 26. More: https://t.co/J5tdoSU2g4 #FCFRD #FFXCOVID pic.twitter.com/JMBpJ7r4OJ
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) April 27, 2020
Over the weekend, Fairfax County unveiled a new COVID-19 dashboard, providing more insight into geographic and racial data on the virus.
In addition to previously available data on total case numbers, deaths, age distributions and hospitalizations, the new dashboard now offers data on:
- cases by locality
- case rates by combined zip codes grouped by the first three digits
- cases by racial and ethnic groups
- trajectory of cases to show increases or decreases
- epidemic curve “shows the number of new cases that occur by week of onset”
“All data are subject to change, and this information should not be used to determine your individual level of risk or to self-diagnose,” according to the database.
Tysons, McLean and Vienna are a part of one zip code group, which also includes Wolf Trap, Oakton and Springfield, that has 618 reported cases — 252.4 cases per 100,000 people, according to the database.
While the county’s population is roughly 50% White, 16% Hispanic, 20% Asian and 10% Black, coronavirus patients are almost 50% Hispanic and roughly 26% White, 10% Black and 14% Asian.
The database includes this disclaimer with its racial ethnic group data:
Race and ethnicity data are not routinely reported by laboratories to the health department making collection of these data difficult. Caution should be used when interpreting these results. Rates by race and ethnic group also may reflect differences in seeking medical care and testing between groups.
As of today (Monday), Fairfax County has 3,002 cases and 100 deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The cities of Fairfax and Falls Church both have just over two dozen cases and two deaths.
The Fairfax Health District, which includes the county and its towns and cities, continues to lead the state in the number of cases and deaths.
Of the 199 outbreaks in Virginia, 34 are in the Fairfax Health District with 31 at long term care facilities and one each at a healthcare setting, correctional facility and educational setting.
Statewide, there are at least 13,535 cases, 2,066 hospitalizations and 458 deaths. More than 80,000 people have been tested for the virus.
Image via Fairfax County
