Updated at 7:30 p.m. on 8/19/2021 — A second FCPS employees’ union, the Fairfax Education Association, released a statement today (Thursday) saying that it would also back a vaccine mandate for all workers and urged the school system to extend its paid sick leave policy for staff who have to quarantine through Dec. 31.

Earlier: The union that represents Fairfax County Public Schools teachers and staff says it would back a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for employees if the school system decides to institute one.

Fairfax County Federation of Teachers leaders released a statement expressing their support for requiring staff to provide proof of vaccination or submit to weekly testing on Monday (Aug. 16) as FCPS staff returned to work in preparation for the start of the new school year on Aug. 23.

“Feedback from our members shows that there is strong support for a vaccine mandate among our membership,” the FCFT executive board said in its statement. “As we see the Delta variant spreading across the US and the growing case numbers among children, and knowing that our students under 12 are not eligible to be vaccinated until at least winter, we support all measures we can take to reduce the spread and protect these students.”

1. FCFT supports FCPS requiring all staff members to provide proof of vaccination and requiring all those who do not provide proof of vaccination to participate in weekly COVID testing.

— Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (@FCFTunion) August 16, 2021

FCPS has emphasized the importance of staff and eligible students getting vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, including in a virtual town hall that Superintendent Scott Brabrand hosted with county health officials on Monday, but the district has stopped short of requiring shots.

Arlington Public Schools became the first Northern Virginia system to implement a vaccine mandate for its employees, announcing last week that the requirement will take effect on Aug. 30.

With COVID-19 cases surging again due to the infectious Delta variant, vaccination requirements are becoming increasingly commonplace among both public and private employers. Gov. Ralph Northam announced on Aug. 5 that state government workers must show proof that they are fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing, encouraging localities and businesses to follow suit.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on July 27 to explore requiring vaccination or weekly testing when county government employees return to offices in September, though no official plan has been publicly announced yet.

While it doesn’t have specific data on which staff members are vaccinated, FCPS says 90% of its staff had registered to get vaccinated as of February, suggesting that the vaccination rate is higher now. School officials have not ruled out the possibility of making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory in the future.

“At this present time, we are not mandating vaccinations for staff but we continue to consider all options that keep our staff and students safe,” an FCPS spokesperson said.

In addition to endorsing the idea of a vaccine requirement, the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers says its members “strongly support” FCPS’ universal mask policy, which has been expanded since it was first announced on July 28 to include all individuals in all indoor settings regardless of their vaccination status.

The union also called on FCPS to work with the Fairfax County Health Department to provide more on-site vaccine clinics and rapid testing sites, let employees participate in required staff meetings virtually, provide administrative leave for any staff member who has to quarantine due to a work-related COVID-19 exposure, and give staff at least one day to transition to virtual instruction if a class, school, or the district has to close.

Clear, consistent, and timely communication will also be key to ensuring that the return to five days of in-person learning is successful, the union said.

“While ever-changing COVID conditions contributed to the upheaval of last year, there are many places where strong leadership and clear communication could have reduced staff workload and stress, rather than add to it,” FCFT said. “It is imperative that FCPS leadership seek out feedback from staff members who work directly with students to utilize the expertise of those with firsthand experience on how policies and procedures work in classrooms, hallways, cafeterias, and buses.”

An FCPS spokesperson says the school system will finalize details on how staff leave will work for quarantine situations before the start of the school year, and it will offer staff a virtual option for meetings with parents.

“We continue to consider all requests from staff and families as we work together to ensure a smooth and safe school year,” FCPS said.

(Updated at 5 p.m.) Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts will reopen its indoor theater at The Barns this fall for the first live performances there since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020.

Kicking off on Oct. 1 with folk/country singer-songwriter Sean McConnell, the 2021-2022 season will mark the 40th anniversary of the 382-seat venue’s opening in 1981. It comes on the heels of the 50th anniversary of the park’s distinctive open-air amphitheater, the Filene Center.

Announced today (Tuesday) by the Wolf Trap Foundation, which manages and operates the venue, the initial lineup features a variety of genres, from pop-soul group The 5th Dimension and jazz legend Branford Marsalis to Broadway actress and singer Laura Benanti and comedy improv group The Second City.

“We are greatly looking forward to welcoming audiences and performers back to The Barns at Wolf Trap in a safe and responsible manner,” Wolf Trap Foundation President and CEO Arvind Manocha said in a press release. “Almost 18 months since the last performance, we will celebrate The Barns 40th anniversary with a wide range of performances to welcome fans back to this intimate and acoustically excellent setting.”

However, with COVID-19 still a concern, Wolf Trap performances have not entirely returned to normal.

While the Filene Center returned to full-capacity shows this month, Wolf Trap advises patrons in its 2021 policies to bring a face mask to wear in restrooms and other enclosed spaces, since the White House reimposed a mask requirement for all workers and visitors in federal buildings in late July.

Because The Barns are enclosed, face masks will be required for everyone regardless of vaccination status during all performances, except when in the act of eating or drinking. Masks will be given to individuals who don’t bring one or have one that doesn’t meet the park’s rule that it fully cover the nose, mouth, and chin.

To enter the venue, attendees must also present verification that they are either fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 within the past 48 hours. Proof of vaccination can include the card itself, a photo, or a print-out from a medical provider or a state registry.

The Virginia Department of Health has a portal where residents can find a record of their vaccination in the Virginia Immunization Information System.

Tickets for the 2021-2022 season will go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday (Aug. 20) and can be purchased online.

From the press release, the full list of announced performers at The Barns is below: Read More

Fairfax County is still seeing substantial levels of COVID-19 community transmission, necessitating the continued use of masks as the county hopes to get the coronavirus back under control with schools set to reopen next week.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virginia Department of Health measure community transmission levels using the total number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people and the percentage of positive tests in the past seven days.

Fairfax County’s testing positivity rate for the week of Aug. 8-14 was 4.5%, up from 3% at the end of June but still in the threshold for “low” transmission. However, the county has recorded 76.2 cases per 100,000 people in the past week, which is high enough to be considered substantial transmission.

With the addition of 103 cases today (Monday), the Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, has recorded a total of 81,427 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic. 4,213 people have been hospitalized, and 1,154 people have died, including one person within the past week.

The county is now averaging 136.4 new daily cases for the past seven days — the highest weekly average since April 23, which had a seven-day average of 141.6 cases, according to VDH.

The Fairfax County Health Department had not noticed a “discernable” increase in vaccination rates over the four weeks since the Delta variant-fueled rise in cases began, a department spokesperson told Tysons Reporter last Monday (Aug. 9), but since then, an additional 9,697 Fairfax Health District residents have gotten their first vaccine dose.

In comparison, just 4,627 people obtained their first shot between Aug. 2 and 9.

Overall, 774,782 Fairfax Health District residents have received at least one vaccine dose. That is 65.5% of the total population and 77.6% of residents 18 and older, according to the county health department’s vaccine data dashboard.

699,412 residents — 70.6% of adults and 59.1% of the total population — are now fully vaccinated.

VDH announced on Friday (Aug. 13) that it will provide third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to people with moderate to severe compromised immune systems in accordance with a new recommendation by the CDC.

“Studies have shown that people with a compromised immune system can have a weak response to the standard vaccine regimen, and that a third dose is needed to strengthen immunity in these persons and protect them from serious COVID-19 complications,” VDH said in its news release.

According to CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, immunocompromised people have accounted for 40 to 44% of the hospitalized breakthrough cases reported in the U.S.

As of Friday, Virginia has recorded 4,056 breakthrough COVID-19 cases, including 233 hospitalizations and 52 deaths. However, 240,980 cases, 8,383 hospitalizations, and 2,786 deaths have involved a person who is only partially vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.

98.3% of all cases, 97.2% of hospitalizations, and 98.2% of deaths are people who are not fully vaccinated.

Photo via CDC on Unsplash

The Virginia General Assembly has wrapped up its first fully in-person session since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Convened on Aug. 2, the special session concluded on Tuesday (Aug. 10) after the House of Delegates and state Senate appointed eight new judges to the Virginia Court of Appeals and passed a plan to spend $3.5 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds.

The eight-day session marked the first time in 17 months that the State Capitol in Richmond hosted the entire legislature. While the Senate continued meeting in person throughout the pandemic, the House conducted most of its business remotely, with the exception of a one-day veto session in April 2020 and the initial days of a special session in August 2020.

“It was just really nice to see people again getting together,” Del. Mark Keam (D-35th) said by phone while driving back from Richmond on Tuesday.

The special session still required some adjustments in response to the continued threat of the coronavirus.

Plexiglas shields were erected around each legislator’s desk in both chambers, and Keam says all of the Democrats at least were fully vaccinated with masks donned throughout the session, though there was less consensus about the etiquette for greeting people.

“Some people shook hands. Some people just bumped their elbows,” Keam said. “…I can’t speak to what the Republicans are doing, but for the Democrats, we went out of our way to not only practice safe protocols, but also to show to the public that, you know, you’ve got to take this seriously still.”

For Keam, whose district includes Vienna and part of Tysons, highlights of the adopted American Rescue Plan Act budget bill include the $700 million to expand broadband with the goal of achieving universal access by 2024.

That kind of major investment would’ve taken much longer to put together without the federal funds, which were approved by Congress in March, Keam says, noting that while the need for broadband is most acute in Virginia’s rural areas, Fairfax County also has gaps in coverage.

“As a one-time expense, we’re finally able to catch up on the broadband infrastructure that we need,” he said.

As chair of House’s higher education subcommittee, Keam cited subsidizing financial aid for college students as another top priority. The General Assembly allocated $111 million to that, along with $250 million to upgrade ventilation systems in K-12 public schools.

Other ARPA funds were allocated to small business recovery, unemployment benefits, water and sewer infrastructure, and bonuses for some law enforcement officers. The bill also requires that the Department of Motor Vehicles resume walk-in services.

Keam and the rest of the recently formed Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus had hoped to see more money devoted to making government services — particularly the Virginia Employment Commission, which will receive more than $800 million — more accessible for people who are not fluent in English.

The budget includes $500,000 to help state agencies expand language access, according to a news release from the AAPI Caucus.

“Things like language [assistance] and other things that take more time to develop and hire more people, they didn’t think that we could use the money right away for that,” Keam said. “But that’s something that they want to work with us into the next year.” Read More

As long as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, so too will Historic Vienna, Inc. in its efforts to document the experiences of Vienna residents and businesses.

Operator of the town’s Freeman Store and Museum, Historic Vienna has been collecting stories of local history since 1976, but the nonprofit corporation launched its COVID-19 oral history project back in the fall of 2020.

Some of the collected stories are already available on the organization’s website, but with the virus’ recent resurgence, new stories emerge every day that could be worth preserving for posterity.

“This pandemic has been, and continues to be, a historic and important time in our history,” said Patti Bentley, project manager for Historic Vienna’s Oral History Committee. “The goal of this particular project is to capture how Vienna residents, businesses and organizations have been affected by, reacted to, and coped with the COVID pandemic.”

Bentley says the stories they have received have ranged from heartbreaking to heartwarming. People have shared how they have struggled to keep businesses afloat, dealt with isolation, learned new skills, and taken advantage of unexpected family time.

There are also stories from local organizations and businesses, such as Vienna Foodies, Rustic Love, Clarity’s, Vienna Inn, Caboose Brewery, Bards Alley, and the Vienna Business Association. Town of Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert and former Mayer Laurie DiRocco have made contributions to the archives as well.

Historic Vienna has no end date in mind for the project right now, especially with COVID-19 cases rising again, so the oral history committee plans to continue creating questionnaires and collecting stories as long as it’s relevant.

Interested Vienna residents and businesses can still submit new stories.

“There continues to be an opportunity for people to fill out the second questionnaire and/or to submit their personal story in written or video form, poems, pictures, etc,” Bentley said by email. “We encourage anyone with a pandemic story to tell to please share your story with us.”

Whenever the pandemic does end, the Freeman Store and Museum will display an exhibit of the printed submissions, photos, video interviews, and questionnaire results for the public to reflect on.

“We want this record on our website and in our archives, for current and future residents and historians to access,” Bentley wrote. “In 5 years, 10 years, 100 years those interested will be able to see what this time looked like and felt like in Vienna. It is part of today’s experiences and tomorrow’s history.”

An online petition calling for Fairfax County Public Schools to provide a virtual learning option when the new school year starts on Aug. 23 has garnered some support.

Citing concerns about kids returning in person amid increases in COVID-19 cases, the Change.org petition asks FCPS to shift to a hybrid model to let families choose between in-person and virtual instruction, a setup that the district adopted for the 2020-2021 academic year due to the pandemic.

“While we understand that in-person school is the best option for our kids to learn and grow, safeguarding our kids during a pandemic is equally important to their wellbeing,” the petition says.

As of yesterday afternoon (Wednesday), the petition had garnered more than 2,000 signatures, with people continuing to sign it and post comments.

Parents voiced numerous concerns through the petition. One mother noted she’s concerned about her unvaccinated sons with asthma, while another parent shared that their family would send their children to school if they’re fully vaccinated.

Though some community members have been vocally opposed to virtual learning, including a group that has been campaigning to recall Fairfax County School Board members, some petition signers said there’s no reason why virtual schooling must be discontinued.

FCPS will have a limited virtual program for this upcoming school year for some students. Families had to complete an eligibility form that required a health or medical certification of need from a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, psychiatrist, or a licensed psychologist.

The application window for the program closed May 28.

FCPS says 99.5% of its students will attend school in person five days a week this upcoming school year.

“We believe that in-person learning is the best approach to instruction, and are focused on providing a safe and positive learning experience for all students,” FCPS spokesperson Jennifer Sellers said in a statement.

State legislators passed a law this spring requiring public schools to provide in-person instruction for the 2021-2022 school year, though school boards can shift to entirely remote or hybrid learning “only for as long as it is necessary to address and ameliorate the level of transmission of COVID-19 in the school building.”

With the Delta variant fueling a resurgence in COVID-19 transmission in Virginia and the U.S., FCPS announced at the end of July that all students, teachers, staff, and visitors will be required to wear masks inside school buildings.

The policy initially exempted vaccinated staff when students aren’t present, but FCPS said in a newsletter released yesterday that the mask requirement has been expanded to include everyone, regardless of vaccination status or location.

“We are aware that COVID-19 case numbers are rising in Fairfax County, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant and slowing vaccination rates,” Sellers said. “We have put layered prevention  strategies in place to counter this rise. The American Academy of Pediatrics Guidance recommends a continued focus on layered prevention strategies, including universal mask wearing for all students and staff.”

FCPS says it’s confident that its strategies will “support a safe and healthy environment in our schools for our students and staff — especially those who are not yet able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.”

While visiting a vaccine clinic last week, Superintendent Scott Brabrand said FCPS is preparing to have vaccines administered to students in schools once the Food and Drug Administration approves its use for younger kids.

Virginia health officials said earlier this week that they anticipate the FDA will approve vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 in September, when the federal agency is also expected to give full approval to the vaccines that have been authorized for use in the U.S.

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) The Capital One headquarters in Tysons will remain largely empty for a couple of months longer than anticipated.

The financial giant will postpone its plans to bring workers back to offices under a new hybrid model until Nov. 2, two months later than the previously scheduled reopening date of Sept. 7, Capital One CEO Rich Fairbank announced today (Wednesday) in a message to employees.

When offices do reopen, workers, contractors, vendors, and visitors will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to be at a Capital One office or campus. Employees will be required to upload proof of their vaccination to be on-site, though details about that process are still forthcoming.

The vaccination requirement will be in place at least through the first quarter of 2022.

Workers who aren’t vaccinated will be permitted to continue working from home, and all employees will be allowed to work remotely during the company’s initial reopening period, though vaccinated associates will be “strongly encouraged” to work in person, according to the message.

Fairbank says he had hoped “high vaccination rates among our associates” would enable Capital One to reopen its U.S. offices in September as planned, but the increased coronavirus transmission across the country fueled by the Delta variant “has put a damper on our aspirations.”

“I know that some associates are unvaccinated at this time and may be disappointed or frustrated by this announcement,” Fairbank said. “But a key prerequisite for a successful return is our associates having confidence in the safety of our work environment. Our announcement today is in service of that objective.”

Capital One is one of Fairfax County’s largest employers with roughly 52,000 workers around the world, about 10,000 of them in the D.C. area, according to WTOP.

The continued closure of the corporation’s headquarters at 1680 Capital One Drive has affected surrounding businesses as well.

The Starbucks in the building has been temporarily closed during the pandemic due to the lack of office workers. A spokesperson for Capital One Center, the mixed-use development forming around the headquarters campus, told Tysons Reporter in June that the coffee franchise plans to reopen the location.

Capital One Center Managing Director Jon Griffith says work on the development will not be affected by the change in the company’s return-to-office plans.

“The opening of the public-facing components of our Tysons footprint…remain unchanged in light of the recent announcement about Capital One’s return to the office plans,” Griffith said in a statement. “We are excited to welcome our Tysons neighbors to the opening of Starr Hill Biergarten at ‘The Perch’ planned later this month and to the opening of Capital One Hall in early October.”

The developer has said that The Perch — a rooftop park with a beer garden — will open this month, followed by The Watermark Hotel on Sept. 21 and Capital One Hall on Oct. 2.

This summer was supposed to be a celebration, or at least a period of transition, when the U.S. could go from grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic to recovering from it.

For a while, things looked promising. Infections were down, and vaccinations were up. With the end of Virginia’s distancing and capacity restrictions came the return of eating at restaurants, summer concerts, traveling, socializing, and large-scale events, including Fourth of July festivities.

Just as white-collar offices were starting to bring workers in and students are preparing to head back to school, however, the Delta variant took over, and the immediate future doesn’t look quite so rosy. Mask-wearing is back in, and vaccine mandates could follow suit, since about a quarter of Fairfax County adults have yet to get a shot.

According to a recent poll by The Washington Post and George Mason University’s Schar School, 59% of respondents from D.C.’s Virginia suburbs say they have mostly or fully returned to normal, pre-pandemic lives. That’s lower than the national rate of 66% but higher than the overall D.C. region (50%).

Published on Sunday (Aug. 8), the poll surveyed 1,000 people nationwide and 1,000 people in the D.C. area from July 6-21, but conditions have changed since then, with all of Northern Virginia going from moderate to substantial community transmission in the past two weeks.

Has the rise of the Delta variant convinced you to change or cancel any plans recently? Are you thinking twice about eating at a restaurant or taking a summer vacation, or has the pandemic stopped factoring into your decision-making? If you’ve made a change that isn’t included in the poll, share in the comments below.

The Fairfax Health District has hit a key milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, even as concerns about the spreading Delta variant of the novel coronavirus keep the area on edge.

According to the Fairfax County Health Department’s vaccine data dashboard, 70% of district residents 18 and older are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning they have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Overall, 692,049 Fairfax Health District residents — 58.5% of the total population — are fully vaccinated. The district includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church as well as Fairfax County.

765,085 residents — 64.6% of the populace — have gotten at least one vaccine dose, including 76.8% of all adults.

Fairfax continues to see a higher vaccination rate than the state as a whole, which has fully vaccinated 65.7% of adults and 54.6% of its total population.

The urgency of Fairfax County’s vaccination effort has intensified in recent weeks in response to increased community transmission of COVID-19 fueled by the Delta variant, the most contagious strain of the virus yet and one that preliminary evidence suggests can be spread even by vaccinated people.

In a press release issued on Friday (Aug. 6), the Virginia Department of Health confirmed that the Delta variant is now the most common form of the coronavirus in the state, causing 80% of all infections as of the week ending July 10 — a 45% increase from June 19 three weeks earlier.

Since June 19, Fairfax County has gone from averaging essentially zero new daily COVID-19 cases in a week to a seven-day average of 16 cases on July 10 and 116.4 cases today (Monday), the highest it has been since April 25, according to the VDH dashboard.

The county health department reported 93 new cases for the Fairfax Health District today, bringing the all-time total up to 80,460 cases.

The daily caseload differs from VDH, which reported 78 new cases for the district today, including two in Falls Church City, because the county switched on Aug. 1 to reporting the total number of new cases. The state is still reporting net new cases, taking into account cases that data clean-ups have revealed to be duplicates or assigned to the wrong health district.

“The health department is now reporting the number of new COVID-19 cases reported and does not subtract cases removed from data cleaning efforts,” said epidemiologist Ben Klekamp, who manages the county health department’s Chronic Communicable Disease Program. “Total Cases will continue to reflect the net number of total cases to account for the changes made from data cleaning.”

One Fairfax Health District resident has died from COVID-19 since last week, bringing the death toll up to 1,153 people. The virus has put 4,195 people in the hospital, including 10 people in the past week.

“The Delta variant is here in Virginia, and it is hitting our unvaccinated population especially hard,” State Health Commissioner Dr. M. Norman Oliver said in a statement. “We have a very effective tool to stop transmission of COVID-19: vaccination. There is no question that COVID-19 vaccination is saving lives and preventing and reducing illness.”

As of Friday, 98.5% of COVID-19 cases in Virginia, 97.3% of hospitalizations, and 98.2% of related deaths have been people who aren’t fully vaccinated. The VDH has recorded 218 hospitalizations of fully vaccinated individuals and 50 breakthrough deaths compared to 7,951 hospitalizations and 2,747 deaths of unvaccinated people.

In addition to urging people to get vaccinated if they aren’t already, state and local health officials advise wearing a mask when indoors regardless of your vaccination status, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, maintaining six feet of distance from people not in your household, regular hand-washing, and staying home when sick.

Fairfax County now requires face masks in county facilities, and they will be mandatory for students, staff, and visitors in school buildings when the new academic year begins later this month.

Fairfax County will soon offer in-person adult day health care services for the first time since they were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

The Adult Day Health Care program announced on Thursday (Aug. 5) that the Lewinsville center (1611 Great Falls Street) will reopen on Aug. 23, followed by the Herndon Harbor (875 Grace Street), Lincolnia (4710 North Chambliss Street), and Mount Vernon (8350 Richmond Highway) centers on Sept. 7.

“We are confidently and safely reopening at this time and look forward to welcoming our participants back home,” Adult Day Health Care Program Manager Natalia Giscombe-Simons said in a statement. “This pandemic has taken a toll on older adults. After so much time in isolation, our participants will be able to enjoy the social, health and wellness benefits of our service once again.”

Adult Day Health Care provides therapeutic, recreational, and social activities during the day for adults with physical and cognitive disabilities, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Relatively high vaccination rates, particularly among senior residents, convinced the county’s Adult Day Health Care leaders that this would be the right time to bring the program back, according to the announcement on the Caregiver Insights blog.

As of yesterday (Sunday), 64.6% of Fairfax Health District residents have gotten at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, including more than 92% of adults between 65 and 84 years of age. About 80% of people in the 55-64 and 85-plus age groups have received a dose.

According to the program website, the availability of staff factored into the reopening schedule as well. When the centers closed last year, most Adult Day Health Care workers were reassigned to support the Fairfax County Health Department’s COVID-19 response, assisting with testing, vaccinations, and other needs.

“Now, the pandemic response operation is able to release these staff members back to Adult Day Health Care to continue their work with the service,” the county website says.

The Lewinsville center will open sooner than the others because it is the biggest space, making it the most appropriate facility for a two-week pilot period to implement the program’s new health and safety protocols, according to the county.

When the centers reopen, face masks will be required for both participants and staff. Fairfax County announced on Friday (Aug. 6) that masks are now mandatory in all county facilities, effective today (Monday).

The centers will also follow social distancing guidelines and further emphasize cleaning and health monitoring, according to the blog post:

The Centers always followed a strict protocol for deep cleaning and disinfection of its centers, but now this has been elevated even more to include enhanced cleaning of high contact areas, door handles, counter tops, hand railings, and other high-touch areas in between center activities. Hand sanitizer stations are located throughout the centers, with distribution occurring regularly. The centers are professionally cleaned each night.

Health care monitoring, another Adult Day Health Care program cornerstone, is also elevated with new procedures in place to ensure there is no infection spread should a participant fall ill. Additionally, caregivers will be required to complete a daily health screen for the participant each day they are at the center.

The Adult Day Health Care program says that “almost all” of its staff are vaccinated. Vaccinations are “highly encouraged” but not required for either employees or participants at this time.

Enrollment will be limited by the health and safety protocols, but the program will permit single-day enrollments, as opposed to the usual two-day minimum, to accommodate as many people as possible.

The county says the program’s activities will largely be unchanged, but there will be no volunteer-led activities, and family members won’t be allowed to join participants for lunch or activities.

“We will adapt this policy as needed in the future,” the Adult Day Health Care website says.