For Immediate Release: May 6, 2020
The City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) strongly urge everyone to follow state orders to STAY HOME except for essential trips such as food purchases and medical care. If you must leave your home, keep 6 feet apart from others when in public, and wear a cloth face covering if you cannot maintain physical distance. Your neighbors and loved ones are counting on you to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The City and AHD have produced many information products to help inform the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. All items in the COVID-19 Resource Catalog are available as downloadable PDFs for distribution or reproduction by residents, businesses and organizations.
The City urges all residents to sign up for the Smart911 service. This free service allows individuals and businesses to create online safety profiles with home, workplace and mobile phone numbers, along with additional information that would be valuable to dispatchers and first responders during an emergency. This information often includes home or work addresses, details about medical conditions, hazardous materials on the property, pets, and emergency contacts. Users are prompted to update their safety profiles every six months to ensure their information remains accurate. Even with a safety profile, it is still important that 911 callers, particularly those with mobile phones, provide their current locations to dispatchers at the start of each call. Visit the City’s Smart 911 webpage to set up a safety profile, or call 311 or 703.746.4311 for more information.
The City invites the community to share positive messages and post photos on social media with the hashtag #SpreadCheerALX. Messages can be displayed as signs in windows or yards, chalk art on driveways, notes to workers on trash cans, or decorated rocks in yards. Messages should highlight the “Six Steps to Stop the Spread“ of COVID-19, thank essential workers for supporting our community, or other messages of gratitude, hope, resilience, solidarity, or good cheer. Find out how you can help spread cheer!
During
Resilience Week, May 3-9, the City reminds residents that building resilience can help individuals and communities bounce back from difficult experiences, like the COVID-19 crisis. It’s #WhimsicalWednesday.Play is both fun and good for you! The American Academy of Pediatrics explains that children engaging in play is key to building healthy brains, bodies and social bonds. Play can improve children's language, math and social skills as well as their abilities to plan and cope with stress. And the benefits of play aren’t limited to children. Studies show that laughter can help adults relieve pain and even increase immunity. So do your body good by making room for joy! Explore
ways you can build resilience through play on #WhimsicalWednesday.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reports that their overnight process to compile investigation and laboratory report data experienced a technical error that has delayed reporting. Once the error is resolved, data will be available through the links at alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus. There have been 983 cases and 26 fatalities reported through May 4.
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