For Immediate Release: June 13, 2020
The City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) remind everyone that you are safest at home except for essential trips such as food purchases and medical care. If you must leave your home, wear a cloth face covering around others and keep at least 6 feet apart from others whenever possible. Your neighbors and loved ones are counting on you to stop the spread of COVID-19.
In the second of a series, AHD has published its Strategic Action Framework Supporting Long-Term Care Facilities. The document is a summary of priority objectives and tactics to reduce cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in Alexandria's residents who are most vulnerable to COVID-19: those who live in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) such as nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. The Framework also highlights AHD's actions to date supporting LTCFs, such as coordinating point prevalence surveys; providing personal protective equipment (PPE); and conducting infection control assessments.
Priority tactics include:
Guidance, training and coaching on day-to-day healthcare worker infection prevention and control practices.
Personal protective equipment management.
Contact tracing.
Serial point prevalence survey testing.
Continuous quality improvement plans.
Business practices supporting a healthy workforce and living environment.
Maintaining communications with partners.
All of the AHD Strategic Action Frameworks are living documents that may change as public health learns more about COVID-19. They are primarily used as internal project management documents, but are being released to the public to increase pandemic response transparency. Sensitive information about specific facilities has been redacted.
Since AHD launched the ALX Promise program on May 23 in partnership with Visit Alexandria, more than 300 restaurants, retail shops and other businesses have started the pledge process to reopen safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 80 businesses have completed training and have been awarded the ALX Promise Shield to show customers that they are committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment by using the highest safety standards. ALX Promise encourages businesses to adopt COVID-19 safety standards for employees and customers that exceed the minimum rules required by law. For more information about the program and a list of businesses who have successfully completed the training, visit Visit Alexandria’s ALX Promise webpage.
AHD needs your help to improve healthcare in our community. If you haven’t done so already, take a brief, 5-minute COVID-19 Care Survey about your experience finding and receiving care. Translations in Spanish, Arabic, Amharic and Farsi (Persian) are available by clicking the drop-down menu next to the globe on the upper right hand corner of the screen.
The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in Alexandria is now 2,134, including 48 fatalities. Detailed data is available through the links at alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus. Now that Northern Virginia is in Phase Two of the Forward Virginia blueprint, it is important to note that there is still community transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 and everyone is safest at home. This is especially true for persons at higher risk for severe illness, including those over the age of 65 and those with underlying medical conditions. Those who do go out are reminded to remain 6 feet apart from others; wear a cloth face covering when physical distancing cannot be maintained outdoors and at all times in indoor public spaces; and wash hands frequently.
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