For Immediate Release: October 26, 2020
The City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) remind everyone that you are safest at home. Older adults and persons with underlying medical conditions are at greater risk for severe disease and are advised to minimize potential exposures as much as possible. Please keep at least 6 feet of distance from others. To stop the spread of COVID-19, everyone ages 10 and older must wear a mask over their nose and mouth in indoor public places and when at least 6 feet of physical distance cannot be maintained between those of different households in outdoor public places. Learn more about the state order and City ordinance requiring masks, including exceptions. Use the Virginia Department of Health’s COVIDWISE app to be quickly and anonymously notified of likely exposure to the virus. Your neighbors and loved ones are counting on you.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued updated guidance to define “close contact” with someone infected with COVID-19. Close contact is now considered being within 6 feet of an infected person for a total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period, even if the contact takes place at different times. Close contacts should be identified starting from two days before the person with COVID-19 felt sick, and continuing until the person was isolated. For those without symptoms, the time period begins two days before a person diagnosed with COVID-19 was tested.
Because any definition of close contact is just a rule of thumb, the circumstances of each contact may change the level of risk that the virus will be transmitted. Factors to consider include the length of time spent within 6 feet of the infected person; whether the infected person had symptoms and was producing respiratory droplets from activities such as coughing, shouting or singing; and environmental factors such as a crowded, poorly ventilated, enclosed space. While masks that are properly worn over the nose, mouth and chin can reduce the spread of COVID-19, this new definition emphasizes the importance of also maintaining 6 feet of physical distance whenever possible. AHD has been using this expanded consideration of factors to determine close contact in their contact tracing efforts for months. Learn more about AHD’s contact tracing methods.
On October 21, Governor Northam approved a bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly during its recent special session, in response to concerns about loneliness caused by isolation from caretakers, residents and their loved ones. The new law will require nursing homes, certified nursing facilities, and hospices to allow patients and residents to receive visits in person, or by audio or visual technology, during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Facilities must create visitation protocols that are consistent with guidance from the CDC and as directed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Virginia Board of Health, and must inform families and residents when visits will be allowed in-person and when they will be conducted remotely. Facilities are also required to outline the technology they have available to support virtual visits and the steps they will take if there is an internet outage or other emergency that prevents virtual visits from occurring. The law requires the Virginia Department of Health to adopt regulations no later than July 2021 to implement the above requirements.
A recording of a virtual COVID-19 Daycare Town Hall meeting produced by AHD is now available. The Town Hall provides public health guidance to guardians of children attending daycare or other child care settings. Topics include when to keep a child home from daycare; when to get a child tested for COVID-19; when to return a child to daycare; and common infection scenarios. AHD staff reviewed the steps to stop the spread of COVID-19 and shared resources with guardians to reinforce the message at home.
Residents who have lost employment due to COVID-19 are encouraged to review the list of employers who are hiring, which is updated weekly. This week, the Alexandria Workforce Development Center (WDC) has several workshops to help residents enhance job readiness and improve their job search, including job interviewing skills, job search skills, networking skills, preparese para la feria de empleo virtual, and transferable skills. All events and workshops take place online, are free, and registration is requested. Follow WDC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn for the latest flyer, or visit the WDC’s job board for a complete list of job opportunities.
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reported an increase of 21 cases and no fatalities in Alexandria as of October 24; 16 cases and no fatalities as of October 25; and 14 cases and no fatalities as of October 26; bringing the total to 4,230 cases, including 74 fatalities. Upon additional data review, VDH determined that a previously attributed death was not due to COVID-19, resulting in a decrease of the total fatality count. Detailed data, including data on age, race and ethnicity, is available through links at alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus.
AHD estimates that approximately 1 in 13 infected Alexandrians have required hospitalization. An estimated 66% of Virginia adults who become infected never have symptoms, so everyone must maintain at least 6 feet of distance from others, wear a mask over both the nose and mouth, and carry and use hand sanitizer with at least 60% ethyl alcohol. Be prepared to help your family and neighbors by answering a call from AHD if you are identified as a close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19.
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