[Archived] City of Alexandria Provides COVID-19 Updates; One Year of COVID-19 in Alexandria; Weekly Vaccine Updates

­­For Immediate Release: March 19, 2021

The City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) strongly urge residents to stay home as much as possible, wear a mask over both your nose and mouth, and wash your hands frequently. Pre-register to receive the vaccine and you’ll be notified once appointments are available. AHD estimates that approximately 1 in 20 Alexandrians who have tested positive for COVID-19 have required hospitalization, so without these critical steps, additional lives may be at risk. 

One Year of COVID-19 in Alexandria

A year has passed since the first Alexandria residents infected with COVID-19 were recorded. Since March 19, 2020, the City and AHD have worked together to guide and support residents throughout the pandemic, while continuing to offer essential City services. 

• Nearly 5,000 volunteers and more than 300 City workers have accepted special COVID-19 related assignments to support Alexandria residents through food distribution; vaccination clinics; rental assistance; home deliveries to seniors and those under quarantine; logistics and inventory support; translation services, and more. More than 500 Medical Reserve Corp volunteers dedicated over 50,000 hours supporting vaccination efforts, staffing the Alexandria COVID-19 Hotline, conducting case investigations, delivering supplies, facilitating testing, distributing PPE, and infection prevention.
• Alexandria’s 30 person team of Case Investigators and Contact Tracers worked a collective total of more than 60,000 hours and conducted 11,270 COVID-19 case investigations.

• More than 19,000 COVID-19 tests were administered through 33 testing events and 3 Curative testing kiosks. This does not include the thousands of tests administered by other providers.
• Nearly $28 million in federal assistance was invested in services and relief for Alexandrians.
  

• In 2020, nearly 1 million meals were served through large-scale events, pop-up distributions, food pantries and home delivery to at-risk families. More than 1,800 total food distribution events resulted in over 5 million meals distributed, through partners including ALIVE!; ACPS; City Frozen Meals; Meals on Wheels; Mother of Light; Casa Chirilagua; Old Town Community Church; World Central Kitchen; Washington Street United Methodist Church; Royal Restaurant; Del Ray Group, and more.
• 2,786 households received emergency rental assistance to prevent eviction.
• 650 businesses received grants for expenses related to reopening and rescaling, including PPE; supplies to promote health and safety; e-commerce; alterations to their environment; and rent or mortgage relief.
• 13,708 residents received aid from 57 organizations, including emergency financial assistance, education, health, housing and technology. 
• 151 children participated in the child care micro pods program.
• Virtual and remote solutions were developed to maintain continuity of government, including remote 911 call center capability; virtual code inspections; online payment options; and web-based museum, library and recreation programming.
• Nearly 280 COVID-19 news releases were published to provide the latest updates affecting the community. 
• The City has produced more than 300 shareable multilingual signs, posters, videos, flyers, mailers and social media graphics to communicate critical health guidance and information. 

AHD proactively enacted an emergency response team to prepare and organize for the onset of the impending public health emergency. Thank you to the many AHD staff who have worked tirelessly and continuously, through weekends and holidays and foregoing time off for the past 15 months, to serve Alexandrians throughout this crisis.

After a long and trying year, COVID-19 vaccines bring a sense of optimism for an end to the pandemic and a return to normalcy. So far, nearly 18,000 residents have been fully vaccinated. AHD is working diligently to implement equitable vaccination strategies and the current demand surpasses vaccine supply. 

Throughout the pandemic, Alexandria’s sense of community has been evident through residents’ dedication to help their neighbors and doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19. Please continue to follow mitigation measures and get the first vaccine that is available to you to continue to keep your loved ones and neighbors safe.

Weekly Vaccine Updates

During AHD vaccine clinics between March 12 and March 18, 972 people were partially vaccinated with a first dose and 1,522 people were fully vaccinated with either a second dose of Moderna or Pfizer or with the single required dose of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. This does not include vaccines administered by private providers and pharmacies. 

Next week, Alexandria will receive approximately 7,700 doses, which are a mix of first and second doses and an increase of 2,670 doses compared to the current week. This does not include additional vaccine supplies from federal programs provided directly to participating pharmacies and Alexandria's federally qualified health center, Neighborhood Health. AHD uses the doses received at their large vaccine events and allocates the rest to private providers. AHD directly schedules appointments, by phone or email, for their vaccine events and the vast majority of private providers in Alexandria from the existing pre-registration list. The other private providers are vaccinating eligible residents based on AHD's guidance. 

Alexandria COVID-19 Data At-a-Glance

The seven-day moving average chart below shows the number of COVID-19 cases and the daily and cumulative case and fatality counts, and provides detailed information about how preventive measures are impacting Alexandria's response to the pandemic. An interactive version is available at alexandriava.gov/114883. The vaccination chart includes total doses administered across all facilities and the percentage of residents ages 16 and older who have been partially and fully vaccinated, and is available at alexandriava.gov/120654. Detailed data, including data on age, race and ethnicity, are available through links at alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus. 



Continue following measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 even after vaccination. Get tested if you have been exposed to someone with COVID-19. If you test positive, help loved ones and neighbors by informing your close contacts using “ What to Do If You Get Sick” guidance, which is available in Spanish, Amharic, Arabic, and Farsi or this brief video.