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PAGE 8 | MARCH 26 – APRIL 1, 2020

LOCAL

Supplies Needed At Kensington After 2 Test Positive at Senior Care Center

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Those able to donate are asked to bring the supplies to the main entrance of the community at 700 W. Broad St. and press the concierge button. Someone will then come down and pick up the supplies.

Masks, including the N95, which works as an air-purifying respirator, and other items like protective gloves are in short supply in the area as a result of the pandemic. “Many people have them or something similar in wood shops and hobby rooms,” The Kensington said. “We are looking for these items to make sure that our inventories are ready to meet the need in coming weeks.”

For those who don’t live close to the Falls Church center and have supplies they’d like to donate, the Kensington asks individuals to drop them off at the nearest assisted living or memory care facility. The first positive case of Covid-19 at the City’s senior living center was confirmed by the Fairfax County Health Department last Thursday, and the second was reported on Sunday. The cases are also the first, and only thus far, positive coronavirus cases reported in the City.

“The virus has now hit home for our community as it has for so many communities around our country and around the world,” said City of Falls Church Mayor David Tarter in a statement last Thursday. “It underscores just how serious this pandemic is, and the importance of following the recommendations and mandates of our health care professionals.” At least seven other individuals at The Kensington who were also symptomatic have been tested for the virus and all were negative, according to City officials.

A statement from The Kensington, issued after the second positive test Sunday, says the facility has been providing written updates at least once a day to the families of residents, along with phone calls, photos and Facetime. “Our regular communications give them the latest information we have and provide news of our ongoing protective measures,” the statement read.

Janney said they’ve already received several donations at the center and F.C. Vice Mayor Marybeth Connelly, who also serves as community outreach director for Falls Church City Public Schools, told the NewsPress that the City school system has donated 15-20 commercialgrade containers of wipes to the facility.

Connelly said that Seve Padilla, director of the school system’s facilities and security services, had stocked up on wipes when news of the coronavirus first started to break. “We don’t typically order those types of supplies,” she explained.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

The coronavirus disease, Covid-19, is especially dangerous to the elderly and with 108 residents and 181 staff members, The Kensington’s population is particularly at-risk.

As of last Friday, at least 55 people in elder care centers in the United States have died from the coronavirus, according to a report in The Washington Post. In one Washington state nursing home, 35 people died after the virus ran rampant through the facility.

According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, data shows a fatality rate of 3 – 11 percent for ages 65-84 and between 10 – 27 percent for patients aged 85 and up who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the U.S.

Per guidance from the CDC for health care communities, The Kensington had already been limiting visitors and canceled all events and outings prior to the positive results.

“We had asked families not to visit or take residents out into the community,” said Amy Feather, executive director of The Kensington Falls Church. “We had canceled all but critical doctor’s appointments for residents. Our teams are creative and have set up virtual ways for residents and family members to connect in lieu of in-person visits.”

Fairfax County Health Director Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu said “When Covid-19 occurs in a setting where there are many older people with underlying health conditions, we are concerned. We’ll be working very closely with the facility over the coming days to protect other residents and staff and prevent further spread.” There have been 391 reported cases of Covid-19 in the state of Virginia and nearly 20 percent of the total has come from the Fairfax Health District, which includes the City of Falls Church, City of Fairfax, Fairfax County and its towns. In neighboring Arlington Co., there have been 46 cases reported.

Last Saturday, health officials in Fairfax reported the district’s first death when a man in his 60s, who contracted the virus through a previously-reported case, died due to respiratory failure as a result of Covid-19. As of Wednesday afternoon, there have been 12 reported deaths in Virginia.

F.C. Town Hall

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Eight questions were directed to Brody following his extensive presentation on the parameters of the pandemic, including data on its spread and the do’s and don’ts the public needs to heed to stem its contagion. He was asked if it was OK to walk pets in the parks, and he said yes, as long as the six-foot social distancing rule is obeyed. He also said it is “perfectly safe” to order takeout from local restaurants (he noted that 45 percent of Virginians now enjoy dining out as their primary source of nourishment) and that boxes arriving through the mail or deliveries are safe to handle. “This is not a hearty virus,” he said, and its half-life on surfaces is about six to seven hours (and it ceases to be contagious in an even shorter time).

Questions directed to Noonan addressed the completion date of the new high school (Noonan said that supply chains for the construction could be interrupted), that International Baccalaureate diplomas would be presented this spring even as the IB program’s full evaluation resources will not be brought to bear, that graduation in June “may not the done in the ways of the past” this year, “but we’ll figure out a way to do something special,” moving spring sports to the fall this year is being considered, with availability of playing fields being a challenge, and with Gov. Northam’s order to close all schools for the academic year, the virtual teaching of students at their homes will need to get more creative. He said virtual classes will continue through the end of this week, then next week will be off for spring break, before new approaches are introduced after that. He said that students with special needs will see their programs “continue with continuity” and that the parents of every student in that program will be contacted with a phone call in the coming week. He noted that, depending on how bad the pandemic gets, some of the system’s buildings might have to be “repurposed” for temporary use for hospital beds.

Noonan broke his presentation down into three areas, continuing instruction, ongoing operations and the community. Playgrounds are closed to the public, the employees, including the hourly-paid employees, are being paid and the schools have enjoyed enormous help from the Falls Church Education Foundation and the PTA. They’ve provided 230 families with food boxes good for two weeks and $50 gift cards that will probably be repeated soon. Noonan said he’s continuing with extensive Tuesday and Friday updates that the public can read on the schools’ website.

Questions directed to City Manager Shields focused on how the City will deal with the expected sharp revenue shortfall from this, and he said the Council will have a 30-day pause on the budget process this spring to better assess where things stand. “This is an incredibly difficult time for the business community,” he said, noting the sales, food and gross revenue taxes they normally pay. This is especially true since Northam ordered all restaurants closed to all but takeout and delivery service effective Tuesday at midnight. Shields said he’d like to keep the City parks open so that people can exercise, as long as they are observing the six-foot separation rule. The farmers market on Saturdays, even though it is a part of the food supply system, will probably remain closed.

Shields said this is being treated as “a long-duration event” and that the City’s primary role is to protect its citizens. He said an “individual tool kit, a community tool kit and an environmental tool kit” have been developed as approaches. The library, community center and playground equipment are all closed, and City Hall is to all but building permits and the operations of the treasurer and commissioner of the revenue offices. All City employees who can are working from home, he said. The number of 703-248-5100 can be called to reach the City government, and Shields will send out online a daily 2 p.m. update.

He noted that over 400 have signed up for the alert.fallschurchva.gov site and that a full page ad was placed in the News-Press last week that is carrier-delivered to some 5,000 households.

The county’s Brody gave the public health background to the spread of the virus out of China’s city of Wuhan, where the first case was reported on Dec. 8 last year. The first reported case in the U.S. was Jan. 21, and the first reported in the Fairfax/Falls Church area was March 7. Now, just two and a half weeks later, there are 43 confirmed cases in this area, and one death so far. A fever, dry cough and shortness of breath are the main symptoms of an infection. He said that following an initial infection, it takes five to six days for an illness to manifest, and medical attention and or hospitalization comes four to seven days after that. He said of those infected, 15 percent percent suffer a severe illness and 2 percent die, a rate equal to the rate of fatalities from the Spanish flu epidemic right after World War I.

In the end, he said, up to 20 percent of the population may become infected, and it comes in waves like the flu, with the spring, fall and winter months the worst for its spread. He said it will take 12-18 months for a reliable vaccine to be developed. The public health policies of containment and mitigation to “flatten the curve” of the rate of increase of infections is about halfway between containment and mitigation so far.

Brody’s remarks were followed by those of Del. Simon, remotely from his home (Simon held his own virtual town hall last Saturday with a lot of content about what transpired in the justcompleted legislative session in Richmond. See story, elsewhere this edition).

Mayor Tarter opened and closed Monday’s meeting with remarks and Councilman Snyder also added some at the end.