D.C. will open up COVID-19 vaccination appointments to certain workers, including grocery store employees, .

Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Health made the announcement Wednesday evening. The new groups eligible for vaccinations are:

• Grocery store workers, including those who work at larger chain stores and superstores, and those who work at smaller businesses that sell food, such as convenience stores, neighborhood markets, bodegas and delis;
• Health and human services and social services outreach workers;
• Those who work in manufacturing;
• and those who work in food packaging, such as Food & Friends and other similar facilities.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, about 2,450 appointments will be available for residents to register for who live in priority ZIP codes and are age 65 or older, and/or members of the newly eligible workforce groups. Workers would book appointments based on whether they live in a priority ZIP code, not the location of their store or workplace.

Priority ZIP codes are focused in Wards 5, 7 and 8, and include 20422, 20011, 20017, 20018, 20002, 20001, 20019, 20020, 20032, 20593.

Those areas are targeted because, according to D.C., “they have the lowest percentages of residents who are 65 and older who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.” They also include areas of D.C. where residents are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

Then, at 6 p.m. Friday, another 2,450 appointments will be available for eligible residents in any D.C. ZIP code.

Going forward, appointments will become available on an alternating weekly schedule: one week, appointments will be available at 6 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and then the following week, they’ll be available at 9 a.m. on Thursdays and Fridays.

Sign up online at  or call 1-855-363-0333. You must be 18 years old or older to use the online portal.

Beginning on Thursday, February 18, individuals who work in a grocery store setting, health and human services and social services outreach, manufacturing, and food packaging will become eligible to book vaccination appointments through or the Call Center.

— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser)

D.C. said more than 200 call-takers will be available to help on Thursday evening and through Friday. A set number of appointments will be for residents who are only able to book by phone.

When appointments are made available at 6 p.m., the call center stays open until 8 p.m.

So far, these are the eligible groups for COVID-19 vaccination in D.C.:

• Health care workers;
• D.C. Fire and EMS members;
• Residents of long-term and intermediate care facilities, and residents of community residential facilities/group homes;
• D.C. residents age 65 and older;
• People experiencing homelessness;
• Members of the D.C. police;
• Continuity of D.C. government personnel;
• Department of Corrections employees and residents;
• D.C. teachers and staff involved in in-person teaching at a traditional or public charter school;
• Child care workers and teachers and staff at independent schools in D.C.;
• and then also the newly eligible workers mentioned earlier in the story.

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Coronavirus vaccine FAQ: What you need to know
• Latest vaccination numbers in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Virginia launches call center to help with vaccination preregistration
• How DC-area Catholic schools are faring with in-person learning
• Some seniors frustrated with new Md. vaccine appointment call center
• Homeowners, renters in Md. struggling with payments during pandemic

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Source

The sites opening are at Six Flags America in Prince George’s County and the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore.

Vaccine supply has been a major roadblock in the state’s vaccination rollout plan, and it’s not clear how many doses would be available at these sites.

For the Six Flags America site, there are no details yet on how people can make appointments. So far, Maryland is doing initial outreach for vaccine appointments for those preregistered with Prince George’s County, the governor’s office said in a news release. Then, when that outreach is finished, more appointments through Feb. 15 will be available to eligible Marylanders.

“Due to high demand and very limited supply from the federal government, appointments are expected to fill up quickly,” Gov. Larry Hogan’s office said in a statement Thursday.

The Six Flags America site is opening through a partnership with the Maryland Department of Health, the Maryland National Guard and Kaiser Permanente. Hogan will visit the site Friday for its “soft launch” with County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

The Baltimore Convention Center site is in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Marylanders . If you need help registering for an appointment, you can call (410) 328-9865 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Again, residents are being warned of limited vaccine supply and wait times between submitting a request for an appointment and receiving an initiation to schedule.

The state is also planning on launching a toll-free call center on Monday, Feb. 15 to help out with making appointments at the mass vaccination sites.

More mass vaccination sites are coming. The M&T Bank Stadium site will open in mid-February. There are also plans for sites in western Maryland, southern Maryland and on the Eastern Shore.

More than 600,000 vaccine doses have been administered in Maryland so far, of the more than 900,000 doses distributed.

In the coming weeks, the Biden administration has said that it plans on boosting COVID-19 vaccine distribution to states.

More Coronavirus news

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Coronavirus vaccine FAQ: What you need to know
• Latest vaccination numbers in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Vaccine hunters: DC region’s residents helping others sign up for COVID-19 appointments
• Doctor: ‘Extremely exciting’ to be vaccinating Prince George’s County schools staff
• Montgomery County to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine doses by ZIP code

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Source

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jack R. Smith announced his retirement Thursday afternoon. He will retire from his position effective June 1.

In a posted to the school system’s YouTube channel, Smith shared how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected his family; his wife has had to move to New England to care for their 2-year-old grandson, and Smith said he will be joining her there.

His grandson has had open heart surgery and requires extensive long-term care.

“While I may be leaving Montgomery County Public Schools, I know it will go forward and do very well, and that there will be a part of my heart here as I go away this spring to a different obligation and a different adventure and doing different things than I have done before,” Smith said.

Smith came to Maryland’s largest school district in July 2016 after he was the interim state superintendent of schools.

In , Smith praised their work and added, “The work we have done together around the equity accountability framework, the allocation of resources, student well-being, upgrades to current technology, our expansion of pre-K and language programs are among a host of system improvements that I am so happy to have been involved with.”

Reacting to news of Smith’s retirement, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich commended the educator’s longtime experience.

“His experience as a classroom teacher, principal and curriculum director have enabled him to take on the challenges of leading Maryland’s largest, and very diverse, public school system,” Elrich said in a statement. “He has guided our school system during one of the most challenging periods in education history—helping our students continue their learning despite having the COVID-19 health crisis demand a virtual system over the past year.”

The Montgomery County school board said in a statement that Smith has provided “steadfast leadership and a laser-focused vision to provide every student with the access, opportunity and resources they need to succeed,” and that he has taken the school system’s goal to ensure educational equity to “the next level.”

“Although we are saddened by his departure, we understand his need to be with his family as they navigate a variety of challenging health circumstances,” the school board said.

An interim superintendent will be named soon, the school board added. Then, it will take the next steps for a nationwide search for a new schools superintendent.

Source

One of the residents recently returned from travel abroad, having traveled to multiple continents; the other patient is the spouse of the recently returned traveler, Hogan said. The two live in Anne Arundel County.

Both patients are younger than 65 years old, and Hogan said they live together. Neither of them has been hospitalized.

“They are currently in isolation. They’re conducting contact tracing to quickly determine who they may have interacted with since their arrival back here in Maryland,” Hogan said.

The couple’s two children are quarantining with them.

Hogan said that he just received the news from health officials ahead of the scheduled news conference on redistricting Tuesday afternoon.

The U.K. variant of COVID-19 “seems to spread more easily and quickly than other variants,” , but it’s not linked so far to more severe illness or increased risk of death. The first reported U.S. case of the variant was in Colorado last month.

Officials have said that currently available COVID-19 vaccines should still be effective on the variant.

Ahead of his scheduled news conference, Hogan said a private lab had first found “strange sequences” in testing, and sent it to the state’s public health lab. The state lab then confirmed it was the U.K. variant, known as the B-117 strain, and so did the CDC.

“Our state health officials are closely monitoring the emergence of the B-117 strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the state,” Hogan said in a statement later Tuesday. “We encourage Marylanders to practice caution to limit the additional risk of transmission associated with this strain.”

Hogan’s office added that “there is currently no evidence of additional transmission of the strain” after extensive contact tracing of the couple.

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Coronavirus vaccine FAQ: What you need to know
• Hogan unveils $1B COVID-19 stimulus measure in Maryland
• ‘We will return to school’: Fairfax Co. schools chief says goal remains the same
• Free meals for struggling restaurant workers expands to Arlington
• DC residents 65 and older can schedule COVID-19 vaccines
• Region’s leaders: Don’t come to DC for Biden inauguration

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Source

Luckily, a number of D.C.-area grocery stores are open Christmas Eve for anybody who needs to score that last-minute ingredient.

Christmas Eve

The following stores are open — some with modified hours — on Christmas Eve:

Aldi: Stores operate on limited hours on Christmas Eve. Specific holiday hours can be found at Aldi’s.

Balducci’s: Open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

BJ’s: Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. .

Costco: Christmas Eve hours vary at warehouse locations. .

Food Lion: Area stores will close at 7 p.m.��.

Fresh Market: Stores will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.��

Giant: All stores will close at 7 p.m. and all pharmacies will close at 6 p.m. Pickup hours will be available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Harris Teeter: Stores will close at 7 p.m.

�������:����Stores will close at 8 p.m.��

Megamart: Stores will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

MOM’s Organic Market: Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. .

Publix: All stores open at regular hours and close at 7 p.m. .

Safeway: Operating hours vary per store.

Sam’s Club: Open until 6 p.m. .

Shoppers: All D.C.-area stores will close at 7 p.m. and Baltimore locations will close at 9 p.m.��

Target: Stores open at 7 a.m. .

Trader Joe’s: Stores will close at 6 p.m. The “Senior Hour” will not take place Wednesday, but will resume Sunday..

Walmart: Most locations will close at 6 p.m. .

�±𲵳�����’s: Stores will close at 6 p.m. They reopen Saturday at 6 a.m. .

Weis: Hours vary per store. Weis 2 Go Online hours are 9 a.m. until noon. .

Whole Foods: Stores will open at 7 a.m. .

Yes! Organic Market: All stores will operate regular hours.��

Christmas Day

Very few stores plan to be open on Christmas Day. They are the following locations:

Giant: Stores will close at 5 p.m.

Megamart: All locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Safeway: Modified hours will vary at each location.

Yes! Organic Market: Locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The following stores will be closed Christmas Day:

• Aldi
• Balducci’s
• BJ’s
• ��Dz��ٳ�����
• Food Lion
• Fresh Market 
• Harris Teeter
• Lidl
• MOM’s Organic Market
• Publix
• Sam’s Club
• Shoppers
• Target
• Trader Joe’s
• Walmart
• Wegman’s
• Weis
• Whole Foods

Editor’s Note: This list will be updated as more stores release their holiday schedules.

Source

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich proposed new coronavirus restrictions Wednesday, including shutting down indoor dining and cutting capacity limits in retail shops in the populous Maryland county.

Elrich said the new restrictions were included in an executive order he sent to the Montgomery County Council on Wednesday. If approved, the restrictions would go into effect Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 5 p.m.

Under the proposal, indoor dining is temporarily paused, although outdoor dining, takeout and delivery could continue.

In addition, the order limits capacity at retail stores to one person per 200 feet and 150 total in a retail establishment, and also puts in place tightened capacity limits on sports and religious gatherings.

“We need a bridge to safety until vaccines arrive and are widely available,” Elrich said. “And until they’re widespread, the only control over the spread of this virus, our own behaviors … We saw what worked to reduce the cases in the beginning of the pandemic, and I believe we need to revisit some of those steps now.”

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• ‘The cavalry is coming’: Hogan details Maryland’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout
• Baltimore’s new mayor announces new COVID-19 restrictions
• Coronavirus vaccine FAQ: What you need to know
• Grim outlook for Maryland restaurant business in survey

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Elrich, who has pushed Gov. Larry Hogan to take stronger action statewide, made the announcement during an online news briefing Wednesday afternoon in which the leaders of Maryland’s seven largest counties, along with Baltimore City’s new mayor, urged for consistent response to the COVID-19 pandemic across the state amid growing case numbers.

“We all believe that we’re facing a pivotal moment,” said Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman.

“Our state is in a dangerous place,” added Dr. Tom Inglesby, the director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

He said that COVID-19 was the “No. 1 cause of death in America” in this last week, and that more than a third of Americans are living in areas running critically short of ICU beds.

Though the upcoming vaccination program is “the light at the end of the tunnel,” Inglesby said it will still take months before the general population can be vaccinated and for the vaccine to show an impact on the rate of spread of the coronavirus.

Inglesby urged Marylanders to continue to physically distance, wear face masks and avoid large gatherings. He also called on elected officials to temporarily close down settings that would likely speed up the spread of the virus.

“I think the fact that the COVID-19 vaccines are indeed likely the light at the end of the tunnel — I think what’s important is that we ensure that the tunnel doesn’t collapse before we get there,” added Dr. Peter Hill with the Johns Hopkins health system.

Hill said an increasing number of COVID-19 patients in Maryland’s health systems will impact non-COVID patients; he pointed to national data during the first surge in the spring, when non-COVID patients experienced delayed care because of the focus on COVID-19 patients.

He hopes that won’t happen now. “We want to avoid that as much as possible, and so our health systems are working very hard to do both at the same time, which is quite taxing,” Hill said.

Dr. Gail Cunningham, with the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, said the Baltimore County hospital has seen “a definite, significant increase” in the number of COVID-19 patients that it is treating, and that it has surpassed the spring numbers by 30 to 40%.

“We are very focused on our staff and trying to support them. They are stretched,” Cunningham said. Though hospital staff have put in extra shifts and are working hard, “it’s not going to be sustainable over the long haul,” she added.

“To assure that we can give excellent care to COVID and non-COVID patients, we need everybody throughout our state to own the responsibility of protecting each other, of wearing masks, of using hand hygiene, of social distancing, avoiding crowds, avoiding travel,” Cunningham said.

Elrich was the only local leader to announce new restrictions during the news briefing Wednesday.

Newly sworn-in Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced tightened pandemic restrictions for the city on Wednesday ahead of the briefing, targeting indoor and outdoor dining, as well as capacity at religious facilities, retail establishments and malls.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said that contact tracing data shows the virus is spreading in households, not necessarily businesses, in the county.

“We’re finding that the primary superspreader has been family gatherings and friends getting together,” she said. “So, it’s a little more difficult to find a way to actually enforce those activities.”

All indoor gatherings in Prince George’s County, including in private residences, are already limited to 10 people.

Alsobrooks stressed the importance of remembering the humanity behind the health metrics.

“The numbers we’re talking about are actually people we love. We’re not talking about some distant statistic,” she said. “These are our colleagues, these are our family members, these are our friends, these are our neighbors. And so this has been for all of us a deeply personal sort of crisis.”

Pittman said he planned to announce further restrictions in Anne Arundel County on Thursday.

Regarding state vs. local action, Pittman said: “Yes, I and some of my peers, we’ve pushed the governor because the governor is the leader of the state. But that’s the way it’s supposed to work. That’s not a sign of disrespect.”

Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner said leaders working together across the area is key.

“We know the virus has no boundaries,” Gardner said. “So, what happens in our rural jurisdictions does affect what happens in our more suburban and urban jurisdictions. And so, the effectiveness of the decisions that we make individually are somewhat diminished by some of that inconsistency across jurisdictional boundaries, which is why regional statewide consistency is very, very important.”

During the briefing, the leaders expressed optimism about the coming coronavirus vaccines after Hogan offered more details on Maryland’s vaccination plan Tuesday.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said the vaccine is a reason to hope. “But people need to know we’re not there yet, and we haven’t yet realized that hope,” he added, warning of people becoming too complacent.

“We need those people to hear loud and clear, because this is no time to become complacent,” Olszewski said.

Also speaking at the news conference was Howard County Executive Calvin Ball and Harford County Executive Barry Glassman.

�鶹����’s Jack Pointer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source

The National Gallery of Art will close Saturday, Nov. 21, with both the West Building and the Sculpture Garden closed. The museum said it was closing “out of an abundance of caution and in response” to the surge in coronavirus cases.

There isn’t a reopening date yet, but the museum said it will keep people posted.

Also around the National Mall and elsewhere in the region, all reopened Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo will close to the public starting Monday, Nov. 23.

The upcoming closure impacts eight Smithsonian facilities that had reopened in the D.C. region:

1. National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia
2. National Museum of African American History and Culture
3. National Museum of American History
4. National Museum of the American Indian
5. National Portrait Gallery
6. National Zoo
7. Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
8. Smithsonian American Art Museum

“We don’t have a reopening date at this point. That really gives us the flexibility to continue to watch the data, monitor the situation very closely, because things continue to change so rapidly,” said Alise Fisher with the Smithsonian Institution.

The decision to close came as “a public health precaution because of the rising cases we’ve seen both regionally and nationally related to the pandemic,” Fisher said.

Visitors who had already reserved passes are being contacted directly, she added.

The Smithsonian announced the closure Thursday in a statement, saying, “The Institution’s top priority is to protect the health and safety of its visitors and staff. We will use this time to reassess, monitor and explore additional risk-mitigation measures.”

Later Thursday, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum announced that Visitors who have passes for after Sunday will be contacted.

�鶹����’s Michelle Basch contributed to this report.��

More Coronavirus news

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Montgomery Co. to crack down on coronavirus rules on big box stores, hints at stronger restrictions
• ‘Tired to the bone’: Hospitals overwhelmed with virus cases
• Northam urges changes to personal holiday celebrations amid pandemic

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Source

Graduate courses will stay the same, and the library will be in a “modified Phase Two.”

If students are able to, they should make plans to go back to their respective states of residence, university President Darryll J. Pines . But before leaving, students should take a COVID-19 test so they can prevent spreading the virus to their loved ones, he said.

For students who need to stay on campus, they should try to restrict their activities. They should also make an appointment to take a COVID-19 test after Thanksgiving, from Dec. 1 to Dec. 4. On-campus facilities, such as the Stamp Student Union and dining services, will be limited.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Wednesday ordered reduced capacity at bars and restaurants statewide, and strongly recommended limiting in-person gatherings to 25 people.

Then, on Thursday, Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks tightened restrictions further, capping indoor social and family gatherings at one person per 200 square feet, or 10 people maximum. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 25 people.

Capacity limits at bars and restaurants will be further reduced to 25% indoors and 50% for outdoor dining. The number of people allowed in gyms and fitness centers is also being cut in half — from 50% to 25%, limited to one person per 200 square feet.

Alsobrooks also expanded the county’s mask mandate, saying all residents need to wear facial coverings whenever they leave their residences unless they are vigorously exercising. Previously, the order required facial coverings only indoors.

Hogan on Thursday said case numbers were spiking statewide, with Maryland’s overall positivity rate at 5.65%, and the seven-day average at over 1,400 cases and rising.

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Maryland allocates $70M for COVID-19 preparations as state braces for winter wave
• For the love of the game: Tournament chess returns to Virginia, pandemic or not
• Montgomery County hints at stronger COVID-19 safety measures, calls for rules from Hogan
• ‘Time to hunker down’: Md. counties tighten COVID-19 restrictions amid surge
• Hogan: Reduced capacity for restaurants, gatherings amid Md. virus surge

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Frederick Co. health board sets restrictions

The Frederick County Board of Health , which went into effect . (Anne Arundel County’s tightened restrictions also went into effect Friday.)

Face coverings are now required for people age 5 and older for indoor public spaces and outdoor spaces where social distancing isn’t consistent.

Indoor and outdoor venues for events are limited to 25 people or 25% of the venue capacity, whichever is less. This includes bars, nightclubs, breweries, wine tasting rooms, and social and and private gatherings. Religious facilities are capped at 50%.

But indoor operations for restaurants, personal services and retail establishments fall in line with Hogan’s order set Wednesday.

Fitness centers are limited to 25% capacity, and face masks are required.

Enforcement now includes fines, starting at $250.

Montgomery Co. food staff tests positive

A Montgomery County Public Schools food staff member who was working at the South Lake Elementary School meal distribution site, in Gaithersburg, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The employee last worked at the site on Wednesday, the school system said in a release Friday. They had used masks and gloves while working.

Other employees who worked with that staff member were asked to self-quarantine for 14 days since their last contact “out of an abundance of caution.”

If anyone visited that site before or on Wednesday, they should self-monitor for symptoms, the school system said, but the overall risk level to students and families is low.

�鶹����’s Jack Moore and Zeke Hartner contributed to this report.��

Source

Those measures include limiting in-person gatherings to 25 people, an expanded face mask mandate, halting late-night alcohol sales at restaurants and increased enforcement of pandemic rules for essential businesses, such as grocery stores.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s office announced the measures Friday in a news release.

“While the commonwealth’s case count per capita and positivity rate remain comparatively low, all five health regions are experiencing increases in new COVID-19 cases, positive tests and hospitalizations,” the governor’s office said.

Northam said though cases in Virginia are not rising “as rapidly” as in other U.S. states, he does “not intend to wait until they are. We are acting now to prevent this health crisis from getting worse.”

These measures take effect starting midnight on Sunday, Nov. 15:

• Private and public in-person gatherings, both indoors and outdoors, are limited to 25 people, down from the current cap of 250. A gathering is defined as a party, celebration or other social event. The definition does not include workplaces, schools and restaurants. Religious services of more than 25 people can legally be held as long as specific requirements are met.
• Virginians age 5 and over are required to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces. The previous mask mandate, in place since May 29, required residents age 10 and over to wear face coverings.
• There will be “strengthened enforcement” of rules — enhanced cleaning, social distancing, wearing face masks — at essential businesses, such as grocery stores and pharmacies, and the Virginia Department of Health can hit violators with a Class One misdemeanor.
• The on-site sale, consumption and possession of alcohol is not allowed after 10 p.m. in any restaurant, food court, brewery, microbrewery, distillery, winery or tasting room. Those businesses must also close by midnight.

“Across Virginia, coronavirus cases are on the rise. Our statewide percent positivity is going up, and we’re seeing more and more people hospitalized with this virus, and more people are dying,” Northam said in a four-minute video message.

“This is putting a strain on our medical facilities and front-line workers, and it’s raising the danger level for every Virginian.”

The governor’s office said Virginia is averaging 1,500 newly-reported COVID-19 cases per day, up from a statewide peak of around 1,200 cases in May.

Though southwest Virginia is seeing a spike in confirmed cases, all five of the commonwealth’s health regions are reporting a positivity rate of over 5%. Hospitalizations have increased statewide by more than 35% in the last four weeks, the governor’s office said.

On Tuesday, when Northam last held a briefing on Virginia’s pandemic response, he said the test positivity rate, which had been down below 5% a few weeks ago, was up to 6.2% — a key indicator of how reliable the other numbers are. The southwest region’s positivity is up to 9%.

Northam had also announced new contracts with three testing labs that would add about 7,000 tests a day to Virginia’s capacity and let health authorities be “more nimble” in responding to outbreaks.

“I know everyone is tired of the pandemic, and tired of restrictions on our lives. But for the sake of your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, our health care provides and even the person you pass in the grocery store, please keep following the guidelines,” Northam said Friday. “This is so important with Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up.”

�鶹����’s Michelle Basch and Rick Massimo contributed to this report.��

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• For the love of the game: Tournament chess returns to Virginia, pandemic or not
• Gas retailer accused of overcharging customers at DC gas stations
• ‘Time to hunker down’: Md. counties tighten COVID-19 restrictions amid surge
• Bowser concerned DC not being ‘vigilant’ as COVID cases rise; new restrictions possible

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

Source

The lettuce targeted in this recall has a packed-on date of Oct. 15 or Oct. 16, with the UPC number 0-27918-20314-9.

So far, no illnesses associated with the recalled lettuce have been reported, according to a release on the Food and Drug Administration’s website .

The company said a total of 3,396 cartons of possibly contaminated product were distributed to Puerto Rico and 19 U.S. states, including Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Walmart released , but it didn’t include any stores in Virginia.

If you find you did buy the product with that specific UPC number, throw it out and don’t eat it.

The Tanimura & Antle Consumer Hotline is 877-827-7388.

Source

Under the , the size of public gatherings would be reduced to 25 people — down from 50.

Capacity limits at restaurants and retailers, as well as at other food service establishments, fitness centers, museums and art galleries, will also be pared back to 25% capacity.

For bowling alleys and personal service venues, capacity limits are set to be capped at 25% capacity or 25 people, whichever is lower.

In addition, religious facilities would also have to limit capacity to 25% under the new rules.

“We have definitely gone beyond the one-day spike,” Elrich said of the county’s coronavirus caseload during an online news briefing Wednesday afternoon.

The new measures, if approved by the Montgomery County Council, would go into effect Friday at 5 p.m. The council is expected to review the order Thursday.

More Coronavirus News

• Sign up for �鶹���� alerts
• Latest coronavirus test results in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• Coronavirus resources: Get and give help in DC, Maryland and Virginia
• More Americans turned to food banks amid economic impact of pandemic
• COVID-19 rent deferrals deal big loss to area landlord JBG Smith
• ‘Not an anomaly’: Montgomery County eyes uptick in coronavirus cases

Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: ������������

The count of new coronavirus cases in Montgomery County in recent days has hovered around 150 cases a day. In late summer, that number had dropped to as low as 35 and 40.

In addition, the number of new daily cases per 100,000 residents has been above 13 since Sunday. Two weeks ago, it was about 10. Based on CDC data, the county considers any figure above 10 as being at high risk of transmission.

The positivity rate remains below a key 5% indicator, at 3.3.%.

Regarding the tightened restrictions on restaurants, Elrich said many of them were already having a hard time reaching 50% capacity with the mandated social distancing measures in place.

“So, this is a little less draconian than it seems,” Elrich said. “But it’s a necessary step.”

The county has been hinting for weeks that it would tighten restrictions given the rising case numbers.

“This was a really difficult discussion,” Elrich said. “None of us — none of us — are happy about having to do this. But we’re more unhappy about the numbers and where these numbers are going.”

The county is also seeking to, once again, curtail late-night alcohol sales by dine-in customers. Under the new rules, alcohol sales would cut off at 10 p.m.

For the first time, the county would also be requiring restaurants to take down customers’ names and contact information for contact tracing efforts. The customer records would have to be kept for 30 days. D.C. has already required restaurants to take customers’ information.

Contact tracing data continues to show that family and social gatherings still stand out as big drivers of coronavirus infection in the county.

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county’s health officer, called the tightened restrictions Elrich announced Wednesday “first-line measures,” that he said he hoped would halt the rise in cases “and, hopefully, prevent us from having to take further steps to curb the pandemic.”

Gayles added, “We don’t want to wait for the numbers to worsen.”

Source

Thirteen early voting sites in the county will be open at 11 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

These locations will be open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday:

1. Centreville Regional Library
2. Franconia Governmental Center
3. Herndon Fortnightly Library
4. Laurel Hill Golf Course
5. Mason Governmental Center
6. McLean Governmental Center
7. Mount Vernon Governmental Center
8. North County Governmental Center
9. Providence Community Center
10. Sully Governmental Center
11. Thomas Jefferson Library
12. Tysons-Pimmit Library
13. West Springfield Governmental Center

The hours at the Fairfax County Government Center remain 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays.

Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. Early voting sites that day will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with 15 locations available.

Find locations and hours of early voting sites in Fairfax County .

�鶹����’s Luke Garrett contributed to this report.

Source

Around 7:15 a.m., responded to the beach off 14th Street for a report of a body that.

Later, police said a Public Works employee found the body in the surf off 14th Street. Public works crews have been surveying the beach after a recent oil spill in Delaware.

Police are trying to identify the dead man and are investigating the circumstances around his death. The chief medical examiner’s office will conduct an autopsy.

“There are currently no known missing persons reported in the area,” police said Tuesday.

The beach entrances were closed at 14th Street while police were investigating.

Anyone who has information about this case can call Ocean City police at 410-723-6610.

Below is a map of the area where police said the body was found.

Source

Alexander Bellini, 28, was also charged with violation of a protective order while armed with a deadly weapon, Fairfax County police said.

Around 1 a.m., officers arrived in the 2300 block of Watters Glen Court in Falls Church for a domestic dispute. There, they found 59-year-old Christopher Bellini with stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Alexander Bellini, who police identified as the victim’s son, was found inside the home and taken into custody. Police said they found a knife they believed the younger Bellini may have used at the scene. No one else was injured inside the home.

Investigators said Alexander Bellini wasn’t allowed to contact his father due to a recent protective order.

Alexander Bellini is being held without bond.

Police said this deadly stabbing is the county’s 10th homicide this year to date.

Below is a map of the area where police said the stabbing happened.

Source

A woman was found dead Thursday in the park at Chevy Chase Circle and Western Avenue at the D.C.-Maryland border.

Police said they were called shortly after 4 p.m. by someone reporting that a woman in the park appeared to be unresponsive.

D.C. police said they’re conducting a “death investigation.”

There’s no further information at this time.

This is a developing story. Stay with �鶹���� for more details.��

Source