Updated at 12 p.m. — Fairfax Connector has suspended bus service due to the “deteriorating road conditions” caused by the ongoing snowstorm. Buses currently in operation will complete their routes.

Earlier: Fairfax County’s first snow of the season started falling early this morning (Monday) and has kept up a steady pace ever since, making roads hazardous while closing schools and many office jobs.

Heavy snow is expected with 5 to 10 inches accumulating, according to an updated National Weather Service winter storm warning for Fairfax County and much of the D.C. region that began at 1 a.m. and will continue through 4 p.m.

The heaviest amounts are projected to fall near and south of Route 50, with heavier snow running through the early afternoon, the NWS predicted.

“State plows are now on the roads,” Fairfax County said around 8:50 a.m. on Twitter. “If you’re out driving, please give them space.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation now has a website that allows users to track the progress of its snow plows.

As of 8 a.m. Virginia State Police responded to 82 traffic crashes across the Commonwealth and advised people to stay off roads.

“No injuries, just stuck/damaged vehicles caused by folks going too fast for conditions,” VSP said on Twitter.

#VSP‘s responding to 82 traffic crashes across #Virginia as of 8 AM 1/3/22. No injuries, just stuck/damaged vehicles caused by folks going too fast for conditions. Pls stay off the roads. Limit travel only if necessary. Photo of Rte 29 at Rte 15 in #Culpeper Co. @VaDOTCULP pic.twitter.com/L4hDaSVOdm

— VA State Police (@VSPPIO) January 3, 2022

The Fairfax County Police Department reported that a few roads had been closed due to snow as of 9:45 a.m., including:

• Route 1 at Jeff Todd Way in Mount Vernon
• Route 1 at Lockheed Boulevard just east of Huntley Meadows Park
• Hunter Mill Road at Cedar Pond Drive near Reston
• Telegraph Road at Rose Drive in Groveton

A resident reported around 8:40 a.m. that several vehicles were stuck on Richmond Highway in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County.

Richmond Hwy in the Alexandria section of Fairfax county is a hot mess right now. It appears it hasn’t been treated at all and several vehicles are stuck and idle. @nbcwashington @AdamTuss @capitalweather @VaDOT pic.twitter.com/pVzSS03HS3

— Nawal Atallah (@PaliNawali) January 3, 2022

Federal and local government offices have been closed for the day. The Fairfax County government closures include the courts, all Park Authority facilities and programs, and COVID-19 vaccination sites.

After announcing last night (Sunday) that schools would be closed to students with no virtual learning, Fairfax County Public Schools expanded its closure this morning to include all offices and COVID-19 testing sites.

UPDATED WEATHER ALERT FOR JAN. 3. 2022

FCPS Schools and Offices Closed Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. In-person and virtual learning are canceled. COVID testing sites are closed.

Details: https://t.co/zNBBMjWGwr pic.twitter.com/whNlUHy2cF

— Fairfax Schools (@fcpsnews) January 3, 2022

The snow is affecting transit as well as drivers. While trains are currently operating as usual, Metro has now suspended bus service “due to rapidly deteriorating weather and hazardous road conditions throughout the region.”

“All buses currently in operation with customers will operate to the end of the line to complete their routes if safe to do so,” the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said. “All other buses will hold at stops until roads are passable and safe to resume service.”

Metrorail remains in operation. De-icer trains and heaters have been deployed in an effort to keep rail lines free of snow and ice.

“Metro customers should allow additional travel time and use caution on platforms, escalators, parking lots and other areas that may be slippery,” WMATA said in a news release last night. “Metro will have plows and equipment deployed throughout the system to clear and treat parking lots, walkways and platforms.”

As of 9:40 a.m., Fairfax Connector is providing its regular service, but detours or service suspensions could take effect on a case-by-case basis depending on conditions.

Fairfax Connector is operating regular service today but could operate detours or suspend service on a route by route basis as road conditions worsen. Here are the ways you can stay informed: https://t.co/F7mDp5MqiK. pic.twitter.com/H6XQGw6BH9

— Fairfax Connector (@ffxconnector) January 3, 2022

With New Year’s Day arriving this Saturday, many Fairfax County government facilities and services will be taking tomorrow (Friday) off.

Here is a breakdown of the county’s schedule for the New Year’s holiday:

County Government Offices

• Most offices will be closed throughout the day on New Year’s Eve.

Fairfax County Public Schools

• Schools remain closed for the winter break. Classes are scheduled to resume on Monday (Jan. 3).
• The Gatehouse Administrative Center is hosting a drive-through diagnostic testing site from noon to 4 p.m. today (Thursday) and tomorrow. Students should be registered online in advance.

Fairfax County Public Library

• All branches will be closed on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Courts

• The Fairfax County Circuit Court and General District Court will observe the New Year’s holiday by closing both today (Thursday) and tomorrow.
• The Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court is open today, but it will be closed for New Year’s Eve.

County Parks and Recreation Centers

• All parks and RECenters will be closed on New Year’s Day.
• On New Year’s Eve, all RECenters will be open from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. except for the George Washington Rec Center in Alexandria, which will be closed. The Sully Historic Site will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., but otherwise, local park facilities will be closed.

Community and Senior Centers

• All Neighborhood and Community Services facilities will be closed from Friday through Sunday (Jan. 2).
• The Cathy Hudgins Community Center at Southgate has modified hours today, closing at 5 p.m. instead of 8 p.m.
• The Pimmit Hills Senior Center is already closed until Jan. 3, and as of Tuesday (Dec. 28), the South County senior and teen centers have been closed until further notice “due to COVID-19 conditions,” according to the website.
• The McLean and Reston community centers are both closed for New Year’s Eve and Day.

Trash and Recycling

• Fairfax County’s trash and recycling collection schedule will not be affected on New Year’s Eve, though residents who use private haulers should contact those companies directly.
• The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services will close its administrative office starting tomorrow, reopening at 7:30 a.m. on Monday.
• The I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex will close at 2 p.m. tomorrow and remain closed through New Year’s Day.

Transportation

• Fairfax Connector will follow a Saturday service schedule tomorrow and Saturday. See the website for details about what routes will be available.
• FASTRAN shuttles will not operate on New Year’s Eve or Day.
• For New Year’s Eve, Metrorail will start service two hours later than a standard weekday, operating from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. On New Year’s Day, trains will run from 7 a.m. to midnight.
• Metrobus will use a Sunday schedule for New Year’s Eve before following its typical Saturday schedule on New Year’s Day.

Photo via Moritz Knöringer/Unsplash

When the new year starts, plastic bags will come with a new price tag.

Fairfax County’s 5-cent tax on single-use plastic bags will take effect for the first time on Saturday (Jan. 1). The fee will also be introduced in Arlington County and the City of Alexandria.

The towns of Herndon and Vienna are included, but the City of Falls Church passed its own ordinance that will begin April 1.

Virginia’s new law, passed in 2020, allows localities to introduce the tax starting in 2022. Research has shown that introducing such a fee influences consumers, helping promote environmental friendly behavior.

Although stores must pay the tax, they can still give plastic bags away for free. However, a sampling of companies by FFXnow suggests customers at various chains can expect to pay at stores ranging from Giant to Harris Teeter.

Wegmans stopped providing disposable plastic bags to customers at its four Fairfax County stores in early December, offering 5-cent paper bags instead.

Big box chains that include products beyond just groceries are also affected, according to Fairfax County. Walmart didn’t initially respond to a message seeking comment for its plans.

Target said it will charge customers for the bags, but it has a longstanding policy that rewards shoppers for bringing their own bags.

“In an effort to promote the use of reusable bags and keep more plastic bags out of landfills, Target gives guests a five-cent discount for each reusable bag used at all of our stores,” spokesperson Shane Kitzman said in an email. “For example, if a guest uses five reusable bags, they will receive a $0.25 discount on their purchase.”

Besides grocery stores, convenience stores and drugstores are also subject to the tax.

The money will be used for environmental cleanup programs, pollution and litter mitigation programs, education programs on environmental waste reduction and providing reusable bags to recipients of food stamps and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program benefits.

Customers will continue to be able to donate plastic bags for recycling at major chains such as Giant, Harris Teeter, and Target. Bins are available in the front of stores.

Fairfax County advises people not to place plastic bags into recycling bins because the items can jam and entangle sorting equipment and conveyor belts and contaminate other grades of plastic being recycled at its facility.

The plastic bags tax doesn’t apply to heavy duty plastic bags, bags used to wrap fish, meat, bulk food items and certain other foods as well as plastic bags used to carry dry cleaning, prescription drugs or garbage/leaf/pet waste packages.

Photo via Ivan Radic/Flickr

Fairfax County saw its largest-ever increase in coronavirus cases among fire and emergency medical responders this month, mirroring a surge in case rates compared to 2020.

Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department data shows that there are 53 positive cases and 14 in quarantine, all staying at home to curb the spread of COVID-19. That’s the most cases the department has seen at one time, according to county figures as of Sunday (Dec. 26).

Increasing cases have forced the department to reduce extra medic units at three stations: Station 8 in Annandale, the Mount Vernon Station 9 in Hybla Valley, and Station 10 in Bailey’s Crossroads.

It’s also relying more on volunteers.

“We use volunteers at those 12 partner stations routinely, so this isn’t anything necessarily beyond the norm; it’s just that we’re utilizing them a little more than usual,” FCFRD spokesperson Ashley Hildebrandt said, adding that the volunteers are assisting as needed, such as an extra person or two on a shift.

The department has around 1,400 staff across 38 stations. The three stations that cut medic units typically have two units, so they were reduced to one.

“No one’s without coverage,” Hildebrandt said. “We have a lot of data points, and we looked through a bunch of options to make sure that…no one notices a disruption of service.”

The uptick in infections has not affected any one particular station, but FCFRD says it has made temporary staffing adjustments to keep service as regular as possible.

The department has seen 298 cases overall since COVID-19 became widespread in the U.S. in the spring of 2020. Most new cases in America now consist of the Omicron variant, which might spread more easily than the Delta variant but could be less severe for those fully vaccinated who have also received booster shots, research teams have found.

Most of the cases among Fairfax County’s emergency responders have occurred in 2021. Over 245 cases so far have been logged as fully recovered.

The positive cases mean local rescue workers must stay home for 10 days. That’s based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Fairfax County Health Department.

The CDC, however, changed that timeframe on Monday (Dec. 27), reducing its recommended isolation time from 10 days to five days for asymptomatic individuals, followed by five days of wearing a mask when around others. And the county health department announced last night (Tuesday) that it has adjusted its guidance to align with the CDC.

Amidst the changes, Hildebrandt said today (Wednesday) that because the county health department switch just happened, FCFRD has yet to discuss switching its 10-day isolation period for positive cases.

It’s unclear when normal schedules could return, but it depends on a decline in COVID-19 cases, according to the department.

Photo via Google Maps

A retired priest who headed the Catholic Diocese of Arlington’s Office of Child Protection and Safety for seven years has been indicted for allegedly sexually abusing a boy in Fairfax County two decades ago.

Virginia’s Office of the Attorney General announced this morning (Tuesday) that a grand jury handed down two felony charges against Terry Specht, 69, of Donegal, Pennsylvania on Dec. 20.

The Fairfax County Circuit Court grand jury charged Specht with aggravated sexual battery of a child under the age of 13 and sexual abuse of a child under the age of 18 with whom he had a custodial or supervisory relationship.

According to the indictments, the abuse occurred between March 1 and Sept. 30, 2000 and involved Specht “intentionally touching…intimate parts or material covering such intimate parts” of a victim identified as G.H., who was a minor at the time.

Specht served as a priest in the Diocese of Arlington from 1996 to 2012, including as director of its Office of Child Protection from 2004 to 2011.

The Diocese of Arlington says it first received an allegation of sexual abuse against Specht in 2012. The allegation was reported to law enforcement, and Specht was placed on administrative leave while the diocese’s review board conducted an investigation.

According to a report by The Washington Post at the time, the investigation concerned abuse of a teen boy that occurred in the late 1990s while Specht was parochial vicar at the Saint Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church in Fairfax.

“The Review Board found the allegation to be inconclusive, and law enforcement never brought charges related to the 2012 allegation,” Diocese media relations director Amber Rosebloom told FFXnow in a statement, noting that Specht was granted a request for medical retirement in 2012 and has not served in priestly ministry since.

According to the Diocese, Specht’s role in its Office of Child Protection was as a policy administrator and instructor, and he was not involved in the 2012 investigation or in assigning priests. A subsequent third-party review of the office’s policies, staff, and procedures did not find any issues.

“As a priest in the Diocese of Arlington, Father Specht underwent a criminal background check and completed VIRTUS safe-environment training,” the Diocese said. “He also underwent recurring background checks every five years, consistent with diocesan policy.”

The Diocese says it reported a second, separate allegation of abuse that it received in 2019 to police and has shared information and files related to both allegations with Attorney General Mark Herring’s office.

Specht is the third person to face charges as part of an ongoing, statewide investigation of clergy-related sexual abuse, according to the attorney general’s office.

“Children should always feel comfortable around religious leaders in their life, without fear that they could somehow hurt them,” Herring said in a statement. “Our joint investigation with the Virginia State Police into potential clergy abuse in Virginia remains ongoing, and I am proud of the work that we have done so far.”

Specht’s case is scheduled to go to trial in October 2022.

Herring encouraged Virginians who might have information about this case or any other instance of clergy abuse to speak up. His office launched a clergy abuse hotline in 2018 that remains available 24/7 at 1-833-454-9064 and www.VirginiaClergyHotline.com.

“No matter how long ago the incident occurred, we will take it seriously and make sure that you get the help and support you deserve,” he said.

The Diocese of Arlington similarly encouraged people with information about Specht or other incidents of misconduct or abuse to contact the Fairfax County Police Department at 703-691-2131 or its victim assistance coordinator at 703-841-2530.

“The Diocese of Arlington has a zero-tolerance policy for abuse and continues to be fully committed to training our clergy, staff and volunteers to identify and report suspected instances of abuse,” Rosebloom said. “No one with a credible accusation of abuse of minors is serving in the Diocese.”

As the winter surge continues following Christmas weekend, COVID-19 tests are becoming increasingly hard to come by in Fairfax County.

Many local testing facilities are booked until at least Thursday (Dec. 30). The shortage comes as COVID-19 cases surpass last winter’s surge.  With another 1,441 cases recorded on Christmas Day, the county is now averaging 1,124 cases a day for the past week.

“We are hearing reports that some people are having difficulty in locating tests in Fairfax County,” a spokesperson for the county’s health department told FFXnow.

Testing demand appears to be unparalleled in the county as the emergence of the omicron variant fuels daily caseload increases.

Most testing sites that are part of national chains are fully booked until next week. CVS Pharmacy — which offers a variety of testing options — is booked at its Herndon, Leesburg, and Ashburn locations until next Thursday (Jan. 6). The Vienna location is booked through Saturday, Jan. 8.

My Dr. Pharmacy in Herndon is offering PCR tests for $150, with results released within one day of testing. But the earliest slot isn’t available until late Thursday afternoon.

High demand prompted Walgreens to recently take down its registration page.

“We are currently using a virtual waiting room as a result of exceptional demand and to give you the best possible online experience,” the landing page stated.

The page now appears to be back up, but as of this morning (Tuesday), all stores in Fairfax County have been fully booked, with the nearest availabilities in Arlington and Ashburn.

Inova Health Systems is urging residents to seek out a community testing site or home test kit instead of getting tested for COVID-19 at the emergency room.

“Inova Emergency Departments are prioritizing patients with medical conditions requiring emergency care and those with critical illness. We strongly discourage patients who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms from coming to ER,” INOVA Health tweeted yesterday (Monday) afternoon.

Efforts to set up a community testing site are underway.

County public health officials are encouraging residents to seek out multiple testing options, including clinics, kiosks urgent care facilities, and drive-through sites. The Virginia Department of Health offers an online portal to find testing sites in the state.

The shortage has prompted many residents to purchase tests online.

Strains are being felt nationwide. President Joe Biden lamented the testing shortage yesterday, as omicron and holiday travel resulted in long lines at some testing facilities.

Biden noted that his administration aims to increase testing availability with new federal testing sites and the purchase of 500 million at-home rapid coronavirus tests, which will be delivered to residences beginning in January.

Fairfax County saw more COVID-19 cases over this past holiday weekend than at any other point in the pandemic.

The 1,550 cases reported on Christmas Eve (Friday) represented a new single-day record, surpassing the 1,485 cases that came in on Jan. 17, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

With another 1,441 cases recorded on Christmas Day, the county is now averaging 1,124 cases a day for the past week, even after the daily total dipped to 946 cases yesterday (Sunday) and 883 cases today (Monday). Last winter, the weekly average peaked in mid-January at 697 cases.

Fairfax County Health Department spokesperson Lucy Caldwell notes that the fluctuating case numbers may be a product of data reporting backlogs due to the holidays.

“There may be a lag of 2-3 days,” she told FFXnow by email. “Often, we see that the reported case numbers are lower on Mondays or after a holiday as employees may not be working to process the information/data on Sundays or major holidays.”

The Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, has seen a total of 110,416 COVID-19 cases, 4,260 hospitalizations, and 1,244 deaths, six of them occurring in the past week.

On a more hopeful note, the recent surge in infections has not been accompanied by an equivalent rise in hospitalizations and deaths, supporting ongoing research that suggests the omicron variant is extremely transmissible but less likely to lead to severe illness than its delta predecessor, especially for people who are vaccinated and boosted.

In addition, the variant has started to subside as quickly as it emerged in South Africa, where it was first identified in late November. Even if it follows the same trajectory in the U.S., though, the consequences of the current COVID-19 wave could still be devastating, with many hospitals already overwhelmed.

Fairfax County continues to outpace Virginia and the U.S. when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations, according to VDH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data:

At Least One Dose

• Fairfax County: 82% of the population (941,383 people), including 92.3% of individuals 18 and older
• Virginia: 76.9% of the population (6.56 million people), including 88.3% of adults
• U.S.: 72.7% of the population (241 million people), including 84.9% of adults

Fully Vaccinated

• Fairfax: 72.8% of the population (835,706 residents), including 82.7% of adults
• Virginia: 67.4% (5.7 million people), including 77.9% of adults
• U.S.: 61.7% (204.7 million people), including 72.6% of adults

28.1% of Fairfax County residents, amounting to 322,733 people, have received a third or booster shot, including 36.2% of adults.

People looking to get items from furniture stores in Fairfax County say employees have told them they may have to wait weeks or months before the stock arrives.

The delays are another symptom of the supply chain disruptions that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced across the country, affecting industries from vehicles and food to homebuilding materials.

Brian Katz bought thousands dollars worth of furniture for a Labor Day sale in Bailey’s Crossroads, but three months later, he has yet to see the purchased bed frame, sofa with chaise, and other items.

“I am still waiting to receive any piece of furniture in my order,” Katz said in a Nextdoor post to neighbors.

Katz and his wife had been getting by with a makeshift sofa made out of blankets and a bedroll, but when he heard there would still be a delay a few weeks ago, he ordered a cheap futon from Amazon. It’s serving as a stopgap measure.

Delivery delays have been an issue for furniture stores nationwide throughout the past year. The Institute for Supply Management, a nonprofit organization, found furniture and related products had the biggest increase in backlogged orders in June compared to 17 other manufacturing industries.

The biggest uptick in backlogged orders has shifted to apparel, with the furniture sector having the second-most delays of that sort from July through September before scaling back and then no longer experiencing those kinds of extreme upticks as of November, according to stats from the institute.

The American Home Furnishings Alliance, an industry trade association, has attributed the challenges to increased demand for furniture, with more people continuing to work from home, as well as the lag time needed for manufacturers to restart operations after shutting down in March 2020.

In Herndon, Furniture Max higher-ups anticipated issues early in the pandemic, ordering around a year’s worth of furniture in the summer of 2020, said store manager Ali Baderzada. Many of the orders arrived six months later.

“Instead of ordering it monthly, we ordered it all at once,” he said. “We are still…getting those.”

That preparation means the store is now in the position to offer same-day and next-day delivery. Staff say they expanded that service to most in-store items this fall.

With the delays, many people have reported complaints to the Better Business Bureau, which can assist with getting refunds and resolutions. Customers have also shared their experiences on Google reviews.

Baderzada’s store has one BBB complaint, which is marked as resolved, and a Google review rating of 4.9 out of five stars. BBB’s database contains numerous complaints against different furniture chains amid the pandemic, where people say they paid upfront and still waited months after they expected items.

For Furniture Max’s Herndon location, many customer reviews say that, while other places across the region have had limited stock, they’ve been surprised and satisfied with their experiences there.

Fairfax County Public Schools is preparing to level up its esports offerings, expanding an activity that started last year with a handful of rogue student clubs into a full-blown program.

The esports club at Fairfax High School started as a general-interest group while students were learning virtually in 2020. It was run from students’ homes and through an online messaging and voice website, Discord.

Students have still kept their academic priorities, but with in-person learning expanding to five days a week this fall, in-person events became more prevalent: a tournament organized last week involving Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers drew dozens of students.

“It’s the largest club in our school,” said Fairfax High School English teacher David Greene, the club’s advisor, noting that the group has over 200 active members. “A lot of the students who came into the room were not even part of the room yet and were asking how to sign up.”

FCPS plans to make esports available this spring for all 25 high schools and has spent the past few months recruiting coaches.

The expansion will require some adjustments for students in the existing clubs, which include one at Centreville High School.

Where Fairfax High School offered a variety of video games for students to play, FCPS has said its esports program will be limited to the soccer-like car-driving online game Rocket League. The Virginia High School League, which is exploring whether to make esports an officially sanctioned activity, has three titles for its pilot year that started this fall.

Greene says he has advocated for FCPS to consider incorporating two games that his students have been playing, either through the club or on their own: Super Smash Brothers and the multiplayer online battle arena fantasy game League of Legends.

FCPS also intends to have students participate at school facilities rather than remotely, and the introduction of a countywide program will make esports more like other extracurricular activities with coaches, teams, and formal competitions.

Greene says Fairfax High’s esports club gave students a social outlet during the pandemic, as participants talked incessantly on Discord. The games remind him of people watching sports on TV, where people understand the rules and know who they’re rooting for.

“Most students are going to be going home and playing these games anyway,” Greene said. “It’s something that they’re passionate about.”

Though research suggests gaming can improve mental health, extensive screen time remains a concern for many parents and doctors. In China, youth are now restricted to three hours of gaming per week.

Greene says overall screen usage can be a health concern, especially after online schooling launched screen time to new levels, but parents shouldn’t dismiss the intellectual and developmental benefits that activities like video games can provide.

“When I was growing up, parents very much thought of video games as a negative, a dead-end thing, something that you didn’t develop skills by playing,” he said. “And I think that parents should realize that you’re actually developing critical thinking skills when you’re playing these games. I have not seen a student who’s playing these games who doesn’t eventually develop skills to understand, to communicate, [and improve] their fine motor skills.”

As the holidays approach, here are a number of closures to keep in mind in the area.

Fairfax County Government offices officially close at noon tomorrow through Friday. Offices will also be closed on Friday, Dec. 31 for the New Year’s holiday. But some facilities are open and schedules may differ.

All library branches will be open from 10 a.m. to noon on Christmas Eve, but will remain closed on Friday, Saturday, Dec. 31, and New Year’s Day.  Fairfax County Public Schools are closed through Jan. 3. The school system is encouraging the school community to reach out to address mental health concerns.

The Fairfax Connector will operate on Saturday service schedules tomorrow and Friday.

The county’s Circuit Court will be closed on Thursday and Friday, along with Dec. 30 and 31.

Residents should contact their trash and recycling collection for service changes due to the holidays.

All recreation centers operated by the Fairfax County Park Authority are open tomorrow from 5 a.m. to noon, but closed on Christmas Day. The George Washington Recreation Center, however, will be closed both days.

All county parks and recreation facilities will be closed on Christmas.

Vaccination clinics at the Fairfax County and South County Government Centers will remain closed from tomorrow through Dec. 26, as will the county’s COVID-19 call center.

The Tysons Community Vaccination Center will be closed from tomorrow through Dec. 27 and from Dec. 31 through Jan 2. Between the 28th and 29th, the center will be open from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Dec. 30.

Plan Ahead! 2021 Christmas and 2022 New Year’s Holiday Schedule: https://t.co/7byPWvItbj pic.twitter.com/G97H8jyksL

— Fairfax County Government (@fairfaxcounty) December 21, 2021

Public health officials are also encouraging residents to maintain social distancing measures in order to minimize hospitalizations during the winter surge of cases.

Photo via Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

Fairfax County Public Library is all out of COVID-19 rapid tests once again.

The library system has received 34,652 test kits since Dec. 1 as part of the Virginia Department of Health’s free testing kit pilot program, but as of 10:30 a.m. today (Tuesday), they have all been distributed.

“We are distributing these tests as part of a partnership with the Virginia Department of Health, which sends us the tests,” FCPL Director Jessica Hudson said. “We know VDH is working hard to distribute tests throughout the state, including to other libraries participating in this pilot program.”

Interest in the take-home test kits has been high since they were introduced in 21 of the county’s public library branches on Dec. 3, when supplies were gone within an hour of their availability.

While FCPL has received thousands of additional kits since then, community members will have to turn to other sources if they want to get tested during the holidays, since it’s unclear when the next shipment will arrive.

As of 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 21, none of our branches have rapid tests in stock. We don't expect another shipment before the Christmas holiday @fairfaxhealth has put together a handy link with info about testing in #Fairfax: https://t.co/nngnFKmJ0u pic.twitter.com/19JtSaf29j

— Fairfax Library (@fairfaxlibrary) December 21, 2021

“We do hope to get in tests soon after the Christmas holiday but don’t have a firm delivery scheduled yet,” Hudson said.

Fairfax County residents aren’t alone in making a run for COVID-19 tests amid rapidly rising cases, fueled by the more transmissible delta and omicron variants. Arlington County Public Library announced this morning that it was also out of kits and doesn’t anticipate its next shipment coming until next year.

All Library locations are out of stock of COVID-19 Test Kits. We do not anticipate additional delivery of test kits from @VDHgov until after the new year.
Please check back for updates.
Find info about testing around the region: https://t.co/uEUAxhw13y pic.twitter.com/2XTur6exfq

— Arlington VA Pub Lib (@ArlingtonVALib) December 21, 2021

In an emailed statement, VDH attributed the gap in shipments to a combination of increased demand for testing, national supply chain issues, and the upcoming holidays:

Kit availability at a given location is subject to supply. VDH does not guarantee that all participating libraries will always have supply available. Additionally, demand spiked last week, over previous weeks. That along with the holiday and supply chain issues on a national level have impacted supplies. VDH continues to supply test kits to participating libraries; deliveries may be impacted by holiday closures or other factors.

FCPL will be closed this Friday and Saturday (Dec. 24-25) as well as New Year’s Eve and Day.

Pharmacies and COVID-19 testing sites across the country have reported overwhelming demand in recent days, with supplies slow to ramp up after manufacturers decreased production earlier this year. President Joe Biden is expected to announce a federal program today that will mail 500 million free at-home kits next year.

In the Fairfax Health District, testing encounters have climbed from a seven-day moving average of 3,620 on Nov. 28 to 6,075 as of Dec. 17, according to VDH data. Over that same time period, the rate of positive tests has increased from 4.6% to 7.4%.

While the Fairfax County Health Department primarily encourages testing for people who have COVID-19 symptoms or have encountered someone with symptoms or a positive diagnosis, there are a number of available testing sites, including some that provide free or low-cost options and accept individuals who don’t have insurance.

A woman alleges that Fairfax County police not only benefited from a sex trafficking ring that victimized her for years but also harmed efforts trying to stop it.

She is suing several former Fairfax County officers, including former Chief Ed Roessler, as well as the county itself. The lawsuit claims the woman — identified as a mother with the pseudonym Jane Doe — was forced to have sex with multiple men per day as part of a trafficking operation exposed in 2018 by an FBI investigation.

“Defendants also conspired to cover up the fact that Fairfax County police officers were actively participating in, and benefiting sexually if not financially from, the work of a local sex trafficking ring,” the lawsuit said.

The Fairfax County Police Department directed FFXnow to the county’s public affairs office, which declined to comment.

The suit alleged that two supervisory officers “actively facilitated” a sex trafficking ring by “providing it with protection intended to prevent discovery of, and appropriate law enforcement intervention into.”

The woman’s attorneys filed a 19-page amended complaint in federal court Thursday (Dec. 16), expanding on an initial nine-page complaint filed in October. The updated document names the officers allegedly involved and alleges that the FCPD damaged a county detective’s work and dismissed his report involving police’s actions.

The suit relates to a prostitution ring run by Hazel Marie Sanchez Cerdas, who brought multiple women from Costa Rica to the U.S. and forced them into commercial sex work in Fairfax County and across the country. Cerdas pleaded guilty to felony racketeering and was sentenced to 30 months in prison in August 2019, with credit for time served.

According to the amended complaint, a friend connected the woman with Sanchez Cerdas, who coordinated her travel in 2010 from Costa Rica. The woman believed she would work as a nanny, housekeeper, or social escort, going on dates to business dinners and events with wealthy men.

Under the belief that she was taking a two-week trip, the woman met Sanchez Cerdas in a Fairfax apartment in 2010. Sanchez Cerdas took her travel documents and threatened her family if she didn’t work as a prostitute, according to the lawsuit.

She was allowed to leave for certain time periods, but under the threat that her family could be harmed if she didn’t return. She escaped in 2015.

Detective Says Police Extorted Sex

A former detective for the county, William Woolf, worked in the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force, but the FCPD repeatedly interfered with and jeopardized his work, according to the lawsuit.

When he tried to change his supervisor and report issues to a captain, he received no support from the department, according to the amended complaint.

“Det. Woolf said that trafficking victims, who trusted him, had reported to him that FCPD police officers were extorting sex from the trafficking enterprises they were also protecting,” the lawsuit said.

According to the complaint, superiors disparagingly called Woolf a social worker, and a lieutenant told him to “think about” his kids and not talk about human trafficking. The department later reassigned him to its Major Crimes Division, after which “trafficking cases stopped receiving the manpower and allocation of resources that had earlier supported this work.”

“Police officials regularly derided the notion that trafficked women were victims, insisting instead that they were simply prostitutes willingly engaged in unlawful commercial activity,” the suit said.

The suit also alleges that police tipped Sanchez Cerdas off to sting operations. The FBI investigated at least two officers for corruption but ultimately referred the matter to the FCPD for follow-up, according to the lawsuit.

Fairfax County Public Schools is moving to give its workers collective bargaining powers.

An FCPS webpage launched Friday (Dec. 17) explains that the school system is developing an ordinance establishing the scope and rules of collective bargaining, which will enable labor unions to negotiate pay, benefits, and working conditions for their members.

Work on the proposed draft ordinance is expected to continue until the end of January. The text could be released for public comment in February or March, Fairfax Education Association President Kimberly Adams told FFXnow.

A union representing FCPS teachers and support staff, including bus drivers, custodians, nurses, and cafeteria workers, the FEA says it is confident that the school board will adopt an ordinance allowing collective bargaining.

“We have waited for 44 years, and the time is now to pass a strong ordinance,” Adams said in a statement. “Our students’ learning conditions are our working conditions and we want to remain the school district that people love to work and learn in.”

Local government workers in Virginia had been prohibited from collective bargaining since 1977 until the General Assembly passed legislation allowing localities to authorize the practice during its spring 2020 session.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance for general county government employees on Oct. 19, but FCPS needs to create a separate policy for its employees. The school system has 24,839 full-time workers, according to its website.

The state law still prohibits government workers from striking, and even if FCPS adopts a collective bargaining ordinance, union membership won’t be required for employees, since Virginia remains a right-to-work state.

FCPS says it’s unclear how the introduction of collective bargaining will affect current employees and their pay, but the process for negotiating agreements in the future will be aligned with the school system’s annual budget timeline.

The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, a union open to all FCPS teachers and other non-administrative, non-supervisory employees, says it has been working with FCPS to develop a resolution “that is inclusive and flexible for all members” since the 2020 Virginia law took effect on May 1.

“Throughout our sessions our bargaining team has fought for a broad and open bargaining scope that helps to establish school staff’s right to negotiate hours and scheduling, compensation, health, retirement, all working conditions and other benefits,” FCFT President Tina Williams said by email. “As we bargain to build power in our county, we will continue to fight to guarantee our members’ voices are included throughout  the entirety of the process.”

The FEA and FCFT are among several school employee organizations in a collective bargaining work group created by FCPS earlier this year. The group convened for the first time on Sept. 30 and is expected to continue meeting every few weeks through January.

“FEA has been at each session, ready to advocate for our member’s needs and build partnerships that achieve our interests,” Adams said. “We look forward to the final draft and a strong vote from our school board.”

The novel coronavirus is spreading exponentially in Fairfax County, outpacing even last winter’s surge.

The Fairfax County Health Department reported 569 COVID-19 cases this morning (Monday) for the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, pushing the total for the pandemic up to 102,362 cases.

The district has recorded 4,229 hospitalizations and 1,238 deaths, including 10 since last Monday.

It’s only the second time since early February that the district has topped 500 new cases in a single day. The first time came on Saturday (Dec. 18), when there were 512 cases, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

Fairfax County alone is now averaging 392 cases per day for the past week — a sixfold increase since Nov. 10, when the weekly average had dropped to 58.7 cases after the late-summer, delta variant-fueled wave.

Though local health officials expressed hope last week that the area’s relatively high vaccination rates would prevent a surge of the intensity seen last winter, the current seven-day average is actually higher than it was exactly one year ago (381.3 cases), and the rise in transmission has come more rapidly, occurring over one month instead of two.

As of Friday (Dec. 17), the VDH has only confirmed two infections tied to the omicron variant, including one in Northern Virginia, but the speed with which cases have climbed in the past two weeks reflects the trajectory that the variant has taken elsewhere.

Scientists currently estimate that omicron spreads at two to three times the rate of the delta variant, which remains the dominant strain nationally. Omicron is starting to make headway, though, going from 0.4% of cases in the U.S. during the week of Dec. 4 to 2.9% of cases the week of Dec. 11.

Fortunately, early research suggests infections stemming from the omicron variant tend to be milder, and while they appear to be less effective, vaccinations still provide some protection, especially when reinforced with a booster shot.

The number of vaccine doses administered among Fairfax Health District residents has exceeded 2 million after this past weekend.

According to VDH data, 933,875 residents, or 81.4% of the population, have received at least one dose, including 91.7% of people 18 and older. 831,306 residents — 72.4% of the population — are fully vaccinated, including 82.5% of adults.

In addition, a quarter (25.7%) of district residents have gotten a third dose or booster shot, which amounts to 295,006 people. That includes 33.3% of adults.

Local health officials say vaccinations should be combined with the other mitigation measures, like masking and social distancing, that have become common practice during the pandemic.

“We cannot let our guard down and must remain vigilant in our practice of all of these measures to the best of our ability,” Fairfax County Health Director Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu said in a statement last week. “Everyone eligible for the vaccine or a booster should get vaccinated, social distance, wear a mask while indoors in public settings, and wash their hands frequently.”

Changes to Virginia’s gas tax and transit fees will eventually bring savings to Fairfax County bus riders facing financial hardships.

Customized Fairfax Connector bus passes will cut fares in half for low-income riders with a new program that might begin this coming summer, county staff told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors at a transportation committee meeting on Tuesday (Dec. 14).

The county plans to reduce fares for people with incomes up to 225% of the federal poverty level. That would put the eligibility cap around $29,000 for an individual or $59,625 for a family of four.

Residents of Fairfax County as well as the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church will be eligible.

The county’s transportation staff is working with the Department of Family Services and Housing and Community Development to get users of those services the discounted passes because they’ve already had their income screened. The county could later expand its outreach to others who qualify.

“I think this is going to be a great, great program once we get it piloted,” Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said.

The county will receive $5.49 million in state funds to pilot the effort for three years as part of Virginia’s new Transit Ridership Incentive Program (TRIP), which supports projects that reduce barriers for low-income travelers or improve connectivity in urban areas, such as by creating dedicated bus lanes.

The grant program was created as part of a transit funding overhaul approved by Virginia General Assembly in 2020. The legislation also raised the gas tax by 5 cents per gallon on July 1, 2020 and again on July 1, 2021.

With about 30,000 daily riders, Fairfax Connector is the largest local bus system in Northern Virginia. It already offers free rides to middle and high school students, and the county temporarily suspended fares for all riders for part of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

County staff are slated to update the board on the reduced fare effort this spring.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay asked staff to return with more information about the cost of implementing and administering the program compared to “the cost of just waiving fares, period,” noting that some neighboring localities are looking at eliminating fares.

“I support this needs-based one, given the size and complexity of ours,” McKay said. “But I do think we need to know what the administrative cost of this is and weigh that against a larger, maybe more aggressive way to provide transit as something that our residents in need can utilize.”