SAIC Raises COVID-19 Headwinds Estimate — “Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) executives think they know how much the coronavirus pandemic is going to cost them this fiscal year, and that number is $250 million.” [Washington Business Journal]

County Seeks Donations to Fight COVID-19 — “Fairfax County is still in need of cleaning supplies and child-sized face coverings — and we are also accepting fabric donations. Fabric (100% cotton) should be new and big enough to make a mask.” [Fairfax County Government]

Roundup of County Government Labor Day Schedule — County government offices will be closed this coming Monday in honor of Labor Day. Some facilities are open and schedules vary, especially as some offices offer reduced hours in response to the pandemic. [Fairfax County Government]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

Herndon Community Center plans to expand its operating hours beginning next week.

The center, which was closed for months due to COVID-19, opened on August 20 to the public. Starting Tuesday (Sept. 8), the center will be open on from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays. The center will remain closed over the weekend.

Currently, the pool is opening for lap swimming and water walking, while the fitness area is limited to a maximum of 10 people for a one-hour timeslot. Reservations are required.

Locker rooms, the spa, the sauna, racquetball courts, and drop-in fitness classes are not available due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s more from the center on the limited number of fall classes being offered at the center:

A limited number of fall classes will be offered starting in mid-September. We are exercising precautions to ensure the health and safety of all students by following the CDC and industry guidelines related to preventing the spread of COVID-19. Outdoor Tennis Lessons and new Family Tennis lessons are being offered in Bready Park. Small Group Fitness classes will be held indoors and outdoors in Bready Park, new sessions start each month. Visit herndonwebtrac.com to learn more and to register. To learn more about the Town of Herndon Parks and Recreation Department, please visit us at herndon-va.gov/recreation, or call 703-787-7300.

Image via Google Maps

School is starting again for kids in the Tysons area, leading parents and educators to not just focus on possible health risks from COVID-19, but also from students who haven’t gotten their required vaccines.

Even though it’s starting the new school year off virtually, Fairfax County Public Schools is requiring all of its students to be up-to-date on required immunizations.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found indications that fewer kids are getting immunizations — possibly due to parents’ worries that their kids will catch COVID-19 at the doctor’s office.

In addition to COVID-19 concerns, some parents are now worried if vaccine-preventable diseases pose a new threat from unvaccinated kids, National Geographic reported.

The CDC said in July that health care providers seem to have the capacity to give kids their routine vaccinations.

Fairfax County officials are urging parents to get their kids vaccinated. This summer, the county expanded its number of community childhood vaccination clinics and the hours for the clinics offering the school-required Tdap vaccine.

Let us know in the poll and comments below if your kids have all their required vaccinations for the new school year.

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Fairfax County officials warn that vaping may be linked to a higher rate of COVID-19-associated side effects.

Today (Monday), the county’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response shared information on the possible associations between vaping and the novel coronavirus, noting that vaping and e-cigarettes have grown in popularity among teens and young adults in the last few years.

As schools reopen virtually and in-person in the Tysons area, county officials want people who vape to know that initial research shows that vaping, which has been linked to lung damage, could be tied to more severe complications of COVID-19.

“According to the 2018-2019 Fairfax County Youth Survey, 20% of Fairfax County Public School students ages 13 to 18 vape, similar to the national average of 20.8%,” the message said.

The “significant shift” of people in their 20s or younger getting COVID-19 that Gov. Ralph Northam pointed out in late July is continuing both statewide and in Fairfax County.

As of today, data from the state health department shows that people in their 20s represent roughly 17.7% of the total COVID-19 cases in the Fairfax Health District — the third-highest age group behind people in their 30s (19.3%) and 40s (17.9%). Statewide, people in their 20s account for the highest percentage (20.1%) of all of the age groups for COVID-19 cases.

The county’s health department now plans to launch a text to quit program with the Truth Initiative aimed at kids and young adults, the county said.

The county, which noted that research on vaping and COVID-19 is limited and still ongoing, spotlighted work done by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

“Young people who had used both cigarettes and e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days were almost five times as likely to experience COVID-19 symptoms, such as coughing, fever, tiredness and difficulty breathing as those who never smoked or vaped,” Stanford found.

While researchers in France earlier this year claimed that nicotine may prevent the virus from attaching to cells, the Centers for Disease Control says that smokers may be at an increased risk for worse COVID-19 complications than non-smokers.

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

As COVID-19 continues to change the local and global landscape, several Town of Herndon restaurants are seeking to continue offering outdoor dining on town property for the remainder of 2020.

The Town of Herndon is considering a proposal to extend outdoor dining permits for six local restaurants and a bike shop through the end of November. The following restaurants are expected to continue offering outdoor dining on town property:

• Mile 20 at Mediterranean Breeze
• Red Kimono
• Russia House Restaurant
• Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern
• Sully’s Pour House
• Zeffirelli Ristorante Italiano
• Green Lizard Cycling

The businesses have been using town sidewalks, private property and town parking lots to allow for outdoor dining.

The council first approved the outdoor permits for 100 days in July.

The council will meet tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. to discuss the measure. An ordinance to continue revised governmental operations due to the pandemic is also on the meeting’s agenda.

Photo via Sully’s Pour House/Facebook

A new Chief Information Officer will oversee Fairfax County Public Schools’ virtual learning and department of information technology.

Gautam Sethi, who currently serves as the chief technology officer for Douglas County in Colorado, will take over the position on Sept. 21.

The head of information technology for FCPS resigned in April following distance learning woes. Maribeth Luftglass had held the position for more than two decades. Technical and management problems haunted the beginning of remote education this year, leading the school system to temporarily cancel classes.

FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand said he is confident Sethi will help ensure FCPS is at “the forefront of innovation and fully supports our students, families, and employees.”

“He has administrative and management skills in K-12 education–including experience supporting remote learning–that make him uniquely qualified to oversee our IT functions,” Brabrand wrote in a statement.

Sethi built an IT security program in Colorado for the state’s third-largest district. He also modernized existing technologies and helped develop online portals to support staff and families, according to FCPS.

Here’s more from FCPS on his background:

Previously, Mr. Sethi led technology teams for Atlanta and New York City public schools.  He served as executive director of information technology for Atlanta Public Schools, where he enabled solutions for successful virtual student-teacher collaboration and human resources functions. He also served as the New York City Department of Education director of enterprise solutions architecture, working on innovative technology solutions resulting in more than 20 new systems initiatives; spearheaded a pilot cloud deployment; and directed IT for special education programs.

Sethi earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Delhi n Indian and his master’s degree in business administration from Emory University in Atlanta.

Photo via FCPS

Speech and Language Program Pivots to Teletherapy Sessions — “By switching to teletherapy sessions and using clear reusable face masks, the Health Department’s Speech and Language Program has been able to continue to provide its critical early-intervention services to children during the COVID-19 pandemic.” [Fairfax County Government]

Local Discussion on Access to Capital for Minority-owned Businesses — “Minority entrepreneurs face challenges in accessing capital to start, grow and sustain businesses, and that problem has worsened during the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” [Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]

Nearby: Homicide Suspect Extracted from El Salvador — “Adonay Polanco Cabrera, 25, formerly of Culmore, arrived in Fairfax County on Aug. 18 after being extradited from El Salvador with the assistance of several federal law enforcement partners to include the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Marshals Service.” [Fairfax County Police Department]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

Clyde’s of Reston Town Center has installed plexiglass shields around their booths to better protect customers’ safety while dining during COVID-19. 

The plexiglass shields were installed in the first week of June, according to Molly Quigley, Clyde’s Director of Communications. 

“They are an additional layer of protection,” said Quigley. She added that the restaurant is still adhering to all other required safety protocols and social distancing requirements. 

Clyde’s Restaurant Group partnered with Lion’s Wood Banquet Furniture and purchased 15,000 square feet of plexiglass in May, according to a report from the Washington Business Journal. 

The restaurant is open for outdoor dining, indoor dining, pickup and delivery on Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Molly Quigley

Labor Day is fast approaching. And while summer may look very different this year due to COVID-19, we’re curious to know how the pandemic will impact your plans.

The federal holiday — which was first marked in the late 19th century —  is celebrated on the first Monday in September. It aims to honor the American labor movement.

Some health officials are bracing for a spike in COVID-19 cases following Labor Day weekend, as parks and other venues become popular spots for celebrations.

For some, the weekend may mark a return to a new normal.  Fairfax County Public Schools will reopen on Sept. 8 with a virtual start. Many companies are planning to reopen offices after the weekend. Other employers are in the midst of rethinking plans for the return to work, the Wall Street Journal reports.

In Herndon and Reston, staple events like the Town of Herndon’s Labor Day Festival have been canceled. But parks are still open for cookouts, along with other community gathering spaces.

Let us know what your plans for Labor Day weekend are in the poll below.

As the start date for Fairfax County Public Schools approaches on Sept. 8, school officials are in the midst of developing metrics to guide how and when schools would reopen.

At a Fairfax County School Board meeting in late July, the board directed FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand to begin drafting preliminary metrics to inform decisions about school openings and closures.

School officials anticipate a spike in COVID-19 cases in the late fall when flu season prompts more COVID-19 transmissions. Another possibility is “recurring waves across many months until a vaccine is developed,” which could reflect a “loss of stamina” for strict social distancing precautions, according to FCPS documents.

The move comes in the absence of state or county level metrics on the issue. In a recent email, Melanie Meren, school board member for the Hunter Mill District, said this step was taken due to lack of guidance from state officials on the issue.

“Therefore, the school board felt it was vital for FCPS to begin developing our own, because no one else was doing that for or with us,” Meren wrote.

The latest plan for reopening and closures notes that “multi-faceted metric and thresholds” will be used to guide decision-making.

School officials will take several factors into consideration based on community transmission and disease trends, which will determine if the level of community transmissions creates conditions for face-to-face transmission.

Other factors include operational metrics like the school system’s capacity to support in-person instruction, personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies. Finally, school officials will also consider school metrics.

Photo by Annie Spratt/Unsplash

With the start of the new school year quickly approaching, the latest Fairfax County Public Schools town hall will focus how staff will support students with disabilities in a virtual learning environment.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand will talk to some of the school system’s special education staff.

“Staff members will explain what they do to support students with disabilities in Fairfax County and will talk about student engagement in the virtual environment, family partnerships, student support, and specialized instruction,” according to FCPS.

The town hall is set to run from 6-7 p.m. and will be livestreamed. People can  submit questions in advance by emailing [email protected] or calling 1-800-231-6359 during the town hall.

Recently, Brabrand has held town halls on Wednesdays to talk about the plans for the virtual return to school and answer community members’ questions.

FCPS has a town hall about the return to school in Spanish scheduled for next  Tuesday, Sept. 1, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., followed by a town hall on Wednesday, Sept. 2, on resources for parents.

Image via Fairfax County Public Schools

After delays due to the coronavirus pandemic, several new films are hitting the screens at newly-reopened movie theaters.

“Tenet,” “Wonder Woman 1984” and “Bill & Ted Face The Music” are some of the films poised to hit theaters soon.

AMC Worldgate 9 in Herndon is set to reopen Thursday (Aug. 27).

Gov. Ralph Northam forced movie theaters to close in the spring, but under Phase Three, which started July 1, movie theaters can open at 50% capacity.

Let us know in the poll and comments below if you are comfortable heading to movie theaters.

Photo by Corina Rainer/Unsplash

Reston Town Center Updates Information on COVID-19 Safety — The town center now has 15-minute parking spots for curbside pickup. Additional seating is also available in the pavilion and Town Square Park. RTC has also increased the frequency of cleaning in all public spaces. [Reston Town Center]

Metro Ridership Increases as Agency Begins Restoring Service — “Daily ridership during Metro’s first week of nearly normal service in five months was up by several thousand, according to preliminary agency statistics. Ridership remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels, but the consistent daily increases show that more Washington-area residents are venturing out and resuming normal activities.” [The Washington Post]

Resources for Assisted Living Concerns — The Northern Virginia Longterm Care Ombudsman Program helps longterm care residents and their families resolve quality of care and quality of life issues at no charge. [Fairfax County Government]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr