The Fairfax County Health Department has completed sending out vaccine appointment invitations to 42,000 eligible residents who signed up on Jan. 18 and are now hopeful they’ll be able set up appointments at a faster clip.

“Now that we have got thru [Jan. 18 registrations], we anticipate that we will move more quickly through the other dates,” Tina Dale, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Health Department, writes Reston Now. “In addition, we are working with more vaccination partners, so this, too, will assist us in moving through our registration list faster.”

If residents registered on Jan. 18 or before and have not received an invite, Dale says they should check their spam folder. If there’s no email with the subject line “Schedule Appointment,” residents should call the COVID-19 Vaccine hotline at 703-324-7404 and a call taker should be able to assist.

The county’s dashboard now says they are currently making appointments for those who registered on Jan. 19.

Six weeks ago, the county first allowed residents who qualified for Phase 1b to register for COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Phase 1b includes residents 65 years old and over and those 16 to 64 with underlying medical conditions.

On that first day when vaccine appointments opened to those in Phase 1b, Jan. 18, more than 42,000 eligible signed up and registered – far exceeding another other day.

In fact, as the dashboard shows, the 42,000 registrations on Jan. 18 alone were approximately the same number of combined registrations over the next four days.

The county acknowledged that sending everyone an invitation to schedule a vaccine appointment who signed up on Jan. 18 would take “several weeks.”

Nearly 94,000 residents remain on the waitlist, which means they are awaiting an invitation to schedule an appointment.

The county says they don’t have an estimated timeline for when those remaining 94,000 people will be sent an invitation to sign up for a vaccine appointment or when the county will move to sign up those in Phase 1c for appointments.

However, the Virginia Department of Health expects the vaccine supply to increase over the next two months, says Dale, and the Commonwealth has said they expect to get through all of those who are eligible and want the vaccine in Phase 1b by mid to late April.

Essentially, demand still far outweighs supply – a continued issue since the vaccine first started being distributed in December.

Overall, about 176,700 residents have been vaccinated in Fairfax County, which represents just over 15% of the total population in the county.

That’s comparable to Virginia and the country as a whole, which has vaccinated about 16% and 15% (respectively) of the population according to the Washington Post.

Additionally, on Friday, the county acknowledged that there issues with about 2,800 registrations “not being correctly captured in the system due to technical errors.”

Dale says that these registrations have been corrected and were a result of a combination of issues, including both “user error and system error.”

Since then, the county has added new features to the registration to reduce the possibility of user error, like providing two fields for email addresses and limiting the number of characters for phone number and zip code.

The county is also asking people to review the spelling of their names and email addresses as well as ensure their date of birth is accurate to make sure there are no errors.

Voting Underway for Reston Association Election — Members of RA can now cast their ballots for the 2021 board race. Voting will remain open until April 2 at 5 p.m. [RA]

Large Metal Object Found in Lake Audubon — A contractor plans to remove debris from Lake Audubon as soon as possible. A barge crew and diver are expected to retrieve and dispose of the metal object later this week. [RA]

Transportation to Vaccine Appointments Offered in Fairfax County — The county’s Department of Neighborhood and Community Services has subsidized a taxi voucher program for seniors and other residents seeking to receive a vaccine. Other community organizations are also offering transportation services. [Reston Patch]

Photo by Marjorie Copson

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is easing some of the public health restrictions prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the 10 p.m. curfew on alcohol sales.

Effective Mar. 1, Virginians will be able to buy and drink alcohol at restaurants, food courts, breweries, distilleries, and wineries until they are required to close at midnight.

The changes to the current executive order come amid declining rates of hospitalizations and infections and rising vaccination rates in the Commonwealth, Northam said during a press conference this morning (Wednesday).

Northam is also easing restrictions on outdoor entertainment and social gatherings, where evidence shows the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19 is lower.

“Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of all Virginians, hospitalization and positivity rates across the Commonwealth are the lowest they have been in nearly three months,” Northam said in the press release. “As key health metrics show encouraging trends and we continue to ramp up our vaccination efforts, we can begin to gradually resume certain recreational activities and further reopen sectors of our economy.”

He attributed the rise in cases over the winter to cold weather and the holidays.

The state’s Safer at Home strategy will remain in place, along with its accompanying requirements for physical distancing, mask-wearing, gathering limits and business capacity restrictions.

“Even as we take steps to safely ease public health guidelines, we must all remain vigilant so we can maintain our progress — the more we stay home, mask up, and practice social distancing, the more lives we will save from this dangerous virus,” he said.

The current modified Stay at Home order will expire on Sunday (Feb. 28).

The full press release from the governor’s office is below.

Gov. Ralph Northam today announced that as COVID-19 hospitalizations and infection rates continue to decline and vaccinations rise in Virginia, certain outdoor sports and entertainment venues may begin to operate at increased capacity starting Monday, March 1. He amended Executive Order Seventy-Two with the next steps of the “Forward Virginia” plan to safely and gradually ease public health restrictions while mitigating the spread of the virus.

“Thanks to the hard work and sacrifice of all Virginians, hospitalization and positivity rates across the Commonwealth are the lowest they have been in nearly three months,” said Governor Northam. “As key health metrics show encouraging trends and we continue to ramp up our vaccination efforts, we can begin to gradually resume certain recreational activities and further reopen sectors of our economy. Even as we take steps to safely ease public health guidelines, we must all remain vigilant so we can maintain our progress-the more we stay home, mask up, and practice social distancing, the more lives we will save from this dangerous virus.”

The Commonwealth will maintain a Safer at Home strategy with continued strict health and safety protocols including physical distancing, mask-wearing requirements, gathering limits, and business capacity restrictions. The current modified Stay at Home order will expire on February 28, 2021.

Governor Northam is beginning to ease public health restrictions by taking steps to increase capacity limits in outdoor settings, where evidence shows the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19 is lower. The key changes in the Third Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two include:

• Social gatherings: The maximum number of individuals permitted in a social gathering will increase from 10 to 25 people for outdoor settings, while remaining at 10 persons for indoor settings.

• Entertainment venues: Outdoor entertainment and public amusement venues will be able to operate with up to 1,000 individuals or at 30 percent capacity, whichever is lower. If current trends continue, these venues may be able to operate at 30 percent capacity with no cap on the number of people permitted to attend starting in April. Indoor entertainment and public amusement venues must continue to operate at 30 percent capacity with a cap of 250 people. All entertainment venues were previously limited to a maximum of 250 individuals.

• Dining establishments: The on-site sale, consumption, and possession of alcohol will be permitted until midnight, extended from 10:00 p.m. All restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, and tasting rooms still must be closed between midnight and 5:00 a.m.
• Overnight summer camps: As of May 1, overnight summer camps will be able to open with strict mitigation measures in place. Registration can begin now.

The new guidelines will be effective for at least one month and mitigation measures may be eased further if key health metrics continue to improve. Current guidelines for retail businesses, fitness and exercise, large amusement venues, and personal grooming services will remain in place. Individuals are strongly encouraged to continue teleworking if possible.

The full text of Third Amended Executive Order Seventy-Two and Order of Public Health Emergency Nine is available here. Updated guidelines for specific sectors can be found here.

Last week, Governor Northam amended Executive Order Seventy-Two to increase the number of spectators permitted at outdoor youth sporting events to 250.

Visit virginia.gov/coronavirus/forwardvirginia for more information and answers to frequently asked questions.

Image via Virginia Public Media/YouTube

(Update 2:05 p.m.) Fairfax County opted out of Virginia’s new COVID-19 vaccine pre-registration system, but the decision seems to be causing confusion among some county residents.

The Virginia Department of Health tells Reston Now, the day after the launch (Wednesday), 542 calls from Fairfax County zip codes to the statewide COVID information line asking questions about vaccines were rerouted back to Fairfax County’s call center.

When asked about this, the Fairfax County Health Department admits that they understand the confusion.

“We understand that it could still be confusing that there are two systems,” wrote Jeremy Lasich, spokesperson for the Fairfax County Health Department. “We are happy that we have a strong partnership with VDH and that their call center is appropriately routing questions about Fairfax County back to our local call center.”

As recently as Wednesday, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told Reston Now that forgoing the Virginia appointment system to continue with the county-only system would help out in this regard.

“I am glad we can maintain our system that residents are familiar with to cut down on confusion,” he said.

Reston Now has reached out to the Chairman’s office with this new information but has yet to hear back as of publication.

Fairfax County is the only jurisdiction to opt-out of Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccine pre- registration system.

The county maintains that they are “consistently” communicating the need to register through their system through their website, blog, social media, and other avenues.

This includes translating COVID-related materials into Spanish and sharing information via text messages from the Health Department’s outreach team.

VDH has also added language to their website directing Fairfax County residents back to the appropriate portal.

If Fairfax County residents do end up registering through the state system, the information does end up eventually going back to the county. But those residents will be added to the end of the waitlist, notes the county.

If residents register in both the state and county systems, the first registration will be honored and the second one will be removed.

Over the last several weeks, the vaccine rollout across Fairfax County, the Commonwealth, and the region has continued to be plagued with technical issues, equity concerns, and challenges.

The county is currently in “Phase 1b”, meaning they are offering vaccine registration for all residents age 65 years or older and those between 16 to 64 years old with underlying medical conditions.

This is in addition to those in previous groups, including health care personnel, childcare workers, and K-12 teachers or staff members living or working in the county.

Check your eligibility status here and to register, visit the county’s vaccine registration page. Fairfax County residents can also call 703-324-7404 for more information.

According to the county’s new data dashboard, those who registered on January 18 – the first day it was open to those in Phase 1b – are now being scheduled for appointments.

More than 42,000 people signed up that day. That’s nearly four times as many people that signed up on Jan. 11, the next busiest day for registrations, the county health department says.

The county expects it will take “several weeks” for all those that registered on Jan. 18 to get a scheduled appointment.

It may appear as if progress isn’t being made when the appointment date on the dashboard isn’t changing, Lasich writes, but the health department is moving through registrations.

“We continue to ask for your patience,” the county spokesperson writes. “We promise you will get an appointment if you are on our list.”

COVID-19 case rates in Fairfax County have leveled off over the past week after appearing to trend downward since mid-January, when a record 1,485 cases were reported in a single day.

As of today, the county’s seven-day average is at 312.4 cases and has been hovering between 290 and 337 cases since Feb. 4. While the anticipated post-winter holiday surge seems to have tapered off, case levels are still higher than the pandemic’s initial spring peak, when the highest recorded seven-day average was 303 cases on May 31.

With 194 new cases today, the Fairfax Health District has now reported 64,950 COVID-19 cases, 3,482 hospitalizations, and 849 deaths, according to data from the Fairfax County Health Department.

Today also marked the launch of Virginia’s new statewide COVID-19 vaccine registration system, though Fairfax County is not participating for the time being.

Based on a registration data dashboard that went live on Feb. 12, Fairfax County has made slow but discernible progress in its efforts to vaccinate older adults, some groups of essential workers, and other eligible populations.

The Fairfax County Health Department has whittled its waitlist of people who have registered but haven’t been given an appointment yet down to 105,268 people, as of 10 a.m. The list had around 180,000 registrants as recently as last Thursday (Feb. 11). In total, 229,185 people have registered with the county to get the COVID-19 vaccine so far.

The health department is currently making appointments for more than 42,000 people who registered on Jan. 18, which saw particularly high demand since it was the day when the county expanded eligibility for the vaccine to people between the ages of 65 and 74 as well as people with high-risk medical conditions.

People who have registered for an appointment through the county health department can now see where they are in the queue with a registration status checker, though the rollout of that tool was not without its challenges.

Fairfax County has delivered 110,098 of the 114,923 vaccine doses that it has gotten from the Virginia Department of Health so far. About 68% of those doses were adminstered by the county health department, while the remaining 31% were distributed to other providers, like Inova.

According to the VDH, 48,404 people in Fairfax County have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and 163,200 total doses have been administered in the county. That number includes residents and staff at long-term care facilities that have been getting the vaccine through the federal government rather than the local health department.

The Virginia Department of Health launched a new, statewide registration system for the COVID-19 vaccine today, but Fairfax County won’t be taking part.

The county is encouraging residents to continue using its own registration system. Local health districts have been directed to close their existing registration forms so that data can be cleaned up, consolidated, and transferred to the new system.

The FCHD says it will not participate in the statewide system at this time and will instead continue to manage vaccine appointments for everyone in the Fairfax Health District, which includes Fairfax County, the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, and the towns of Vienna, Herndon, and Clifton.

“For those already on the waitlist, do not register again on the new statewide system,” the county health department said.

Fairfax County’s vaccine call center at 703-324-7404 will also continue to be operational, even with the state launching a new call center.

Fairfax County decided to stick with its own registration system because officials believed it would be less confusing for residents, and because the county has “invested a lot of resources” into the system, Fairfax County Health Department spokesperson Tina Dale said.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay also noted that the county invested resources and time into working out the kinks of its current system.

“At this point, I am glad we can maintain our system that residents are familiar with to cut down on confusion. We will continue to have conversations with the state about registration as the vaccine process rolls out,” he said.

The news comes as Fairfax County’s promised dashboard with COVID-19 vaccine and registration data goes live.

So far, the county is currently making appointments for people registered on Jan. 18. Residents can verify if they are registered to receive the first dose of the vaccine online.

Roughly 228,145 people have registered for the vaccine in the Fairfax Health District and 106,371 people remain on the waiting list as of data released Sunday night.

The health department cautions that it may take several weeks to schedule appointments for registered residents due to limited vaccine supply. The county has received 114,923 doses from VDH.

More than 180,000 people are on the county’s waiting list for the COVID-19 vaccine.

In order to improve transparency, Fairfax County plans to launch a new queuing system that would provide information about vaccine registration status tomorrow.

At a Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting earlier this week, County Executive Bryan Hill said the system would be followed by a dashboard with real-time information about vaccine distribution.

The improvements come after Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust and Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn called on the county to move forward with the dashboard and queuing system through a formal board matter.

“They know that the county has information about where they are in the queue and that the county currently is not sharing that information with them. They believe the county should be more transparent. They want to know, and I believe they deserve to know, how many people are ahead of them to be called to be vaccinated,” Foust said at a board meeting on Feb. 9.

While the registration process is relatively smooth, Foust said that residents ought to know where they are in the registration line. Currently, the health department only sends a notification confirming registration.

As of Wednesday, 131,479 in Fairfax County have received the first dose of the vaccine and 31,421 people have been fully vaccinated.

Officials continue to caution that vaccine supply is extremely limited. Roughly 11 percent of the total population has been vaccinated with at least one dose.

The queuing system would confirm if registrants are in the queue, describe progress made so far, and inform registrants of where they are in the line.

The county also plans to launch a self-cancellation form if people receive a vaccine from another health care provider, as well as a registration validation form for residents to confirm their registration and see where they fall in the queue.

Hill said that his staff and the county’s health and IT departments began working on improving the process in early January, but the process was stalled by coordination with the Virginia Department of Health.

“A lot of our delay is predicated on working and talking with the state’s systems,” Hill said, adding that the state’s protocol is the ‘Bible for COVID vaccinations.“

Board Chairman Jeff McKay also noted that coordination with the state has been “frustrating” to the county’s efforts.

“It is not acceptable for someone to register for a vaccination and go an entire month with ought hearing potentially anything from the county,’ he said.

Through improvements to its system, the county determined that roughly 20,000 duplicate registrants on the waiting list. The county was able to weed out duplicates and trim down the waiting list to around 180,000 registrants.

Still, other board members lauded the county for developing a smooth administering system for vaccines.

Penny Gross noted that some residents who were frustrated with the registration process said the actual administration of the vaccine was easy and well-done.

The county’s vaccine dashboard will likely go live on Friday, but it could take up to Tuesday, Feb. 16 to iron out any issues, Hill said.

Updated at 7 p.m. with comment from Harmony

Several local assisted living and senior centers are advertising vaccinations if seniors make reservations for residencies, a marketing tactic that is raising concern among county and elected officials.

Reston Now has found at least three businesses have advertised either through social media or on their website that if an individual pays to become a resident of the assisted living or senior center by a certain date, they’d receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

This comes as regional localities continue to have immense challenges with distributing COVID-19 vaccines to all who are eligible. In Fairfax County, everyone 65 or older is currently eligible to sign up for the vaccine. The vaccine is also free to all.

But supply remains severely limited, leading to canceled appointments and seniors waiting in long lines in Arlington.

Notably, up until late last week, Tall Oaks Assisted Living in Reston ran a Facebook aid promoting a “vaccination staycation,” as reported by the Washington Post.

The local assisted living facility was advertising a $5,000 all-inclusive month-long stay in a studio apartment where residents would also receive two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. It was accompanied by a 30-second video and a photo of a senior receiving a shot in the arm.

That post was taken down on Friday, according to the Post.

However, Tall Oaks Assisted Living isn’t the only local business that has advertised this type of message.

On Jan.13, Harmony in Chantilly promoted on their Facebook page “priority vaccine access” to those who become residents prior to Feb. 9.

Sunrise Senior Living at Reston Town Center also posted on their website’s landing page that “vaccine clinics are now available” and new “eligible” residents can learn more by calling the facility. Towards the bottom of the page, however, it explains that “no respite or short-term stays” are eligible to get the vaccine.

Fairfax County officials are worried about what these messages are promoting.

“The main concern is the promotion could be interpreted as needing to pay money to get the vaccine, which is not the case,” Jeremy Lasich, Fairfax County Health Department spokesperson, writes to Reston Now in an email.

Lasich notes that long-term care facilities, like those mentioned, are receiving their vaccine allotment directly from the federal government and not the county. He says Fairfax County has allocated roughly half of the weekly doses to people 65 and over, per Virginia guidelines.

While Lasich does understand the frustration since it could be weeks or even months to get a vaccine appointment, he emphasizes that those 75 and over were able to sign up a week earlier than those over 65. Meaning, those residents’ appointments should come sooner.

The advertisements do “raise some concerns as both a promotional strategy and from a safety perspective,” Lasich writes.

Ken Plum is the Virginia House Delegate for the 36th District. Both Tall Oaks and Sunrise at Reston Town Center lie in his district. He also shares considerable concern about these promotions.

“It sends the message that you can get in front of the line for the vaccine by paying for an expensive [residency] package,” Plum tells Reston Now.

There’s already a high level of anxiety and frustration with how the vaccine is being distributed, he says, and this type of advertisements are playing off of those fears, particularly aimed at seniors and their loved ones.

“It’s misleading and inappropriate,” says Plum.

Reston Now has reached out to the three assisted living and senior centers noted asking about the decision-making process behind the promotions and advertisements.

Tall Oaks Assisted Living responded to a request for comment from Reston Now.

Executive Director George Winters admitted that promoting in such a way could be seen as “insensitive.”

“At Tall Oaks, we believe in the many positive benefits of short-term respite care for both seniors and their families. Moreover, we are delighted to be able to do our part to help seniors within our communities get vaccinated and to protect their health as well as that of their families via our vaccination clinic,” Winters writes to Reston Now. “At the same time, we recognize that demand for the vaccine is considerable and that marketing our respite-care program as we did may have been seen as insensitive to the individuals awaiting their vaccines. We are grateful to our residents, our staff, and our neighbors for their understanding.”

It remains unclear how effective the promotions and advertising were in bringing in new residents.

Winters told the Washington Post that only one person responded to the ad prior to it being taken down on Feb. 5. That person had previously taken her mother out of the Reston facility last year due to fears about the pandemic.

Reston Now has followed up with Winters if it remains the case that only one person has responded to the ad, but has not received a response.

Harmony in Chantilly, in an email response to Reston Now, said that their residents were first vaccinated in late Jan. and were among the first to receive vaccinations in Virginia.

This statement is disputed since more than 10,000 Fairfax County residents received the vaccine weeks earlier. The assisted living center says they have follow-up vaccine clinics set-up for residents later this month and in March.

They declined to comment specifically on county officials’ concern over the appropriateness or potential misleading nature of the Facebook post

Alcorn Plans Virtual Town Halls for Next Week — Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn will host two town halls on Feb. 16 and 18. The first discussion is with Reston District Police Station commanders and the second is with Alcorn. [Fairfax County Government]

Body Worn Camera Program Expands in Fairfax County — Phase two of the program is complete as officers from the police department’s Franconia and McLean District Stations received training and are now fully equipped with the devices. [Fairfax County Police Department]

CVS in Annandale to Distribute Vaccine — CVS will offer the COVID-19 vaccine to eligible 1a and 1b populations through a federal program. So far, the only participating location in Virginia is located at Little River Turnpike in Annandale. Supply is limited, but more locations will begin to offer the vaccine soon. [Fairfax County Government]

Photo by Marjorie Copson

Local Police Conduct Mock Travel Stops — The Fairfax County Police Department conducted mock traffic stops for drivers with disabilities. Police and community members came together to learn how to safely interact with one another during traffic stops. The goal was to ensure that drivers with disabilities are well-versed in what happens during traffic stops. [Local DVM]

Health Department Hires Staff to Help with Pandemic Response — The county’s health department is looking for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses to join its vaccination team on a part-time, temporary basis. The plan is to hire 100 people. [Fairfax County Government]

In-school Learning to Resume Next Week — Fairfax County Public Schools will bring back its first group of students for in-person instruction on Feb. 16. Students who have already selected to return to in-person instruction will still be able to do so two days a week. [FCPS]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

Eligible Fairfax County residents will soon have another option for getting innoculated against COVID-19, as CVS plans to start distributing vaccines at 36 stores in Virginia later this week.

CVS Health announced on Feb. 2 that it will offer the COVID-19 vaccine at its pharmacies in Virginia and 10 other states starting this Thursday (Feb. 11). The company anticipates receiving 250,000 total doses for the initial rollout of its vaccination program, which is being enabled by a partnership with the federal government.

“Our presence in communities across the country makes us an ideal partner for administering vaccines in a safe, convenient, and familiar manner,” CVS Health President and CEO Karen S. Lynch said. “This is particularly true for underserved communities, which have been a focus for us throughout the pandemic.”

Though Virginia was initially expected to receive approximately 26,000 doses that will be distributed to 28 stores, CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault told Tysons Reporter that the vaccine will be available at 36 locations across the state, including in Fairfax County.

Patch reported on Feb. 4 that the CVS at 3921 Prosperity Ave. off of Little River Turnpike will be among the stores to get the vaccine.

Thibault says a full list of the specific stores will be available through the CVS website and app once the stores start receiving shipments and appointments become available.

“Because locations and supply remain limited, we want to prevent stores from being overwhelmed by those who may seek a vaccination without making an appointment,” Thibault said.

Vaccinations will be available by appointment only. CVS has an online scheduling tool on its website and app for people to determine their eligibility and find locations offering the vaccine, but it has not opened up to Virginia yet.

CVS and Walgreens have been administering COVID-19 vaccines at long-term care facilities in Virginia, including Fairfax County, since Jan. 11 as part of the federal pharmacy partnership program.

Health officials told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors during its health and human services committee meeting last week that 2,936 residents and 3,133 staff at 55 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in the county have gotten at least one vaccine dose so far, with four more facilities scheduled to start vaccinating residents and staff early this week.

According to Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, the Fairfax County Health Department’s director of epidemiology and population health, the two national pharmacy chains are conducting three vaccine clinics at each of the county’s long-term care facilities.

“They’ve done a fairly good job in terms of reaching people, with some facilities having 95 to 100% of their residents being vaccinated,” Schwartz said.

The Fairfax County Health Department says it will have more information to share on the CVS vaccine program for other eligible populations in the next day or so.

All school divisions in Virginia have been directed to establish options for in-person learning by Mar. 15, Gov. Ralph Northam announced today (Friday).

The state is also encouraging school divisions to develop plans to offer some form of classroom instruction during the summer. While extending the school year will not be mandatory, the governor’s office says his administration “is in the process of determining additional resources” to support summer school, including ensuring that educators are properly compensated.

“Our children need to catch up to be ready for learning in the fall,” Northam said during a press conference. “I want our schools to do this safely, and I want them to prioritize students who needs this the most…But it’s time for this to happen. It’s critical to prevent greater learning loss and to support our children’s health and well-being.”

Virginia State Superintendent for Public Instruction Dr. James Lane and State Health Commissioner Dr. Norman Oliver released interim guidance on Jan. 14 for local education and health officials to use as they determine when and how to offer classes and other activities to students in person.

Northam said he had a “very open, frank conversation” with superintendents from around the state before announcing the Mar. 15 deadline for offering in-person classes.

He also noted that “none of this is set in stone,” but declining COVID-19 case numbers, including testing positivity rates and hospitalizations, as well as increases in vaccinations give him confidence that schools will be able to proceed with reopening and summer school plans.

The governor’s announcement comes just three days after the Fairfax County School Board approved a plan to start phasing students into hybrid in-person learning on Feb. 16. All students who choose to get in-person classes instead of remaining all-virtual will be back in school buildings by Mar. 16 under the timeline developed by Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand.

FCPS officials have discussed the idea of extending the school year in the hopes of providing more in-person instruction and compensating for the learning losses many students have reportedly experienced as a result of distance learning. However, no official plans have been established yet.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new research last week that indicates schools can safely operate in-person as long as they implement and enforce mitigation measures, including mask-wearing and social distancing.

“In-person learning is critical to the current and future well-being of our children,” Oliver said. “[The Virginia Department of Health] remains committed to supporting school districts in getting kids back into classrooms as we work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and get Virginians vaccinated.”

Photo via Governor of Virginia/Facebook