Coronavirus Concerns Cause Shortages At Stores In Prince William

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — Amid cases of new coronavirus confirmed in Virginia, Prince William County residents are seeing empty shelves at grocery and drug stores, while county health and emergency experts are assuring government officials that the county has enough supplies of products to disinfect government offices and protect first responders.

Virginia has eight presumptive positive cases of the coronavirus, or COVID-19, as of Wednesday morning. The latest two cases were reported by the Virginia Beach Health Department. Two tests of Virginia Beach residents came back presumptive positive for the coronavirus. The two people — a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s —traveled on a Nile River cruise and returned to the United States on March 5 through Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County.

The new coronavirus, first identified during December 2019 in Wuhan, China, can cause mild to more severe respiratory illness. In a small proportion of patients, COVID-19 can cause death, particularly among those who are older or who have chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing and can appear two to 14 days after exposure. According to the CDC, COVID-19 is thought to spread between people within six feet of each other through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

Grocery Stores

In Prince William County, residents are reporting a shortage of the products that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending residents keep on hand to clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. For example, the CDC is recommending the public use hand sanitizers that have at least 60 percent alcohol content. These supplies, however, are unavailable at many stores.

Grocery stores have been seeing increased sales of products like hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, bottled water and nonperishable foods — and even toilet paper. The shortages have prompted some stores to limit the quantities of products customers can buy.

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The Giant at Wellington Station in Manassas was cleared of all cleaning wipes and Lysol on Sunday, reader Deborah Shelton noted. The Walmart and Sam's Club in Woodbridge were out of hand sanitizer and isopropyl alcohol, Patch reader Vanessa Weedon reported.

For everyday items unrelated to protection from the coronavirus, Patch reader Rachel Reamy noted Tuesday that the Costco in Woodbridge was out of toilet paper. She visited the store twice in three days with no luck finding the product. The Walmart on Liberia Avenue in Manassas also did not have toilet paper on Monday, according to a reader.

Police

Police departments across Northern Virginia are following CDC guidelines for law enforcement. This includes information about symptoms, the way health officials believe COVID-19 spreads, and ways law enforcement can protect themselves from exposure. When law enforcement has contact with individuals confirmed or suspected to have COVID-19, the CDC arecommends minimum personal protective equipment of disposable examination gloves, disposable isolation gown or single-use coveralls, NIOSH-approved particulate respirator and eye protection.

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Prince William County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Misner briefed the county's Board of Supervisors Tuesday, informing them that emergency responders, including police officers, have plenty of equipment on hand to respond to any suspected COVID-19 calls.

"We have sufficient supplies on hand for the foreseeable future,” Misner said in his presentation.

Government Offices

Prince William County also has placed COVID-19 informational signs and hand hygiene stations in county buildings that have a high level of public traffic. In addition, the Emergency Management Office is working with suppliers to get adequate hand cleaning and office cleaning supplies in the workplace.

Cleaning staff are wiping down county buildings, especially where there are public counters, as least three times a day, according to Misner.

"We also have enhanced the call screening procedures in our public safety communications center," he said. "So, if a caller is reporting the three main symptoms — cough, shortness of breath and fever — they will screen and handle that call differently and make our first responders aware of those symptoms, so that they can take care to protect themselves before encountering the patient."

Schools

Prince William County Schools do not plan to make any changes at this time to operating status of schools or events. "However, should this change, PWCS is prepared to make adjustments as necessary," the school system said.

Students and staff are encouraged to practice healthy behaviors such as staying home when students or staff are sick, covering coughs and sneezes, and washing hands often. The school system is working to ensure proper supplies are on hand for school cleaning and that school custodians are cleaning frequently touched surfaces.

Prince William County residents can see the latest county updates and operational status about the coronavirus on the county's website.