City Of Alexandria Provides COVID-19 Updates; Updates To Health Department Vaccine Pre-Registration Form; Celebrate Upcoming Holidays Safely

Press release from the City of Alexandria:

Feb 11, 2021 at 7:12 PM

City of Alexandria Provides COVID-19 Updates; Updates to Health Department Vaccine Pre-Registration Form; Celebrate Upcoming Holidays Safely

­­For Immediate Release: February 11, 2021

The City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Health Department (AHD) strongly urge residents to stay home as much as possible during the current surge of COVID-19 cases in our community. Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are increasing in Alexandria. Take immediate and ongoing action to control the spread by wearing a
mask over both your nose and mouth, staying home unless it’s necessary to go out, and washing your hands frequently. Without these critical steps, additional lives may be at risk.

Updates to Health Department Vaccine Pre-Registration Form

The Commonwealth of Virginia is launching a Statewide Vaccine Pre-Registration System to provide a unified and comprehensive process for people in Virginia to pre-register for the COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, the Virginia Department of Health has directed all local health districts, including AHD, to close their pre-registration forms at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 12, and replace them at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, February 16 with a link to the new statewide system. In the interim, existing waitlists will be imported into the new system and pre-registration will be temporarily unavailable throughout Virginia.

All individuals who have previously filled out the AHD pre-registration form will be automatically imported into the new statewide system. Individuals will maintain their current status in the queue, and will be able to search and confirm that they are in the new system starting Tuesday morning.

Celebrate Upcoming Holidays Safely

While Alexandria and the region remain at high risk for COVID-19 transmission, celebrate holidays virtually to minimize the spread of the virus. There are many options to choose from to safely celebrate the Lunar New Year season, which begins this Friday, February 12, and Mardi Gras, on Tuesday, February 16.

• Lunar New Year - Celebrate the Year of the Ox by learning about the traditions of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean cultures with activities hosted by the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
• Celebration Cuisine
  - Celebrate while supporting local restaurants by ordering take-out or delivery from Alexandria’s Asian- and Cajun-style restaurants.
• Mardi Gras Virtual 5K - Registration is open to join participants across the country and the world. Everyone receives a Mardi Gras-themed finisher medal, T-shirt and race bib.
• New Orleans Mardi Gras at Home
  - Explore Mardi Gras in New Orleans from the safety of home with cooking class from the New Orleans Cooking School, a Mardi Gras-themed playlist, or tours of the Krewe floats.
• Virtual Celebrations around the World
  - Tour the Wats of Bangkok or the Forbidden City of Beijing for the Lunar New Year; virtually attend a live Mardi Gras concert across U.S. cities or tour Carnival celebrations across Europe.

Alexandria COVID-19 Data At-a-Glance

The chart below, containing the seven-day moving average number of COVID-19 cases and the daily and cumulative case and fatality counts, provides detailed information about how preventive measures are impacting Alexandria's response to the pandemic. An interactive version is available at
alexandriava.gov/114883. Detailed data, including data on age, race and ethnicity, are available through links at
alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus.

AHD estimates that approximately 1 in 20 Alexandrians who tested positive for COVID-19 have required hospitalization. An estimated 66% of Virginia adults who become infected never have symptoms. The best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 remain wearing a mask in public, maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from others, and frequently washing your hands or carrying and using hand sanitizer with at least 60% ethyl alcohol. Help your loved ones and neighbors by calling your close contacts if you test positive for COVID-19. Learn who to call and what to say from AHD's “
What to Do If You Get Sick” guidance, which is available in
Spanish,
Amharic,
Arabic, and
Farsi or this brief
video. Download the Virginia Department of Health’s
COVIDWISE app to be quickly and anonymously notified of likely exposure to the virus.

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This news release is available at
alexandriava.gov/120296.

This press release was produced by the City of Alexandria.The views expressed here are the author’s own.