The Washington Post - 18.03.2020

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WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/REGIONAL eZ su B

JoHN KeLLY’s WAsHINGtoN

In 1957, a new flu

appeared in asia. the

world watched and waited

for it to spread. B3

MArYLAND

the House has earmarked

$100 million in the next

fiscal year for response

to coronavirus issues. B2

oBItUArIes

stuart whitman, center,

starred in “Cimarron strip”

and earned an oscar nod

44 ° 53 ° 60 ° 55 ° for “the mark.” B6

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 4 p.m.

60

°

Precip: 0%

Wind: ESE

6-12 mph

In 2007, the Patuxent River

Commission, composed of

scientists, government officials

and environmental activists,

issued a report — co-authored by

Tutman — citing “urbanization

and overdevelopment” in the

watershed as major contributors

of pollution in the river.

other culprits included a coal-

fired power plant, agricultural

operations and some military

installations along the river.

The report, Patuxent River

2 0/20, sounded a hopeful note:

that with a clear vision and

determination the river could be

healthy again by the year 2020.

An indication of how much

progress had been made came in

2018 when the University of

Maryland Center for

environmental science issued a

report card on river quality in

the area. The Patuxent got a D.

Tutman thinks it ought to be

an F. not for the river, but for the

humans who have become

numbed to pollution and fail to

appreciate our need for clean

water.

“We can hardly imagine the

clarity of the water and the

bounty of life that it sustained

when Algonquin-speaking native

Americans lived here 400 years

ago,” Tutman said. “We have been

poor stewards of the land.”

see MIlloy on B2

on the wooded

banks of the

Patuxent River,

which flows past

his farmland near

Upper Marlboro,

Fred Tutman, 62,

communes with

nature.

“In a romantic sense, I’ve had

a connection to the river since I

was a boy,” he said. “It’s like we’re

in communication.”

What the river is telling him,

however, is no love story. It’s a

warning.

“The river is a mess, sick with

pollution,” Tutman said. “But in

the end, we’ll be the ones that

suffer.”

The Patuxent, once known as

“Maryland’s greatest river,” is a

source of water for more than a

million residents in the D.C.

area. As one of the top 10

tributaries of the Chesapeake

Bay, the river will have a say in

whether the nation’s largest

coastal estuary gets cleaned up.

Along its 110-mile journey,

beginning just north of Howard

County, there are 36 wastewater

treatment facilities. nearly

1.5 million people live within the

Patuxent watershed — the area

that drains into the river — and

when they flush, tons of waste

gets processed and pumped into

the waters.

An environmental warning

from the Patuxent Riverkeeper

Courtland

milloy

has tested positive for the corona-

virus and is in self-isolation at

home, according to the District’s

fire chief and president of the

see REGIoN on B4

JaHI CHIKwendIu/tHe wasHIngton post

Patrons celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Celtic House in Arlington, one of the few local bars and restaurants still offering

dine-in service before Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced a ban on gatherings of 10 or more people. N ortham has not

yet ordered restaurants and businesses to close, citing concerns about potential economic damage.

To your health!

pains.”

But now, as the coronavirus

rapidly spreads, keeping sander-

lin isolated has become the goal.

To help her, at least in person,

would be to put her in danger.

This is the paradox facing non-

profits, community groups, reli-

gious organizations and neigh-

bors across the United states, es-

pecially those that work with the

elderly and other medically vul-

nerable adults. For regular volun-

teers and those eager to volunteer

in this time of chaos, the systems

see VolUNtEERs on B4

BY JESSICA CONTRERA

AND IAN SHAPIRA

Thelma sanderlin, 88, has be-

come accustomed to visitors. she

has no husband or children, and

no living siblings, but at least

twice a month, a volunteer arrives

at h er apartment in the District to

give her a break from the isolation

that can jeopardize the health of

older adults.

“I just like to have company

sometimes,” sanderlin said.

“They’re young people, you see.

They listen to my aches and

Social service groups get

creative to serve the isolated

BY JENNA PORTNOY,

RACHEL CHASON

AND KYLE SWENSON

As the number of Washington-

area residents testing positive for

the novel coronavirus climbs, hos-

pitals are racing to enact a two-

pronged strategy — expand test-

ing capability and free up beds —

in preparation for what could be a

months-long response to the

global pandemic.

Montgomery County hospitals

are installing treatment and tri-

age tents. Kaiser Permanente set

up five drive-through testing sites

in Maryland and Virginia for pa-

tients who have a prescription,

and Virginia Hospital Center in

Arlington and a health-care sys-

tem in Hampton Roads, Va., are

testing people via drive-through if

they meet certain criteria.

Providers also are encouraging

“virtual visits” to prevent the

spread of the virus among the

general population and medical

community.

But as residents continue to

struggle to access tests they say

they need, medical experts in the

Washington area and across the

nation warn that the lack of ade-

quate testing materials, limited

supplies of personal protective

equipment and too few beds

mean the country is probably fac-

ing a dangerous situation.

There will be a bed shortage if

the pandemic worsens, despite

Maryland’s efforts to prepare for

an influx of patients all at once,

said Gene Ransom, chief execu-

tive of the Maryland state Medi-

cal society.

“The biggest thing is: How big

is the surge?” he said.

Gov. L arry Hogan (R) said Tues-

day that Maryland will repurpose

vehicle inspection program sites

as drive-through testing centers,

but testing will not begin until

labs have the capability to actual-

ly run the tests. otherwise, it

would create “false hope,” h e said.

Many o f the region’s m ajor hos-

pitals declined or did not respond

to requests to discuss their coro-

navirus preparations, including

see HospItAls on B6

Hospitals

increasing

testing,

open beds

Triage tents and

drive-throughs part of

long-view preparations

system announced last week that

it will remain shuttered until at

least mid-April. During the clo-

sure, the 16,000 students of Alex-

andria City Public schools are

not required to do any academic

work, although they are encour-

aged to complete online activi-

ties and follow daily exercises

listed in instructional packets.

The closing, elias said, left

many T.C. Williams teachers

re eling. They worry their classes

will fall behind academically —

and they’re desperate to stay in

touch with students who they

have come to know well, having

finished much of the school year.

“Guys, all your teachers are

worrying and wondering about

you,” elias told his viewers. “This

happened so suddenly.... The

most important thing is to not

stay isolated from school.”

It is a dilemma confronting

educators nationwide, as scores

of states — 3 8 as of Tuesday

afternoon, according to educa-

tion Week — abruptly shut their

doors in a bid to contain the

virus. The suddenness of the

closures left most with little time

to prepare an online curriculum,

let alone a surefire way to com-

municate with students.

elias chose to stream on Face-

book, he said, because nearly a

decade at T.C. Williams taught

see tEACHERs on B5

BY HANNAH NATANSON

At p recisely 9 a.m., high school

history teacher Gabriel elias

went live at his dining room

table.

“Good morning, good morn-

ing, everybody!” elias said, fling-

ing his arms wide and nodding

toward h is l aptop camera. Muted

laughter rose from a nearby

room, and his wife quieted the

couple’s 4- and 9-year-old chil-

dren.

elias gave a special greeting to

one student named Fatima, who

had ordered him to make the

broadcast “interesting.”

“I’m new to this,” elias said,

“but I’m going to try.”

It was the second day of the

coronavirus-driven shutdown of

all public schools in the Wash-

ington region, and the second

day that elias — who teaches at

T.C. Williams High school in

Alexandria — filmed an informa-

tional morning video for stu-

dents, streamed live on Face-

book.

The northern Virginia school

Out of their classrooms,

teachers try live-streaming

Some t ake crash courses

in s ocial media platforms

popular among students

stepHanIe wIllIams Images/ arts for tHe agIng

Arts for the Aging, which provides workshops — including tango —

in local senior-care settings, has suspended its programs.

BY ANTONIO OLIVO,

RACHEL CHASON

AND GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER

Maryland and Virginia report-

ed dramatic spikes in their cases o f

the novel coronavirus Tuesday, as

Virginia Gov. Ralph northam

banned gatherings of 10 or more

people in restaurants, gyms and

theaters, and Gov. Larry Hogan

postponed Maryland’s April 28

primary election.

With nearly every local county

and jurisdiction now affected by

the coronavirus, the region’s total

had climbed to 162 by Tuesday

evening.

Maryland added 22 more covid-

19 cases — its largest per-day in-

crease so far — b ringing the s tate’s

total to 63. officials said nearly

two-thirds of the state’s reported

cases were locally spread and not

linked to foreign travel, a major

concern and a significant shift

from the virus’s early days. Five of

the n ew c ases w ere reported Tues-

day evening by Prince George’s

County.

Virginia reported 15 more

c ases, for a total of 67, including

the Washington region’s only two

deaths so far. T he District report-

ed nine new coronavirus patients

Tuesday evening, also the largest

increase for the city reported in a

single day, bringing its total to 3 2

cases.

A D.C. firefighter-paramedic

tHe CoroNAVIrUs oUtBreAK

Hogan, Northam escalate response amid surge

mD. PusHEs PrimAry, VA. Limits mEEtiNGs

Nearly every local county and jurisdiction hit by virus

A lonely last call

d.C. bars and restaurants stop

offering dine-in service. B3

Virginia schools

education department reviewing

graduation regulations. B3