B2 eZ sU THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAy, MARCH 27 , 2020
when that patron was there.
Health officials said anyone
who was at the pub on march 10
between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., on
march 14 between 11 a.m. and 6
p.m., and on march 15 between
10 a.m. and 6 p.m., should self-
quarantine at home, avoid visi-
tors, stay at least six feet from
other household members and
call the city’s covid-19 informa-
tion line at 703-746-4988.
Loudoun County, which had
28 known cases, reported the
death of a county schools employ-
ee. The woman died Wednesday
night, according to an email sent
to families and staffers by Loud-
oun Superintendent Eric Wil-
liams.
The woman, whose name was
not released, was in her 70s, the
county Health Department said.
She is among at least six employ-
ees within the 84,000-student
system who have tested positive
for covid-19 and the first reported
death from within a Virginia
school system. Williams said the
school system would refrain from
any “specific remem brances,” be-
cause he believes the woman
would not have wanted that.
But, in his email, he echoed the
grief being felt by a widening
group of area residents as the
number of fatalities climbs.
“She is someone who loved and
was loved,” Williams wrote. “She
is someone who felt joy and
sorrow. She is someone who
poured her whole self into con-
tributing to our community.”
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]Hannah Natanson, Dana Hedgpeth,
Donna st. george, Jenna Portnoy,
rebecca tan, Patricia sullivan, Keith
l. alexander, gregory s. schneider,
rachel Weiner and ovetta Wiggins
contributed to this report.nities reported their first cases
Thursday: fauquier County,
Amelia County, Pittsylvania
County, the cities of Lynchburg,
Hampton and Poquoson, and the
town of Washington.
Health officials in Alexandria
— which had reported 14 cases as
of Thursday afternoon — said a
patron had tested positive and
they are searching for people who
spent time in the popular mur-
phy’s Irish Pub in old To wn on
three dates earlier this month,caring for the rest in a wing
separate from other patients. An
undisclosed number of suspected
cases have been separately isolat-
ed.
A top local health official said
Wednesday that Canterbury does
not have enough protective gear
for employees working with oth-
er patients in the facility, who are
not showing symptoms of the
virus but still could have been
exposed.
Seven other Virginia commu-Elsewhere in Virginia, a fourth
patient from Canterbury reha-
bilitation & Healthcare Center,
outside richmond, died of the
virus Thursday, while more resi-
dents and staff tested positive.
over the past 12 days, 17 Can-
terbury patients and six workers
have tested positive for the virus,
representing the largest known
outbreak in a long-term-care fa-
cility in the greater Washington
region. Two residents remained
hospitalized, and workers are$5,000. The letters went to three
convenience stores in Northwest
and Southeast Washington, a
beauty supply store in Southeast
Washington and an online seller
on Amazon, racine’s office said.
In one instance, an online sell-
er nearly doubled the cost of
dispensing stands for sanitizing
wipes, tripled the cost of bulk
packs of hand sanitizer, and more
than quadrupled the cost of
touch-free foam hand sanitizer
dispensers, officials said.
meanwhile, reports of the vi-
rus’s steady march into virtually
every crevice of the region contin-
ued. officials said two emergency
workers and a police officer in
Baltimore have contracted the
virus. D.C. jail officials said a
20-year-old male inmate in the
Correctional Treatment facility
building has tested positive, po-
tentially exposing other inmates
and correctional workers.
D.C. fire officials said two more
firefighters have tested positive,
bringing the department’s total
to 12; and montgomery County
reported four members of the
fire and rescue Services had
contracted the virus. officials
said 124 D.C. firefighters were
under self-quarantine Thursday,
a contrast to nearby Arlington
County, where the local firefight-
ers union questioned why a simi-
lar precaution was not taken
after a firefighter in that depart-
ment was confirmed to have the
virus.
“We have members who think
they should be self-quarantined,
but they’re being told they’re
okay to come to work” said the
fire union’s president, Brian
Lynch.
fire officials said they did an
in-depth investigation of the in-
fected firefighter’s contacts be-
fore assessing that it was safe for
all others to keep working.“We are only at the beginning
of this crisis, in our state, in the
National Capital region, and in
America. As I have repeatedly
stressed, we should continue to
expect the number of cases to
dramatically and rapidly rise,”
Hogan said in his statement.
Hogan, Virginia Gov. ralph
Northam (D) and D.C. mayor
muriel E. Bowser (D) have imple-
mented measures that have left
the local economy at a near-
standstill. Virginia schools are
closed through the end of the
school year, while in maryland
and the District, they are closed
until at least late April.
Nonessential businesses —
such as movie theaters, many
stores, gyms and hair salons —
have been closed in maryland
and the District. Virginia allows
some nonessential businesses to
remain open if they limit their
service to 10 or fewer people at a
time. restaurants in the region
are restricted to takeout and de-
livery service only.
The Library of Congress closed
all of its buildings to the public
Thursday. metro, which has seen
sharp drops in ridership, had
closed 19 train stations as of
Wednesday night, and shut down
two more Thursday — Van Ness
and Te nleytown on the red Line
— after learning that a contractor
working in those stations had
tested positive for the virus. The
contractor worked overnight,
when metro was closed and not
carrying passengers.
Interviewed Thursday night
on mSNBC’s “meet the Press,”
Bowser acknowledged that the
efforts to contain the coronavirus
has “shut down our economy and
put millions of people across our
country and thousands in Wash-
ington, D.C., out of work.”
“But we believe, as all the
experts say, that it will get us to
the other side much faster,” the
mayor said.
In another attempt to slow the
virus, maryland State Superin-
tendent of Schools Karen B.
Salmon ordered most child-care
centers in the state to shut down
at the end of this week.
Salmon said that if licensed
facilities are willing to care for
children of essential employees —
such as health-care workers or
firefighters — they may reopen
march 30, provided that they
thoroughly clean their sites and
do not take in other children.
Bowser slammed Congress for
not sending enough economic aid
to the nation’s capital in a $2 tril-
lion federal stimulus package,
which passed the Senate and is
set to be voted on by the House.
The bill treats the District as if it
were a U.S. territory and would
steer about $500 million to local
relief efforts — about $750 mil-
lion less than what each state is
guaranteed. Normally, the city is
treated like a state in terms of
federal funding.
“It’s infuriating, it’s wrong, it’s
outrageous,” Bowser said at a
Thursday news conference. “We
are not a territory. We pay more
taxes, unlike the territories, than
22 states.”
Worsening the pain for some
area residents is an apparent
increase in illegal price-gouging,
D.C. officials said.
D.C. Attorney General Karl A.
racine (D) has sent five cease-
and-desist letters to businesses
for jacking up prices on items
such as latex gloves, hand sanitiz-
er and disinfectant wipes.
racine’s office said it has re-
ceived 25 complaints so far about
price-gouging, an offense that is
punishable by a fine of up to
regIon from B1
D.C.-area unemployment claims surge as virus’s toll rises
rIcKy carIotI/tHe WasHINgtoN Post
A girl skateboards in Baker Park on Thursday in Frederick. “This battle is going to be much harder, take much longer, and be much worse than almost anyone comprehends,”
Maryland gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday after the state reported another record single-day coronavirus tally that more than doubled its previous record Wednesday.BIll o’leary/tHe WasHINgtoN Post
Protective masks adorn statuary in a front yard in Takoma Park. I n an attempt to further curb the
coronavirus’s spread, Maryland has ordered most child-care centers to close at the end of the week.(202) 919-9209(703) 650-9337(301) 778-4222