B4 eZ su THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020
the maryland Distillers Guild.
Edgardo Zuniga, who owns
Twin Valley Distillers in rockville,
said his business is making several
hundred bottles of lemon-scented
hand sanitizer, some of which w ill
probably be donated to montgom-
ery County government agencies.
Zuniga said he intends to even-
tually sell the hand sanitizer at an
affordable price. “I’m not making
ethanol to get rich,” he said. “It’s
our chance to do something.”
rafael De La Paz, whose La
finca mexican restaurant was one
of the few places opened in Arling-
ton’s normally trendy Clarendon
neighborhood, said he wants
things to return t o normal.
“I don’t want to close,” D e La P az
said, through an interpreter, as a
handful of customers ate or
sipped margaritas during h appy
hour. “I want to be able to take care
of the c ustomers.”
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]schneider reported from richmond.
erin cox, luz lazo, rebecca tan,
Patricia sullivan, Darran simon, fenit
nirappil, Justin george, ovetta
Wiggins, rachel Weiner and Peter
Hermann contributed to this report.cent,” the company posted on Ins-
tagram. “We simply ran out of
work, and could not afford to pay
people without things for them to
do.”
Alexandria mayor Justin Wil-
son, whose city has reported two
cases, said the economic forecast
doesn’t l ook good.
“We will have residents unem-
ployed and underemployed, fami-
lies experiencing food and hous-
ing insecurity, children suddenly
in need of care, small businesses
suffering severe degradation of
revenue,” Wilson (D) wrote to the
rest of the C ity Council on Tuesday.
At least 12.7 percent of Alexan-
dria’s revenue comes directly from
consumption taxes — dining, ho-
tel, business license and sales
t axes — putting more than
$100 million in annual city reve-
nue a t risk, Wilson s aid.
others tried innovative ways to
stay afloat. In maryland, several
distilleries began making hand
sanitizer to help fill an expected
shortage of that product while
making good use o f their a lcohol.
Distilleries, w hich typically p ro-
duce whiskey o r bourbon, h ave the
machinery and expertise to make
alcohol-based disinfectants, said
Kevin Atticks, e xecutive d irector ofand can extend that during the
emergency.
“I am well aware that the p oten-
tial economic damage t o individu-
als and businesses is far greater
than the relief this bill provides,”
said Council Chairman Phil men-
delson (D). “I do not expect that
this bill is the final and last act. We
will continue to look for r elief.”
Concerns about the economic
impact of the disease grew as busi-
nesses affected by the bans in the
District and maryland shut their
doors.
Eight D.C. alcohol inspectors
visited 865 establishments mon-
day night and found only t wo oper-
ating in violation of the city’s ban
on on-site dining and drinking,
said a spokesman for the Alcohol
Beverage regulation Administra-
tion. Buho’s in Columbia Heights
and El rincon in Adams morgan
both closed shortly after inspec-
tors discovered them still open.
Some businesses began to lay
off workers. Compass Coffee, with
12 locations in the District and
Virginia, dismissed 150 of its 189
employees monday night, though
the company said six locations
will remain open to sell takeout
drinks and tins of coffee.
“our business is down 90 per-Supervisors unanimously ap-
proved a state of e mergency decla-
ration that allows for easier access
to state and f ederal funds.
During a special board meet-
ing, Chairman Jeff C. mcKay (D)
said the county is doing all it can to
keep people safe.
“We will make it through this,”
mcKay said as he and his nine
board colleagues sat at least six
feet apart to avoid the spread of
germs.
In the District — where the
Catholic Church’s Basilica of the
National Shrine joined other reli-
gious institutions in temporarily
closing its doors to the public —
the council adopted emergency
legislation that halted evictions
and utility shut-offs. The measure
was quickly signed b y Bowser.
Among other things, the new
law allows residents who lose
their jobs or suffer losses in pay
while quarantined to more easily
receive unemployment b enefits. I t
gives Bowser the ability to extend
the d eadline for renewing benefits
including welfare and food
stamps and licenses, including
driver’s licenses.
Bowser will be a ble to put f ami-
lies experiencing homelessness in
interim housing for up to 60 daysmore cases for a total of 13.
Hogan unveiled plans to con-
vert state vehicle emissions in-
spection sites into drive-through
testing centers. But, he said, his
administration will hold back on
opening those centers until labs
have the capability to run the sam-
ples. otherwise, it would create
“false hope.”
meanwhile, health-care work-
ers were preparing f or an influx of
patients by freeing up beds and
expanding testing c apability.
Local officials worked to allay
public concerns as neighborhoods
and commercial areas grew more
deserted and additional public
events were canceled.
Both the D.C. federal appeals
court and Virginia’s Supreme
Court scaled back operations
Tuesday, while metro further cut
back transit services. The reduc-
tion, with trains running every 15
minutes starting Wednesday and
buses operating on a Sunday
schedule with some extra routes,
will help protect workers and cor-
responds w ith a 70 percent drop in
weekday ridership in recent days,
metro officials said.
In fairfax County, where the
county’s two additional cases
brought i ts total to 12, the Board ofMatt McclaIn/tHe WasHIngton Post
Ed a nd Paula Hurd of Phoenix, center, celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at a mostly empty Daniel O’Connell’s Irish Restaurant and Bar in Old Town Alexandria on Tuesday.union representing firefighters.
fire Chief Gregory m. Dean said
the city Health Department is
working to trace the firefighter’s
past movements and c ontacts.
The virus’s continuing impact
left t he region’s e conomy at a near
standstill on a St. Patrick’s Day
holiday that normally means
crowded b ars and restaurants.
many of those establishments
sat empty in the wake of orders by
Hogan (r) and D.C. mayor muriel
E. Bowser (D) this week to tempo-
rarily shut down businesses
where large groups of people gath-
er.
on Tuesday, Northam (D) also
prohibited larger gatherings,
though he refrained from order-
ing businesses to close completely
— seeking to balance concerns
over public health and the eco-
nomic damage caused by the pan-
demic.
In t he morning, N ortham urged
Virginians to follow f ederal guide-
lines restricting public gatherings
of 10 or more people in any busi-
nesses, but he stopped short of
declaring a ban.
But by the evening, he said com-
pliance was mandatory. His ad-
ministration stressed that offi-
cials h ope e nforcement w ill not be
necessary and that V irginians w ill
have the g ood sense to comply. But
aides said they wanted to make it
clear that local law enforcement
officials have the authority to act if
someone defies the order.
“our strategy must focus on
mitigating and slowing down the
spread of this virus so that our
medical system has more time to
prepare,” Northam said at a news
conference in richmond, where
he also announced that the state
Department of motor Vehicle of-
fices w ill c lose.
“Every one of us has a role in
being part of the solution,”
Northam said. “That means do not
go to St. Patrick’s Day parties to-
night. If you do, you are literally
putting others at r isk.”
The popular Virginia Gold Cup
horse-racing event in Great mead-
ow was postponed from may 2 to
June 20, o rganizers said.
Hogan (r) delayed maryland’s
April 28 primary until June 2. A
special election also scheduled for
April 28 to fill the remaining term
of the late congressman Elijah E.
Cummings (D-md.) will be mail-in
only.
“It would endanger public
health to allow thousands of peo-
ple to assemble in places like
schools and senior centers, which
are already closed under the state
of emergency,” Hogan said from
Annapolis. “It would put mary-
landers at risk, especially the poll
workers and election judges, most
of whom are retirees and in the
most vulnerable population.”
Both Hogan and Northam said
a shortage of available test kits
from the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention has made it
more challenging to gauge the
true impact of the d isease.
In maryland, montgomery
County added the most reported
cases in the state Tuesday, with
nine more for a total of 24. In
Virginia, Arlington County had
the largest increase, with four
REGION from B1
With nearly every local county hit by coronavirus, officials take dramatic steps
Silver Spring Village, a nonprofit
that serves older adults who are
“aging in place” in maryland.
They have stopped technology
lessons, home repairs and even
rides to medical appointments
that aren’t essential.
There are hundreds of commu-
nities across the country with
similar “Village” models, struc-
tured to connect older adults to
helpers and friends.
As t hey have scaled back opera-
tions, they have received calls and
emails from individuals, groups
and churches, hoping to do some-
thing, anything, to take action in
this time when so little feels with-
in control.
Judy Berman, the director of
Capitol Hill Village, said as grate-
ful as she is, she’s reminding peo-
ple that one way to “volunteer” in
this time is to just stay home, so
they don’t become unwitting car-
riers of the virus, despite any
precautions.
“Part of my r esponse is: Commu-
nicate with the young and healthy
about their role in stopping this,”
she said. “What feels like doing
nothing is one of the most impor-
tant things you can do.”
The sooner the virus stops
spreading, the sooner she will
have something truly meaningful
for those do-gooders to do: face-
to-face meetings with lonely older
adults. Holding hands. Listening
to aches and pains.
“I’m hoping all these folks hap-
py to do these errands now will be
equally willing when the p andem-
ic has run its course,” she said.
[email protected]
[email protected]crease risk for chronic illness,
cognitive deterioration, depres-
sion and even suicidal ideation.
This knowledge has been
weighing on Janine Tursini, the
director of Arts for the Aging,
which provides workshops on
to pics such as painting, poetry
and tango dancing in senior-care
settings throughout the D.C. a rea.
As t he virus began to spread in the
region, she asked the artists who
teach to eliminate touching from
their classes.
This meant depriving seniors
of the thing many of them want
most: someone to hold their
hands.
It quickly became apparent
that classes of any kind would be a
danger. retirement communities
closed their doors to visitors.
Communal spaces and dining
rooms were emptied as seniors
were told to stay i n their individu-
al rooms.
Tursini began to call the situa-
tion “a necessary evil.” Then she
started figuring out if it is possible
to create a system of online class-
es, the way that universities and
exercise studios are doing.
But therein lies another chal-
lenge for the elderly during this
time, especially those who are low
income: technology.
And the programs whose vol-
unteers could once train older
adults on how to browse YouTube
or use Skype: temporarily shut
down, too.
“That involves sitting right
next to someone who is on their
computer or their tablet, and
that’s just not a safe situation,”
said Doug Gaddis, who overseescan figure out wise ways to love
your neighbor,” said the rev. De-
lonte Gholston, the pastor of
Peace fellowship Church in
Northeast Washington, which has
organized stations around the
District to supply people with
food and essential supplies like
diapers and toiletries.
“We can’t let the pandemic
cause us to us lose our humanity,”
Gholston said.
As basic needs are met, those
who worked closely with the el-
derly and vulnerable populations
before the pandemic are strate-
gizing on how to do more than
just front-door drop offs.
The potential consequences of
isolation in older adults are well-
established: being lonely can in-alternative spring break trips had
to cancel their plans. To b e able to
continue delivering groceries and
home-cooked meals around the
region, the organization is work-
ing to develop an online training
program so it can bring on new
volunteers who can pack and de-
liver food, while remaining six
feet from each other and those
they serve.
With so many community
groups, restaurants and churches
organizing efforts, the nonprofit
DC food Project is keeping an
updated list on its website,
d cfoodproject.org , of places to
both get help and to give it.
“A situation like this, you really
have two options: You can either
hoard and close yourself off or you“If you are in DC and are in the
at-risk demographic and [need]
errands run so you can limit expo-
sure — will you email me,” tweet-
ed Allison mcGill, 45, on Thurs-
day. mcGill is the director of care
at t he Ta ble Church, a nondenom-
inational congregation in Colum-
bia Heights and downtown Wash-
ington.
By friday, hundreds of people
raised their hands to help mcGill
make runs for those in need. By
monday, t he list of volunteers had
grown to 1,800. Some helped
mcGill disinfect donated items.
She said she always sanitizes her
hands, then puts on gloves and
sprays the bag with Lysol before
she drops off or delivers food or
essential goods.
“I am about to drop off toilet
paper to a senior citizen who
couldn’t find any,” mcGill said
monday. “ Then I am dropping off
bleach to another senior citizen
who is a resident at a public
housing complex and needs to
clean out a community room. our
city sometimes gets a bad rap, but
honestly, our city is full of people
who really care.”
She passed on the massive list
of potential volunteers to the Cap-
ital Area food Bank, which needs
people to pack food in its distribu-
tion center.
food banks across the country
are facing declines in grocery
store donations, financial contri-
butions and regular volunteers,
many of whom are older and need
to isolate themselves.
food & friends in Northeast
Washington lost many of its vol-
unteers when college students onin place to do so have been upend-
ed.
Community centers, tutoring
services, home construction pro-
grams, recovery meetings, arts
workshops and animal shelters
have been forced to temporarily
shutter. many of those that
h aven’t c losed have had to aggres-
sively scale back their operations
to keep those they serve safe.
We A re family Senior outreach
Network, the organization that
provides support to Sanderlin,
along with her home health aide,
is asking its volunteers to pack
food (in shifts, to create distance),
deliver groceries (without going
inside) and create an extensive
network of check-ins (by phone)
so that the 800 seniors they serve
can remain in their homes.
“The advice to keep away from
other people is absolutely con-
trary to our aim. We’re about
trying to bring people together,”
said mark Andersen, the net-
work’s co-director. “If we aren’t i n
contact in creative, compassion-
ate ways, people are not only
going to feel abandoned, they will
be abandoned.”
Across the region and the
world, do-gooders have come to
the same conclusion and have
taken it upon themselves to figure
out how to help their neighbors
through the current pandemic.
Twitter, facebook, email discus-
sion groups and Nextdoor pages
are filled with call-outs from
healthy people eager to expose
themselves to the outside world
so others don’t have to.
VOLUNTEERS from B1
For established and would-be volunteers, the system to do so has been upended
courtesy of allIson McgIll
Table Church volunteers, from left, Jessica Breslin, Alessa Ribbens,
Angela Kissel and Allison McGill gather groceries for the elderly.