Looking back on week 2 of COVID-19 pandemic. Local effects: See page 5.
March 25, 2020 | Vol. 19, No. 13 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | 50¢ Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
See PrinceWilliamTimes.com for coronavirus updates
A ‘pop-up’ COVID-19 testing site at the Prince William Medical Center in Manassas.
‘Pop-up’ COVID-19 testing sites await test kits UVA Novant Health says sites are poised outside ERs in Manassas, Haymarket By Daniel Berti
Times Staff Writer
County officials began moving the shelter last Tuesday, March 17, after Gov. Ralph Northam signed an emergency order limiting restaurants, theaters and fitness centers to no more than 10 patrons. The shelter opened in its new space on Thursday, March 19. By Saturday night, clients were settling in to the new routine, said Rose Powers and Gabrielle Tibbs, both of StreetLight Ministries, a nonprofit that runs the overnight shelter for the county. Since Thursday night, clients have gathered outside the old overnight shelter starting at about 5:45 p.m. each night. A security guard offers squirts of hand sanitizer, searches bags, and uses a handheld metal detector to check for weapons. Clients then board a Potomac Rappahannock Transportation Commission bus that ferries them to the Ferlazzo building. Once inside, they check in and are assigned cots and shower times.
Two pop-up coronavirus testing sites have been established at Novant UVA Health facilities in Prince William County. But as of early this week, they were not yet operational. Michelle Strider, chief quality officer at Novant Health UVA Health System, said each of the organizations’ three acute care facilities – Prince William Medical Center in Manassas, Haymarket Medical Center and Culpeper Medical Center – have external pop-up sites ready and waiting outside each hospital’s emergency room. External testing sites generally consist of triage tents to help staff safely and efficiently screen emergency department patients for COVID-19. “These are available to meet anticipated surges to our emergency rooms for those needing emergency care. Until testing kits are more readily available, we will not be using these locations for COVID-19 testing,” she said. As of Monday morning, Novant Health UVA Health System did not yet have a timeline for when they will start using the pop-up sites, Strider said. Prince William Health District Director Dr. Alison Ansher said last week during a virtual town hall with local lawmakers that coronavirus testing has so far been reserved for those who most need it because testing in the county is “limited.” Testing has been prioritized for the elderly and those with chronic illness who display the symptoms of the coronavirus, Ansher said. “Because we have limited tests, we really need to save it for the most vulnerable folks that could end up on ventilators and not just be testing people because they want to be tested,” Ansher said. Ansher added that Novant Health UVA Health System’s local hospitals have been helping with testing because the hospital is able to provide personal protective equipment for staff. “As you know, there’s a shortage [of PPE] and that’s part of the issue,” Ansher said. Sentara hospitals began drive-thru testing in Williamsburg, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Hampton last week, but not in Prince William, according
See SHELTER, page 2
See TESTING, page 2
‘Social distancing’ relocates homeless shelter TIMES STAFF PHOTOS/JILL PALERMO
Chairs are spread 6 feet apart in front of the TV at the A.J. Ferlazzo building gymnasium, where Prince William County relocated its overnight emergency shelter last week.
County moves shelter to Ferlazzo gym amid crisis By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
Just a few months ago, Jahneya Miller-Watson was working at a Bojangles restaurant and living with her boyfriend in a rented room. But the landlord recently decided he needed the space, leaving the two with no place to stay. Since then, Miller-Watson has spent her days in a tent near the Prince William County overnight shelter in between venturing out to fill out job applications and looking for places to charge her cell phone. But life became even more difficult last week when the coronavirus pandemic closed Potomac Mills mall and forced its neighboring fast food restaurants to shift to drive-thru only. “They’re not looking for workers, so it’s hard to get back on your feet,” Miller-Watson said Saturday. “Now that this coronavirus is happening, it’s making it 10 times harder on people.” One bright spot, Miller-Watson said, is the county’s recent decision to relocate its overnight shelter from a modest, house-sized building off Telegraph Road in Woodbridge to a gymnasium at the A.J. Ferlazzo Building. The building, at U.S. 1 and Cardinal Drive, was the original Gar-Field High School and later became Saunders Middle School before both schools relocated to larger buildings. It now houses county offices but still has a gymnasium with men’s and women’s bathrooms as well as several showers.
Jahneya Miller-Watson
INSIDE Classifieds.............................................9 Coronavirus News............................. 1-5
Public Safety.........................................5 Puzzle Page..........................................6 Real Estate............................................8
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