SPORTS: Molly Cesanek and Yehor Yehorov are climbing the ranks in ice dancing. Page 8
October 14, 2020 | Vol. 19, No. 42 | 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.
Cars trickle into the Woodbridge Senior Center parking lot for free, drive-thru COVID-19 testing on a recent Thursday afternoon. The senior center has been closed since the pandemic began in March. PHOTOS BY DELIA ENGSTROM
Free COVID-19 tests draw fewer takers Prince William sees decline in demand for free tests By Jill Palermo
Times Staff Writer
When Daniel Grijalva arrived at the Woodbridge Senior Center for a free COVID-19 test earlier this month, he had already tested positive for COVID-19, as had his wife and one of his sons. But fortunately, he said, they suffered few symptoms. Now, however, the family was worried about their 13-year-old daughter, who’d had a sore throat and runny nose for the past few days. When Grijalva, an electrician who lives in Woodbridge, heard Prince William County was offering free tests, he saw it as chance to get some help. “I’m an essential worker. I have to work, and I took [the virus] home to all of them,” Grijalva said of his family, shaking his head with concern. If his daughter’s test came back positive, he said he hoped a nurse would call to tell them what to do next. Agueda Solorzano, of Woodbridge, also came to the senior center for a free COVID-19 test and some reassurance. She said she just returned from a trip to Florida and wanted to make sure she wasn’t carrying the virus before returning to her babysitting job.
“I don’t have health insurance. The fact they are doing free testing here is just amazing,” Solorzano said after completing the test, which took about 10 minutes from start to finish. Both Solorzano and Grijalva said A nurse contracted by Prince they were grateful for the county’s free William County administers COVID-19 tests, but a free COVID-19 test outside on that particular the Woodbridge Senior Thursday in early Center on Thursday, Oct. 1. October, they were among only about 30 people who took advantage of the opportunity, according Prince William County Assistant Fire Chief Matt Smolsky, who oversees community testing for the Prince William Health District. Since July, the county has been offering up to 200 free COVID-19 tests at each of 12 to 14 sites on a regular, weekly schedule. But demand has been on the decline since August, when a surge of college students came through for tests before returning to campus. Since then, the county has administered only about 500 to 600 free tests each week, Smolsky said. See TESTING, page 2
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PHOTO BY DELIA ENGSTROM
School Board Vice Chair Loree Williams (Woodbridge) and Chairman Dr, Babur Lateef (At Large) confer during their Aug. 26 meeting about return to school plans.
Most students to stay virtual until 2021 Local COVID numbers too high for full hybrid plan
By Jill Palermo Times Staff Writer Prince William County’s still high COVID-19 numbers and the logistical hurdles of returning students to schools during the pandemic will keep the majority of local students learning virtually until at least early 2021, Superintendent Steven Walts told the school board last week. During an Oct. 8 meeting that stretched more than six hours and included impassioned pleas from both parents wanting their kids to return to school and teachers expressing concerns about safety, the school board reluctantly agreed to Walts’ phased-in approach to the 50% hybrid plan. The change allows only pre-K through fifthgrade students, as well as high school students taking some career and technical education courses, to return to school buildings for in-person instruction between Nov. 10 and Jan. 26. Under the plan, pre-K and kindergarten students whose families chose in-person instruction would return to school two days a week starting Nov. 10. First grade students would return no earlier than Dec. 1; second- and third-graders no earlier than Jan. 12; and fourth- and fifth-graders no earlier than Jan. 26. High school students enrolled in certain CTE classes would be permitted to attend three-hour in-person sessions on Mondays, either from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. or 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., beginning on Nov. 16, Walts said. See VIRTUAL, page 4
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