March 16 - Prince William County Government Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response Update

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Today, I signed the Declaration of a Local State of Emergency for Prince William County in response to the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control to limit the size of crowds to help slow the spread of the COVID-19. I know a declaration of emergency sounds scary, but it is an administrative function that allows the county to mobilize and prioritize our resources, handle procurement issues, as well as assign and coordinate response activities to help promote and enforce social distancing, which will keep our employees and residents healthy.

It’s important to note that this declaration is not because we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of confirmed cases in Prince William County. As of right now, the county remains at a relatively low number of confirmed cases and we have no reason to suspect community spread.

We know that it’s critical that we practice social distancing as much as possible in order to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and help our health system.

In order to enforce social distancing as much as possible in the community, we have taken the following actions in the last 24 hours:
Closed all libraries.
We are closing the Adult Day Healthcare program as of tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17.
Chair Wheeler cancelled the Board of County Supervisors meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 17.
Chairman Milne cancelled the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 18.

We are strongly encouraging residents to practice social distancing in your day to day activities, as well.

I want you to know that our Emergency Operations Center is fully activated, and we are working around the clock to ensure that we are able to maintain essential services. The county government remains open and public safety services remain at normal operations. However, some services are operating with a reduced staff in our facilities. So, we are also encouraging residents to do business with the county online as much as possible. If you must come to a county facility, you should call the office you wish to visit before making the trip

This is the time for us to come together to support each other. We can do that by making sure everyone has the correct information and doing their part in preventing the spread of germs and respiratory disease.

[uzmaakbar]

Thank you so much sir for this information.

[davinp]

I would recommend signing up for the Everbridge app. Prince William County uses it to send out emergency alerts

[debbymichalowski]

How do you social distance in a crowded grocery store?

[lisatabor]

I thank you for the constant, consistent updates. The information is extremely valuable and provides a sense of comfort that our local government is taking charge of the event and cares about its residence welfare. Keep up the good work!

[dorotheajohnson]

That’s great to hear but what are you doing for your residents exactly?

[BryanAlexander]

Your staff replied to my emails very quickly and well. Kudos!

[justaphase]

Thank you for the update. I am quite scared; however, this was helpful.

[schnookiesr.]

Then ask Walmart why they suspended grocery pickup!!!!