Latest COVID-19 update from the City of Fredericksburg

Tim Baroody, Fredericksburg City Manager, provides an update regarding Governor Northam's Executive Order #53. New restrictions are imposed on businesses, ordering some to close entirely. Prohibiting dine-in operations at food service establishments, breweries and wineries. And limiting all public and private gatherings to ten people or less. With this action, the City Manager’s Emergency Order #1 as amended is being withdrawn effective 11:59pm Tuesday, March 24th when the Governor’s more restrictive state order goes into effect. Diane Beyer, Director of Public Works shares that the City is continuing to provide services, but with a much reduced team Citywide. Although there is no change to trash and recycling pick-ups at this time, please be patient with the crews if they do not reach your location at the time you usually see them. They will get there. Please abide by the trash requirements and do not place additional bags next to your trash toters. They will not be picked up. Also, please make sure to have ALL TRASH bagged in the toter. Be considerate of our hardworking crews. By bagging trash, there is less likelihood of items splashing or otherwise contacting our crew members. Belman Roadd and the RBoard landfill convenience centers will now be closed on Sundays and Monday. These changes are being made to be able to maintain operations with less labor. Please do NOT flush anything other than toilet paper. No Wipes in the Pipes! We are checking trouble spots daily throughout the City, but we are hoping everyone will remain vigilant and monitor disposal of items that are not to be flushed. “Flushable” on a product does not mean it disintegrates, nor that it’s OK to put into the system. Remember that the sewer pipe from your sinks and toilets all the way to the City’s main line, is the responsibility of the home or business owner. So, the clog you prevent may be your own. Grease is another item not to put into the system.If you see City crews out and about please respect their space and remember to “social distance”. They have families and co-workers they need to consider as well, and if they know you will respect them in this way, it will lessen the stress levels they are working under right now. Thanks for respecting our crews! Replacement trees will be planted throughout the City in the next few weeks by Tree Fredericksburg personnel, who are contractors to the City. Planting trees is still a fairly healthy activity to be involved in, and there should be no more than 2 or 3 staff involved in each planting. Please, again, respect the space of these folks, and if you must engage them, speak from a distance of at least 6 feet away. The City’s Arbor Day ceremony has been cancelled. Please look for further updates on the City’s Public Works pages. They are updated as necessary. For answers to other questions, please call the Public Works City Hall office at 372-1023. We are still here, ready to assist as we can. Mike Jones, Deputy Fire Chief for the Fredericksburg Fire Department provides the City’s update on COVID-19 local preparations. As of noon today, there were 46,455 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. with 593 deaths resulting from those cases. In Virginia there have been 4,470 persons tested for the disease with 290 presumptive positive cases with 45 of those hospitalized and unfortunately 7 deaths around the state. In our immediate area there are still eight positive cases between Spotsylvania and Stafford. There have been no positive cases in Fredericksburg, I expect that number to increase as more testing is done. These numbers are increasing each and every day and probably will for the foreseeable future.The City continues to provide full services to the public with a reduced footprint since City facilities are still closed to the public. We stand ready to assist you as much as we can through electronic means. We know you are anxious and nervous about the virus and its’ effects on your everyday life. Know that the City is here to provide services even during this difficult times. Our first responders are still answering calls for service and other essential functions like trash pick-up and water and wastewater treatment continue to move forward as normal. For those that have questions about their health and should they seek medical care, we are working in association with Mary Washington HealthCare to provide you access to the Health Link Nurse Line. It is available from 6:00am to Midnight 7 days a week at (540) 741-1000. This is especially important to not over tax the EMS system with conditions that can be handle by other methods.

Posted by Fredericksburg Government, Va on Tuesday, March 24, 2020