Every Alexandrian can take precautions to help prevent serious illness: stay home and get tested when symptomatic, wash your hands, and stay up to date on vaccines.

The City of Alexandra encourages wearing masks and maintaining physical distance in City facilities:

• Visitors and employees in City facilities are encouraged to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status, based on their personal preference and as informed by their personal level of risk.
• In health care and congregate settings, the City will continue to follow CDC guidance for community transmission rates, which requires that staff and visitors wear an appropriate mask or respirator while Alexandria has substantial or high community transmission.
• Everyone who is not up to date on their vaccines is strongly encouraged to find an appointment at vaccines.gov, and should continue to wear a mask and maintain 6 feet of physical distance from others while inside City buildings.
• Meeting rooms, hallways and elevators will remain set up with safety measures in place to provide the option to maintain physical distance. Virtual options may be available for meetings as indicated at alexandriava.gov/Calendar. Plexiglass partitions will remain in place until it is determined they are no longer needed.
• The City will continue to follow guidance from the CDC, the Virginia Department of Health and Alexandria Health Department, and will adjust policy for City government facilities as necessary to prevent serious illness from COVID-19.
• The federal government continues to require that masks are worn when using public transportation, including on buses, trains, and airplanes.  

Alexandria is currently at a low COVID-19 community level. Wearing a mask is not required in most settings, but individuals may choose to do so at any time. Specific settings, such as health care and congregate facilities, may still require masks.

“Wear It Well” by wearing a mask:

• If you have COVID-19 symptoms
• If you are in the 10 days after a COVID-19 diagnosis
• If you are in the 10 days after an exposure to someone with COVID-19 and are around other people.
• That fits snugly over the nose and chin without gaps. Masks with multiple layers of fabric provide greater protection against transmission.

Mask requirements by individual businesses continue to be permitted. Mask signs and flyers are available for download and use from the Multilingual Resources page.

Follow the CDC’s tips on reducing your risk of getting or spreading COVID-19.

Hosting a gathering? The CDC has suggestions on how to set up a safer event.

If you or someone in your household has COVID-19, or has been a close contact, you may be  asked not to leave your home for an extended period. Learn more about when it’s safe to be around others. Residents should plan and prepare by doing the following:  

• Have on hand enough food, household and pet supplies to last for two weeks. 
• Gather enough medical supplies to last for one month, especially prescriptions and other medicines you may need.
• Identify a list of people who can help you or will need to be notified in the event of an emergency,  including family, friends, neighbors, carpool drivers, healthcare providers, teachers, employers, the local public health department and other community resources. 
• Identify people who may need help, like neighbors, friends, family and co-workers who are older adults, have limited resources, have special needs, don’t understand English well or are new to the area.  
• Talk to your employer about changes at work, how family and sick leave will be handled and if there are plans to work from home or elsewhere.  

• Remain vigilant for scams related to COVID-19. You may receive fake phone calls or emails with malicious attachments or links to fraudulent websites, to try to trick you into revealing sensitive information or donating to fraudulent charities or causes.

• The Alexandria Health Department will not call and ask for financial or sensitive information such as bank accounts or your social security number. Learn more about what happens during a case investigation or contact tracing call from the health department. 

• Exercise caution in handling any email with a COVID-19-related subject line, attachment, or hyperlink, and be wary of social media pleas, texts, or calls related to COVID-19.

• Do not reveal personal or sensitive information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information.

• Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails from unofficial sources, and be wary of email attachments.

• Learn how to avoid social engineering and phishing attacks.

• Use trusted sources, such as government websites ending in .GOV like coronavirus.gov (CDC), vdh.virginia.gov, and alexandriava.gov/Coronavirus.

• Verify a charity’s authenticity before making donations. Review the Federal Trade Commission’s page on Charity Scams for more information.

• Businesses and organizations should review information about risk management related to COVID-19.