Town prepares for COVID-19 with cancellations, Visitor Center closing

In a press release from the office of Mayor Gene Tewalt issued at 2:42 p.m. Monday, March 16, the Town of Front Royal announced precautions it is undertaking – perhaps a poor choice of words in this context – to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

Those precautions include the cancellation of tonight’s town council work session, as well as of the Town Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting scheduled for later in the week. The press release also notes the indefinite closing of the Front Royal Visitor’s Center as of its 5 p.m. closing time this afternoon.

Royal Examiner got word of the Visitors Center closing several hours earlier when this reporter stopped by to see if Visitor’s Center Director Tim Smith had any updates on his department and staff’s situation as it pertains to both the coronavirus situation and town council and Interim Town Manager Tederick’s existing and planned FY 2021 cutbacks of the Visitors Center budget and functions.

As Gail and Tim pose for the camera, Nancy Wunsche checks local attraction map info out with Nellie at right. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

The Town is also suggesting people pay town utility bills online, by phone or mail, and is instituting some physical distance precautions for those who do continue to pay their bills in person at Town Hall.

Citing the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines on “limiting social contact” that could allow the spread of germs, most particularly the COVID-19 virus that has been declared a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the mayor has announced that, “In the event, a citizen must come to Town Hall to interact with the Finance Department, a teller-line divider approximately two feet from the counter has been placed. This will allow citizens to conduct business and still communicate a safe distance from town employees.

“All employees have been instructed to disinfect their work area and common space on the hour, every hour during the workday.

“The two part-time custodians are now working full time and have been directed to clean common areas in Front Royal Police Department, Town Hall, Public Works and Electric Department,” the mayor “preparedness” release observes.

Above, Town Hall still opens for business, with conditions; below, the two-foot STOP line for paying Town utility bills after closing time at Town Hall Monday.

As of 4 p.m. Monday, the Warren County Board of Supervisors’ 9 a.m. Budget work session with the school board was still on, leading one to believe the 7 p.m. regular county board meeting was on as well.

Of the Visitor’s Center closing, the release notes that Visitor Center Manager Smith “informed the Town Manager that the Commonwealth of Virginia has closed all statewide Visitor Centers.

Furthermore, Virginia Tourism Corporation has directed its employees to work from home. Considering these points and at the request of Mr. Smith, the Front Royal Visitor Center will be closed until further notice.”

Queried on that information, Smith said it was State “Welcome Centers” he told Interim Town Manager Tederick the state government had closed, not all local Visitors Centers. The latter is a decision the localities would choose to make barring a mandate to municipalities from the State should the public health situation further deteriorate. Other than that misunderstanding, the information regarding the Visitors Center closing was accurate, Smith said.

National, Global Statistics
As of Monday morning, the number of confirmed cases in Virginia was 45, with no cases yet being verified in Front Royal or Warren County. Maryland had reported 37 cases and Washington, D.C. 17. Also, as of Monday morning according to the CDC, the total number of cases in the U.S. was 1,629, with 41 deaths.

Washington state’s KOMO news reported that 25 of 37 deaths in that particularly hard-hit state are tied to the Life Care Center in Kirkland. It is believed a visitor to that retirement home had recently returned from a visit to the disease’s epicenter near Hunan Province in China without knowing they were infected.

According to the World Health Organization, as of this past weekend, the number of cases worldwide was about 160,000, with just under 5,000 fatalities. The international fatality rate remains around 3.4%, considerably higher than normal flues’ .1% or .01%, if considerably lower than catastrophic diseases like Ebola or the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.

Despite the fairly low numbers domestically, the disease’s high contagion rate and impacts in other affected nations, particularly in Europe, have led to an abundance of caution in the U.S.

An abundance of caution – above, the WCGC parking lot late Monday morning; below the WC School Board parking lot on Monday. Virginia’s public schools have been closed as a precaution against COVID-19’s spread.

Life goes on
For some at least – rather than hoarding toilet paper or canned goods, as noted above one South Carolina family was getting information on amenities offered in Front Royal and by Warren County’s nearby natural attractions.

Nancy Wunsche, husband Werner and his brother Gerhardt decided to visit the area after visiting their daughter who works on Capitol Hill in D.C. Gerhardt, she noted, has been visiting the family near Charleston, S.C. for a month from his home in the southern Black Forest region of Germany.

From left, Visitors Center employee Nellie with Nancy Wunsche, husband Werner and brother-in-law Gerhardt. We all feel fine, but we’re not going to shake on it – as a precaution.

She observed, however, that her brother-in-law’s visit may be extended for several months due to factors related to the COVID-19 outbreak, which has already hit Europe hard; fortunately, it would seem after Gerhardt – who appeared very healthy – left his homeland.