Please stop flushing wipes down the toilet, even if they’re labeled “flushable,” Fairfax County said in a recent message to community members.
The county’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services urged residents late last week to avoid flushing anything other than toilet paper after a mass of non-disposable wipes clogged a regional sewer pipeline, exacerbating overflows into the Potomac River.
Another measles case has been detected in Fairfax County, this time in the Lorton area.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, an adult who recently traveled abroad has been diagnosed with measles after visiting a local grocery store and two Inova facilities, potentially exposing other people.
In addition to enduring a winter storm, anyone who shopped at Target in Reston around noon on Jan. 25 may have been exposed to measles.
The department store at 12197 Sunset Hills Road is one of five different locations in western Fairfax County visited late last month by an adult who is now confirmed to have measles, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
Like the rest of the D.C. region, Fairfax County is still working its way out from under the mounds of snow and ice left behind by Winter Storm Fern.
On top of the three deaths from medical emergencies reported by the Fairfax County Police Department, the Jan. 25 storm resulted in a “significant” surge in sledding-related injuries throughout last week, according to Inova.
At least three people in Fairfax County have died this week in the aftermath of Winter Storm Fern and the extreme cold continuing to grip the D.C. region.
The Fairfax County Police Department says its officers have responded to “several” CPR calls for people experiencing heart troubles in recent days, including three cases where the person died.
A sewage spill in the Potomac River northwest of D.C. last week has not affected drinking water in Fairfax County, the local water utility says.
The spill occurred in Montgomery County, Maryland, along Clara Barton Parkway, which hugs the northern edge of the Potomac River near Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. The spill was caused by a DC Water sewer pipe that collapsed late Monday, Jan. 19, shooting sewage out of the ground and into the river.
A measles case in Northern Virginia has raised concern about more people becoming exposed to the disease, including at the Inova Fairfax Hospital campus in Merrifield.
The Virginia Department of Health reported today (Tuesday) that a preschool-aged child who traveled internationally was confirmed to have measles. This is the third measles case reported in Virginia so far in 2026.
With influenza and other respiratory illnesses still elevated, Reston Hospital Center is tightening its rules around face masks.
Patients with flu-like symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, a fever or a runny nose, are now “strongly encouraged to wear a mask if they are able” and to notify front desk staff when they arrive at a provider office, urgent care center or emergency department, HCA Virginia announced yesterday (Monday).
A preschool-aged child diagnosed with measles recently visited the medical center at Fort Belvoir, among other locations in the D.C. region, the Virginia Department of Health says.
The child, who lives in Northern Virginia, was present at the Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center Emergency Department and Executive Medicine Suite (9300 DeWitt Loop) at Fort Belvoir between 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., and from 10 p.m. to midnight last Friday (Jan. 9), potentially exposing other patients, visitors and staff.
Mark Crutchfield said his son Brandon was a typical teenager with a quick wit, a love for sports and acting and a knack for making others laugh — until he lost his life to a fentanyl overdose Nov. 4, 2022 at 20 years old.
Crutchfield, a Fairfax County resident and licensed counselor working in addiction treatment, said his son was raised on a strong anti-drug message, and he believed his son understood the risks of drug use. But, as the grieving father says, drugs do not discriminate.
