Parking, no problem: WTOP goes shopping at reopened Northern Virginia mall

By Neal Augenstein
May 29, 2020 | 4:55 PM

Welcome, but keep your distance. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein) — Fair Oaks Mall is open for business, with reminders to shoppers to wear masks and keep at least 6 feet apart.

Not quite ready. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein) — On Friday, about half of the stores at Fair Oaks Mall had reopened — some were still preparing to be able to facilitate current requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Not for everyone. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein) — Some shoppers were glad to be back in the mall, but volume seemed light during WTOP's trip to Fair Oaks Mall.

Extra clean. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein) — Cleaning crews circulated through Fair Oaks Mall, maintaining sanitary conditions as shoppers returned to indoor malls and Northern Virginia entered Phase One of the state's pandemic reopening plan.

Sorry, off limits. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein) — Children expecting to run around Fair Oaks Mall's indoor playground will be disappointed to see it is closed, and has been reconfigured with distanced benches.

See you soon. (WTOP/Neal Augenstein) — Some stores in Fair Oaks Mall were still closed Friday, but had signs promising they would be open to customers in the near future.

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Northern Virginia joined the rest of the state Friday in Phase One of reopening with restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that included local shopping malls.

Under the first phase of Gov. Ralph Northam’s recovery plan, retailers can welcome more customers into their stores — from a 10-person limit up to 50% capacity. Restaurants can reopen outdoor seating to patrons at 50% capacity.

Around noon Friday, WTOP took a trip to Fair Oaks Mall, in Fairfax, to see if shoppers were ready to come back to the mall, and whether stores and restaurants were ready to welcome them.

REOPENING PLANS AROUND THE REGION:

OVERALL
D.C.
Northern Virginia
Montgomery County
Prince George’s County
Frederick, Anne Arundel and Charles counties

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WASHINGTON — Fentanyl seizures decreased by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted the Department of Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to conducting immigration enforcement, according to a report government investigators published Friday. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. “With ICE dedicating more staff hours to immigration investigations, staffing hours for fentanyl investigations declined,” the report said. The report found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.

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