Consistent with much of the U.S., COVID-19 cases in Virginia have been climbing.
But for now, Northern Virginia is not seeing the kind of surge other communities in the state are.
Statewide, the seven-day average of new daily cases was at 1,094. Though that’s not quite yet comparable to the seven-day average peaks seen on March 31 (1,195) and Aug. 8 (1,198), it does mark a significant increase from the Oct. 1 average (747).
The number of cases in Northern Virginia is climbing as well, albeit at a slower rate. It’s consistent with an overall plateau that began around mid-June. The region’s seven-day average of new cases was 260 on Tuesday, up from about 161 on Oct. 3.
Here’s how that seven-day new case average has climbed around some Northern Virginia localities.
- Alexandria: From 12.71 on Oct. 3 to 16.43 on Tuesday.
- Arlington County: From 13 on Oct. 3 to 26.71 on Tuesday.
- Fairfax County: From 69.9 on Oct. 3 to 109.3 on Tuesday.
- Loudoun County: From 23.1 on Oct. 3 to 31.1 on Tuesday.
- Prince William County: From 39 on Oct. 3 to 69.7 on Tuesday.
- Stafford County: From 7.57 on Oct. 3 to 8.86 on Tuesday.
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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | D.C.
Virginia’s major area of concern is the Southwest region. Its seven-day average of new cases has been on a steady increase over the last four months: It was about 47 on June 27, but is now at over 342.
Last week, state health officials singled out Lee, Scott and Wise counties, and Norton city, and urged residents to take the usual precautions. In that area alone, they’ve seen 27 outbreaks and have topped 1,300 reported cases in total.
Statewide, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have begun to turn upward, too: About a month ago, the seven-day average was just over 900; at the end of last week, that average was at 1,031.
There are somewhat-more-encouraging numbers, though, in terms of Virginia’s capacity to care for the infected if their condition worsens: There are still thousands of hospital beds available. And though ICU occupancy is at 82% now, the addition of “surge beds” lowers that to 53%.
Virginia is also well-positioned in terms of ventilators. Only 28% or its over 2,900 ventilators were in use as of Tuesday.
And in terms of testing, the state has shown stability: The seven-day average for Virginia’s testing positivity remains around 5% — far below its high of over 20% back in late April.
Since the pandemic began, 3,600 Virginians have died, out of 175,409 total reported cases.
