Most Of NoVA Remains In 'Red Zone' For Cases, Percent Positivity

VIRGINIA — Positive cases of the coronavirus are on the rise again in Northern Virginia as the region reported 1,274 cases on Saturday compared to 1,106 on Friday and 730 on Thursday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

The region's seven-day average of cases climbed to 808 on Saturday after dipping to a 2021 low of 772 on Thursday. On Jan. 20, the region hit its seven-day case average peak of 1,623 since the start of the coronavirus.

Statewide, 4,709 new cases were reported Saturday, compared to 5,069 cases on Friday. Virginia's seven-day case average was 3,422 daily cases on Saturday, the second consecutive day it has climbed and well above any case average before November.

The highest daily case counts so far in the pandemic have been 9,914 on Jan. 17, 7,245 on Jan. 18, 6,757 on Jan. 16 and 6,172 on Jan. 25.

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden's administration released its second COVID-19 state report for Virginia since the new president took office. The weekly State Profile Reports are sent to Virginia and other states by the White House coronavirus response team. Former President Donald Trump's administration declined to release the weekly COVID-19 reports for each state during the pandemic.

Ten Virginia metro areas and 90 counties were in the "red zone" in the latest State Profile Report for Virginia, released Tuesday. The number of counties in the red zone was down by 15 from the previous report.

Red zones are metro areas and counties that during the previous week reported new cases at or above 101 per 100,000 population and a lab test positivity result at or above 10.1 percent.

Among the counties in the red zone were Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford and Spotsylvania. Based on improved data, the city of Alexandria dropped from the red zone into the "orange zone," while Arlington County has been in the orange zone for the past two weeks.

Metro area and counties that reported new cases between 51–100 per 100,000 population and a lab test positivity result between 8.0 and 10.0 percent, or one of those two conditions and one condition qualifying as being in the red zone, are considered to be in the orange zone.

Virginia ranked 11th in the nation in coronavirus percent positivity rates among its residents, according to the report released Tuesday, compared to the 14th spot in the previous report. Oklahoma, Nevada, South Carolina and Arizona have the highest lab test positivity rate in the nation.

South Africa Variant

On Friday, the VDH announced the first case of the South Africa coronavirus variant found in a resident of Virginia. The person lives in the Eastern region of Virginia. The health department said it is investigating the case and examining the person’s travel history.

The variant first emerged in South Africa in late 2020 and is associated with increased person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus. The health department said that "at this time, there is no evidence that infections with this variant cause more severe disease."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Virginia officials that the South Africa variant had been identified through testing conducted at a LabCorp facility.

To date, the South Africa variant has been identified in only two other U.S. states, South Carolina and Maryland.

COVID-19 Data

Current COVID-19 hospitalizations increased slightly from 2,358 to 2,370 on Saturday. There are 465 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care units and 294 on ventilators. Northern Virginia has 443 total COVID-19 patients, up from 420 patients on Friday.

According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 82 percent, and ventilator use is at 34 percent.

The positive average of PCR tests continues to decline since taking a downturn in early January. The latest statewide average is 10.3 percent as of Feb. 3. Northern Virginia's average is 9.0 percent.
There were 41 new COVID-19 deaths reported statewide Saturday. Since the start of the pandemic, 6,773 people in Virginia have been attributed to COVID-19.

Below are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Friday to Saturday:

• Alexandria: 9,702 cases, 493 hospitalizations, 105 deaths; increase of 72 cases and one hospitalization
• Arlington County: 12,150 cases, 740 hospitalizations, 205 deaths; increase of 116 cases and two hospitalizations
• Fairfax County: 61,425 cases, 3,330 hospitalizations, 807 deaths; increase of 523 cases, nine hospitalizations and four deaths
• Fairfax City: 443 cases, 32 hospitalizations and 12 deaths; increase of two cases and one hospitalization
• Falls Church: 311 cases, 20 hospitalizations, seven deaths; increase of five cases
• Loudoun County: 21,492 cases, 789 hospitalizations, 188 deaths; increase of 231 cases, one hospitalization and two deaths
• Manassas: 3,806 cases, 156 hospitalizations, 33 deaths; increase of 32 cases and one hospitalization
• Manassas Park: 1,087 cases, 66 hospitalizations, eight deaths; increase of six cases
• Prince William County: 36,413 cases, 1,339 hospitalizations, 325 deaths; increase of 287 cases, eight hospitalizations and one death
• Fredericksburg: 1,624 cases, 77 hospitalizations, 14 deaths; increase of 22 cases and two hospitalizations
• Spotsylvania County: 7,586 cases, 245 hospitalizations, 87 deaths; increase of 90 cases
• Stafford County: 8,490 cases, 279 hospitalizations, 52 deaths; increase of 191 cases, one hospitalization and one death