Fairfax County’s Covid transmission level drops to ‘substantial’

The omicron surge continues to subside in Fairfax County.

The Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, reported 95 new COVID-19 cases today (Tuesday), making it the first day with fewer than 100 new cases since Dec. 11, when there were 69 cases.

The county is now averaging 131 cases per day for the past week — the lowest seven-day average since Nov. 30 (123 cases).

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data tracker, the level of COVID-19 transmission in the county has dropped from “high” to “substantial” for the first time since the week of Nov. 21-27.

The CDC measures community transmission levels based on the number of new cases per 100,000 people and the percentage of positive tests over the past seven days. Fairfax County’s current case rate of 99.1 per 100,000 people comes just under the 100-case threshold that separates the high and substantial categories.

The 5.77% seven-day testing positivity rate falls within the “moderate” threshold, but the community transmission level is determined by the higher metric.

There has been a total of 175,747 Covid cases in the Fairfax Health District since the first infected resident developed symptoms nearly two years ago. The district has seen 4,370 people hospitalized by the disease caused by the coronavirus and 1,402 people die.

The seven deaths reported today bring February’s death toll up to 115 people, shedding more light on the damage caused by the omicron and delta variants of the virus.

With the winter COVID-19 surge easing, vaccination activity in the district has plateaued, according to the Fairfax County Health Department.

There are 961,599 residents — 81.2% of the population — who have received at least one vaccine dose, including:

• 90.4% of people 18 and older
• 96.5% of people aged 16 and 17
• 92% of 12-15 year olds
• 51.3% of 5-11 year olds

Exactly 868,169 residents, or 73.4% of the population, are fully vaccinated, including 82.2% of adults. About 40% of Fairfax County residents, including 49% of adults, have gotten a booster or third dose.