Fairfax County sees uptick in Covid hospitalizations, but cases stay low

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) For the first time since November, Fairfax County has added fewer than 100 new COVID-19 cases on two consecutive days.

There were 51 new cases reported today (Monday) in the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church. The 45 cases added yesterday represented the fewest daily cases since Nov. 16, when only eight new cases came in, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

The county is now averaging 111 new cases per day for the past week. That is the lowest the seven-day average has been since it hit 115 cases on Nov. 19, before the omicron variant arrived.

The case rate would still be considered a substantial level of community transmission under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s old metrics, but based on new metrics introduced on Feb. 25, it falls in the low transmission category.

However, the county saw a jump in hospitalizations throughout last week, adding 56 so far in March and bringing the current weekly average up to eight per day. The 26 new hospitalizations on Friday (March 4) are the most recorded in a single day since April 30, 2021, which had 44.

VDH indicates that the uptick stems from data reporting adjustments, rather than an increase in patients currently in the hospital for COVID-19.

“Fairfax is currently completing quality assurance steps, which includes entering COVID-19 hospitalizations from December 2021 and January 2022,” the department told FFXnow.

Only one new hospitalization was reported today.

The Fairfax Health District has seen 177,316 COVID-19 cases, 4,431 hospitalizations, and 1,443 deaths over the course of the pandemic.

The pace of COVID-19 vaccinations remains flat, with fewer than 1,000 people receiving their first dose since last Monday (Feb. 28).

Here are the latest vaccination numbers for the Fairfax Health District, according to the Fairfax County Health Department:

At Least One Dose

• Total: 963,337 residents, or 81.4% of the population
• 18 and older: 90.5%
• 16-17 years old: 96.6%
• 12-15 years old: 92.2%
• 5-11 years old: 52%

Fully Vaccinated

• Total: 869,969 residents, or 73.5% of the population
• 18 and older: 82.3%

VDH data shows that 468,389 county residents, or 40.7%, have received a third dose or booster shot, including 49.7% of adults and 31.4% of adolescents aged 12 to 17.