(Updated at 2:40 p.m.) Fairfax County Public Library will close on Sundays and Mondays starting this coming Sunday (Jan. 16) through April 1 to deal with a staffing shortage.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said on Twitter this morning (Monday) that the changes were prompted by staffing issues due to the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases and recruitment challenges.
2022 is off to a sobering start, as COVID-19 cases continue to soar in Fairfax County.
The county is now averaging 2,132 cases per day for the past week, according to Virginia Department of Health data. That dwarfs last winter’s surge, which peaked at a seven-day average of 697 cases on Jan. 17.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Fairfax County saw its largest-ever increase in coronavirus cases among fire and emergency medical responders this month, mirroring a surge in case rates compared to 2020.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department data shows that there are 53 positive cases and 14 in quarantine, all staying at home to curb the spread of COVID-19. That’s the most cases the department has seen at one time, according to county figures as of Sunday (Dec. 26).
As the winter surge continues following Christmas weekend, COVID-19 tests are becoming increasingly hard to come by in Fairfax County.
Many local testing facilities are booked until at least Thursday (Dec. 30). The shortage comes as COVID-19 cases surpass last winter’s surge. With another 1,441 cases recorded on Christmas Day, the county is now averaging 1,124 cases a day for the past week.
Fairfax County saw more COVID-19 cases over this past holiday weekend than at any other point in the pandemic.
The 1,550 cases reported on Christmas Eve (Friday) represented a new single-day record, surpassing the 1,485 cases that came in on Jan. 17, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
People looking to get items from furniture stores in Fairfax County say employees have told them they may have to wait weeks or months before the stock arrives.
The delays are another symptom of the supply chain disruptions that the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced across the country, affecting industries from vehicles and food to homebuilding materials.
Fairfax County Public Library is all out of COVID-19 rapid tests once again.
The library system has received 34,652 test kits since Dec. 1 as part of the Virginia Department of Health’s free testing kit pilot program, but as of 10:30 a.m. today (Tuesday), they have all been distributed.
The novel coronavirus is spreading exponentially in Fairfax County, outpacing even last winter’s surge.
The Fairfax County Health Department reported 569 COVID-19 cases this morning (Monday) for the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, pushing the total for the pandemic up to 102,362 cases.
Fairfax County’s current COVID-19 surge has now surpassed the late summer wave fueled by the delta variant’s arrival.
The county is averaging 216.7 new cases per day for the past week — the most since Feb. 19, when the weekly average was at 228.9 cases, according to Virginia Department of Health data.
(Updated at 6:40 p.m.) Like the rest of the country, Fairfax County continues to see increasing levels of COVID-19 transmission.
The county is now averaging about three times as many new cases per day as it was less than a month ago, with a seven-day average of 189.4 cases today (Monday), according to Virginia Department of Health data.
