The Fairfax County Health Department will stop investigating every COVID-19 case to identify close contacts who may have been exposed to the disease.
County staff will instead focus their contact-tracing efforts on outbreaks and cases in high-risk settings, such as long-term care and healthcare facilities, the department announced today (Wednesday).
The omicron wave continues to subside in Fairfax County, which is now seeing only a third as many COVID-19 cases as it was half a month ago.
The county is averaging 753 new cases a day for the past week, compared to 2,520 cases at the current surge’s height on Jan. 13. The caseload is still above last winter’s peak of 697 cases on Jan. 17, 2021, but at this rate, it could drop below that level within a week.
With a second week of consistently declining cases, Fairfax County’s current, omicron variant-fueled Covid wave has receded closer to the levels seen last winter.
The Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, reported 607 new cases today (Monday). With 845 cases added yesterday (Sunday), it’s the first time since Dec. 20 and 21 that there have been fewer than 1,000 new cases on consecutive days.
The peak of this winter’s omicron variant surge might be in the rearview mirror for Fairfax County.
After hitting an all-time high of 2,520 cases on Thursday (Jan. 13), the county’s COVID-19 caseload has dropped sharply over the past few days to a current weekly average of 1,919 new cases per day, according to Virginia Department of Health data.
After only five days of in-person instruction so far, Fairfax County Public Schools has reported 620 COVID-19 cases and quarantined 1,534 students this month.
FCPS has paused 11 classes since schools reopened after winter break on Monday (Jan. 10), spokesperson Julie Moult said in an email, meaning in-person learning was suspended to enable contact tracing.
Fairfax County has a new single-day record for COVID-19 infections.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, the county reported 3,463 new cases on Saturday (Jan. 8), surpassing the previous daily record of 3,111 cases set on Dec. 31. Before Dec. 22, the county had only seen more than 1,000 cases in a day once — on Jan. 17, 2021.
Updated at 4:05 p.m. — Fairfax County Public Schools will be closed again tomorrow (Friday) due to tonight’s anticipated snowfall, using its last allotted traditional snow day.
Fairfax County Public Schools reiterated its commitment to in-person instruction today (Thursday), even as it acknowledges that surging COVID-19 cases will likely result in staffing shortages.
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).
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.
