The calendar may have turned a page, but COVID-19 cases in Fairfax County keep going up.

The Fairfax Health District, which also includes Fairfax and Falls Church cities, has added 812 cases over the past three days, according to the Virginia Department of Health, which didn’t report new cases on Saturday or Sunday (April 30-May 1).

The district is averaging 307 cases per day for the past week — nearly four times the 77.1 cases recorded on March 22, which remains the lowest weekly average of the year. The district last averaged over 300 cases on Feb. 11 (319.9 cases), as the pandemic’s winter surge was waning.

While hospitalizations are still relatively low, they have noticeably increased over the past month. Another 30 Fairfax County residents were admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 last week, a 23% increase from the previous seven days, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through Friday (April 29).

Virginia’s northern region is averaging 60 hospitalizations per day for the week, a roughly 60% increase from three weeks ago.

In addition, four more district residents have died from COVID-19 since last week, bringing the overall death toll to 1,511 people, according to Fairfax County Health Department data. The district has recorded 186,954 cases and 4,484 hospitalizations.

While the BA.2 omicron subvariant has been the predominant Covid strain during this surge, the VDH reported on Friday that another, even more transmissible omicron subvariant, dubbed BA.2.12.1, “is beginning to make inroads” nationally, particularly in New York and the northeastern part of the U.S.

In a blog post last Tuesday (April 26), the county health department again urged community members to get vaccinated if they haven’t done so already.

“There are instances where some vaccinated people get COVID illness, but the disease will be milder and they will have a reduced chance of hospitalization,” the FCHD said. “Consider wearing a mask in indoor settings, avoiding crowds and taking other precautions to keep yourself and your loved ones safer.”

More than three-quarters of Fairfax Health District residents — 76% or 898,938 people — are now considered fully vaccinated. That’s 1,312 more people than this time last week, and it includes 84.1% of all people aged 18 and older.

A total of 988,831 residents, or 83.5% of the population, has gotten at least one dose:

• 92.3% of adults
• 98.5% of 16-17 year olds
• 94.3% of 12-15 year olds
• 59.1% of 5-11 year olds

According to VDH, about 43.3% of county residents, or 498,156 people, have received a booster or third shot, including 52.8% of adults and 34.1% of adolescents aged 12-17.

Officially, Fairfax County’s COVID-19 community level remains low, but when the county last saw this many cases, Fairfax County Public Schools was still fighting to keep masks in place.

The Fairfax Health District, which also includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, is now averaging 270 cases a day for the past week — the highest seven-day average since Feb. 13 (274 cases) — after adding more than 300 cases each on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (April 21-23).

The 399 cases reported on April 22 set a new one-day record for this spring and represented the most new cases in a single day since Feb. 5, which had 445 cases, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

As typically happens after the weekend, case numbers have dipped slightly with just 196 cases added today (Monday), bringing the district’s all-time totals up to 184,805 cases, 4,448 hospitalizations, and 1,507 deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies the county’s COVID-19 level as low based on hospital admissions (currently 2.2 per 100,000 residents for past seven days) and the percentage of beds occupied by Covid patients (1.4%).

However, cases have more than tripled since the weekly average hit a low of 77 cases on March 22.

The Fairfax Health District’s PCR testing positivity rate has also jumped from 3.7% at the end of March to 8.9% as of April 21, though only about half as many tests are being conducted as there were during the height of the omicron variant surge in January.

Based on the case and testing metrics the CDC used until late February, Fairfax County’s COVID-19 transmission would be designated as “high.”

Vaccination demand remains relatively flat, with fewer than 1,200 residents obtaining their first dose since last week, according to the Fairfax County Health Department.

About 83.5% of all Fairfax Health District residents — 987,872 people — have gotten at least one vaccine dose, including:

• 92.2% of people 18 and older
• 98.4% of 16-17 year olds
• 94.2% of 12-15 year olds
• 58.8% of 5-11 year olds

897,626 district residents, or 75.8%, are fully vaccinated, meaning they’ve gotten two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That includes 83.9% of all adults.

In Fairfax County, 495,196 residents — 43% of the population — have received a booster or third dose, including 52.5% of adults and 33.8% of adolescents aged 12-17.

Since the end of March, the CDC has also recommended second booster shots for some people, including people 50 and older, those who got the J&J vaccine, and immunocompromised individuals.

Kids under 5, however, may have to wait until this summer to get their first shot, even as mask requirements and other Covid health protocols disappear.

According to Politico, Moderna plans to seek authorization of a two-shot vaccine for kids younger than 6 this month, but data suggests that, like a Pfizer vaccine that got delayed, a third dose may be needed to more effectively prevent symptomatic infections.

On March 12, a resident of Fairfax County, or possibly the cities of Fairfax or Falls Church died from COVID-19.

Reported to the Virginia Department of Health within the past week, the most recent confirmed death brings the Fairfax Health District’s death toll from the pandemic up to 1,500 people.

While deaths and hospitalizations remain low, COVID-19 cases continue to rise locally.

Since hitting a low of 77 cases on March 22, the weekly average has nearly tripled. The district is now averaging 218 new cases per day for the past week after recording a new single-day high for this spring of 310 cases on Friday (April 15).

As of Thursday (April 14), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still officially classified Fairfax County’s community COVID-19 level as low, but with 22 residents admitted to hospitals with Covid last week, hospitalizations had increased 40% over the previous seven days.

In addition, the community transmission map, which uses cases per 100,000 people and the testing positivity rate as metrics instead of hospitalizations, indicates that the county is seeing a “high” level of spread again after dropping to “substantial” in February.

There have now been 182,913 Covid cases and 4,461 hospitalizations in the Fairfax Health District during the pandemic.

The recent increase in cases coincided with the arrival of BA.2, the highly contagious omicron subvariant that is now behind an estimated 85.9% of all Covid infections in the U.S. It has also been almost two months since Fairfax County dropped its mask requirements for public facilities, including schools.

Rising cases nationwide led the Transportation Security Administration to extend its mask mandate on all public transportation last week, and some universities in the D.C. area have revived their indoor masks requirements.

The Fairfax County Health Department still encourages masks, social distancing, and vaccinations to limit the spread of COVID-19.

According to the department’s dashboard, there have been 2.3 million vaccine doses administered to Fairfax Health District residents. 986,697 people — or 83.4% of the population — have received at least one dose, including:

• 92.1% of people 18 and older
• 98.4% of 16-17 year olds
• 94.1% of 12-15 year olds
• 58.7% of 5-11 year olds

896,253 district residents are fully vaccinated. That amounts to 75.7% of the population, including 83.8% of adults.

According to the VDH, 492,152 Fairfax County residents, or 42.8%, have gotten a booster or third shot, including 52.5% of adults and 33.7% of adolescents aged 12-15.

Fairfax County’s COVID-19 transmission level is still well below where it was this past winter, but a rise in cases that was barely perceptible a week ago has started to solidify into a more concrete trend.

The Fairfax Health District, which includes Fairfax and Falls Church cities, is averaging 167 cases a day for the past week. That’s the highest weekly average since Feb. 18 (169 cases) and more than twice this year’s low point of 77 cases on March 22, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

The current seven-day average is even higher — 191 cases — when looking at the Fairfax County Health Department, which doesn’t take data clean-up adjustments into account.

The uptick is driven in part by the addition of 254 cases on Saturday (April 9) — the most cases reported by the district in one day since Feb. 11, which had 311 new cases.

The omicron subvariant that drove up Covid cases in Europe last month has now become the dominant strain in the U.S. It is responsible for about two-thirds of infections in the mid-Atlantic region, which includes Virginia, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates.

Evidence suggests the subvariant, known as BA.2, is more contagious and spreads faster than the original omicron variant, which fueled this winter’s surge, but it doesn’t appear to make people sicker, the FCHD says.

At the same time, hospitalizations and deaths due to the coronavirus continue to decline, according to the CDC, which still classifies the level of COVID-19 in the county as low.

During the pandemic, the Fairfax Health District has recorded 181,385 COVID-19 cases, 4,455 hospitalizations and 1,497 deaths among residents, including 90 new cases today (Monday).

According to the FCHD’s dashboard, 967,835 district residents — 81.8% of the population — have received at least one dose of vaccine, including:

• 90.8% of people aged 18 and older
• 96.9% of 16-17 year olds
• 92.8% of 12-15 year olds
• 53.5% of 5-11 year olds

876,264 residents, or 74%, are now fully vaccinated, including 82.8% of adults. Just in Fairfax County, 488,322 residents — 42.4% of the population — have gotten a booster or third shot, including 51.8% of adults and 33.4% of adolescents aged 12 to 17.

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Your perception of the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Fairfax County might vary depending on which data dashboard you’re looking at.

For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies the county’s COVID-19 community level as “low” based on the hospitalization metrics that the federal agency has used since February.

An estimated 17 Fairfax County residents were admitted into a hospital with COVID-19 over the past seven days, a 3.2% decline from the previous week, according to the CDC. That amounts to 1.5 new patients per 100,000 residents, and 1.1% of staffed inpatient beds are being used by confirmed COVID-19 patients.

However, the CDC’s community transmission dashboard, which uses the number of new cases per 100,000 people and testing positivity rate, still rates the level of spread in the county as “substantial.”

The Virginia Department of Health’s cases dashboard indicates that the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, reported 83 new cases today (Monday), putting its current seven-day average at 113.9 daily cases. Recently, the county’s dashboard stopped reporting the number of new daily cases, favoring the 7-day average number of daily cases.

The weekly average has climbed slightly over the past couple of weeks. The 77 cases averaged on March 22 had been the district’s lowest rate since July 31, 2021. The all-time highest average was 2,590 cases on Jan. 13.

The Fairfax County Health Department’s dashboard, however, says, on average, there have been 163 new cases reported per day for the past week.

An FCHD spokesperson confirmed that the discrepancy between the county and state data stems from the former tracking total new cases, while the latter has been using net new cases, which subtracts any past cases that turned out to be duplicates or actually occurred in a different locality.

Overall, the Fairfax Health District has recorded 180,216 COVID-19 cases, 4,446 hospitalizations, and 1,490 deaths during the pandemic.

While federal funding for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations has officially run out, Fairfax County will still provide those services for free to people without insurance, the county health department says.

Free testing concluded in March, and free vaccinations are set to end tomorrow (Tuesday), though Congress is negotiating a new funding deal.

“At this time, the Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) will continue to provide vaccinations for all at no charge at county-operated clinics, including pop-up clinics, held throughout the community,” FCHD said. “The Health Department will continue to work with the state to determine the future impact on these programs.”

The federal government is still offering four free at-home tests at no charge, and the county operates mobile clinics that provide free testing. FCHD advises residents to call pharmacies and other private providers in advance to see whether they are charging for tests.

Vaccination rates in the district have not substantially changed since last week. Per the FCHD, 966,773 residents, or 81.6% of the population, have received at least one dose, including:

• 90.7% of people aged 18 and older
• 96.9% of 16-17 year olds
• 92.7% of 12-15 year olds
• 53.3% of 5-11 year olds

874,858 residents, or 73.8%, are fully vaccinated, including 82.5% of adults.

According to the VDH, 482,472 Fairfax County residents — 41.9% of the population — have gotten a booster or third dose, including 51.2% of adults and 32.9% of adolescents aged 12-17.

Certain residents who are aged 50 and older, have only received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or are immunocompromised are now eligible to get a second booster shot if at least four months have passed since their first booster.

Fairfax County saw a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases this past week, but the overall level of community transmission remains low.

After seeing mostly double-digit daily caseloads during the previous week, the Fairfax Health District — including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church — reported 157 new cases on Wednesday (March 23), 154 cases on Friday (March 25), and a total of 249 cases over the weekend, including 75 new cases today (Monday).

On its data dashboard, the Virginia Department of Health reported all of this weekend’s cases today, pushing the district’s rolling seven-day average up to 117 cases — the highest it’s been since March 9.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still classifies the county’s community transmission level as low based the case rate per 100,000 residents (52.55), new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 residents (1.6) and the percentage of staffed inpatient beds used by patients with confirmed COVID-19 (1.5%).

Overall, the district has recorded 179,419 total COVID-19 cases, 4,446 hospitalizations, and 1,485 deaths during the pandemic. The four most recent confirmed deaths, based on the date of death, came during the week of March 5.

The omicron variant is still responsible for majority of cases in the area, but a subvariant known as BA.2 has been gaining ground. It is behind 34.9% of infections in the mid-Atlantic region, which includes Virginia, according to the CDC.

The subvariant is more transmissible than the original omicron variant and triggered a new surge in cases across Europe this month.

However, scientists say it does not appear to cause more severe illnesses. Vaccinations remain effective at preventing severe illness and death, and the similarities between the variants means that people who were infected with omicron may have some immunity to BA.2.

According to the Fairfax County Health Department, vaccinations in the district have slowed to a crawl, with only about 200 more residents obtaining a first dose since last Monday (March 21).

As of today, 965,535 district residents, or 81.6%, have received at least one vaccine dose, including:

• 90.6% of people 18 and older
• 96.8% of 16-17 year olds
• 92.5% of 12-15 year olds
• 52.9% of 5-11 year olds

There are 873,032 fully vaccinated residents, which is 73.8% of the population, including 82.5% of adults.

In Fairfax County, 477,892 people — or 41.5% of residents — have gotten a booster or third dose, including 50.7% of adults and 32.6% of people aged 12 to 17, VDH’s data dashboard shows.

About eight months after the delta variant revived face masks, Fairfax County’s COVID-19 case rate has dropped back into double digits.

With 53 new cases today (Monday), the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, is now averaging 87 cases reported a day for the past week — its lowest seven-day average since Aug. 1, 2021, when it was seeing 86 cases per day.

Case levels have declined precipitously since peaking at a weekly average of 2,590 cases on Jan. 13. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still classifies community transmission levels as low based on its current hospitalization-focused metrics.

As of Friday (March 18), there had been 21 county residents newly admitted into a hospital with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis. The county’s seven-day average of 1.9 per 100,000 residents represented a 35% drop from the previous week, according to CDC data.

In total, 4,440 Fairfax Health District residents have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 during the pandemic. There have been 178,716 cases and 1,476 deaths.

With cases continuing to fall, demand for vaccinations has slowed to the point where the Virginia and Fairfax County health departments are preparing to close two mass vaccine sites at the end of this week, citing “a diminished need” for that approach.

Since the first supplies arrived in December 2020, more than 2.2 million vaccine doses have been administered in the Fairfax Health District. 965,319 residents — 81.6% of the population — have gotten at least one dose.

According to Fairfax County Health Department data, that includes:

• 90.6% of people aged 18 and older
• 96.8% of 16-17 year olds
• 92.4% of 12-15 year olds
• 52.7% of 5-11 year olds

Fairfax County’s vaccination rates for the 5-11 and 12-17 age groups (58.4% and 94%, respectively) are among the highest in the state, the Virginia Department of Health says.

In addition, 41.2% of county residents have gotten a booster shot or third dose, including 50.2% of adults and 32.2% of youth aged 12-17.

However, the future of Virginia’s vaccination campaign could become hazier, as federal health officials warn that funding for COVID-19 response efforts, including vaccines and tests, is running out — even as a highly transmissible omicron subvariant takes hold in the U.S.

Brought about after Congress eliminated a $15 billion coronavirus aid package from its budget bill last week, the White House says the funding collapse could affect everything from the availability of antibody treatments to vaccine and testing reimbursements for uninsured individuals.

The Virginia Department of Health says it’s not clear yet how the federal funding shortfall will affect the state’s vaccination program, but testing efforts are safe for now.

“VDH’s COVID testing programs are funded through a grant that will not be impacted by the federal government’s funding challenges,” the department’s central office said in a statement.

The Virginia and Fairfax County health departments are shutting down two COVID-19 vaccination sites that have delivered thousands of shots during the pandemic.

The Tysons Community Vaccination Center will close at 4 p.m. on Friday (March 25) after administering roughly 58,000 doses since it reopened in Tysons Corner Center’s former Lord & Taylor store on Oct. 8, the Fairfax County Health Department announced today (Monday).

With the capacity for 3,000 shots a day, the mass vaccination site was organized by the Virginia Department of Health and operated by contractors AshBritt Inc. and IEM Health. It was first established in April 2021 and provided more than 50,000 doses during Phase 2 of the state’s vaccination campaign before closing in June.

A vaccination site at Springfield Town Center will also wind down operations this week. The facility will open from noon to 4 p.m. for one final weekend before closing at 4 p.m. on Sunday (March 27).

Only open on weekends, the Springfield vaccine site was less extensive than the Tysons one, but it “has been critical in helping to close the equity gap” as part of the FCHD High Risk Communities Task Force’s efforts to address disparities in access for low-income and minority individuals, the county health department says.

The county partnered with Medical Reserve Corps volunteers and Safeway Pharmacy to open the site in April 2021. The space was provided rent-free by Springfield Town Center property manager PREIT.

“Due to the highly vaccinated population, decreased demand from the community, and ample supply of vaccine widely available at doctor’s offices and pharmacies, there was a diminished need for large-scale public vaccination sites,” an FCHD spokesperson said of the decision to close the site, adding that the department “is grateful” to PREIT for its generosity.

The vaccination rates for the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church in addition to the county, are roughly in line with those for Virginia as a whole.

According to FCHD data, which is updated at 11:30 a.m. every weekday, 964,980 district residents, or 81.5%, have received at least one vaccine dose, including 90.6% of people 18 and older, as of Friday (March 18).

About 871,643 residents, or 73.6% of the population, are fully vaccinated, including 82.4% of adults.

Vaccines remain available at numerous sites throughout the county, including from pharmacies, private health care providers, and mass vaccination sites at the Fairfax County Government Center and Hyland South County Center.

“The Health Department is also continuing its outreach and collaborative work, with multiple community partners, to provide vaccinations clinics at sites across the county, including houses of worship, daycares, schools, businesses, and special events,” the FCHD spokesperson said.

The Fairfax Health District continues to report declining COVID-19 case levels.

The district, which includes Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, added 60 new cases today (Monday), bringing its total for the pandemic up to 178,109 cases. There have been 4,442 hospitalizations and 1,470 deaths due to the disease caused by the coronavirus.

According to Virginia Department of Health data, two more Covid-related deaths were reported today. In both cases, the cause of death has been confirmed, and they occurred during the week of March 5, based on death certificate dates.

VDH’s recently overhauled dashboards no longer provide locality-specific information about hospitalizations, but the state currently has 444 hospital patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis or pending test results. The weekly average of 520 hospitalizations is Virginia’s lowest since Aug. 3, 2021, when there were 499.

The Fairfax Health District is averaging 113.3 new cases per day for the past week, the lowest seven-day average since Nov. 16 (111 cases).

The current testing positivity rate of 3.2% is the district’s lowest since Nov. 12, when it was at 2.9%.

Since last Monday (March 7), an additional 1,282 district residents have obtained their first COVID-19 vaccine dose, raising the total to 964,619 residents, or 81.5% of the population.

According to the Fairfax County Health Department, the vaccination rates by age groups are:

At Least One Dose

• 18 and older: 90.6%
• 16-17 years old: 96.7%
• 12-15 years old: 92.4%
• 5-11 years old: 52.5%

Fully Vaccinated (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson)

• Total: 871,278 people, or 73.6% of all residents
• Adults: 82.4%

VDH data indicates that 470,845 Fairfax County residents have gotten a booster or third dose. That’s 40.9% of the population, including 50% of adults and 31.8% of adolescents aged 12 to 17.

Unvaccinated individuals contract COVID-19 four times as often as people who are fully vaccinated, a smaller gap than 12.5 times higher rate seen prior to the arrival of the delta variant in August and the omicron variant in December.

(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.