After a grim 2020, a more festive winter holiday season could be in store this year, as Fairfax County’s third COVID-19 wave continues to ebb.
The 57 new cases reported today (Monday) are the fewest that the Fairfax Health District has seen in a single day since July 27, when there were 52 new cases and the Delta variant was just starting to emerge locally.
Fairfax County’s COVID-19 case levels haven’t entirely come down from the late-summer Delta variant surge, but they appear to be headed in that direction.
The Fairfax Health District, including the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, added 72 cases today (Monday) for a total of 92,739 cases over the course of the pandemic. 4,360 residents have been hospitalized by the novel coronavirus, and 1,209 people have died, including eight people in the past week.
School-based COVID-19 vaccination clinics for elementary school-aged children could be set up as soon as mid-November, Fairfax County Public Schools officials say.
As reported to the Fairfax County School Board at a work session yesterday (Tuesday), these targeted vaccination clinics will be available in evenings or weekends and have a parent or guardian present.
Fairfax County’s late summer, Delta variant-fueled surge in COVID-19 cases may have plateaued with fall’s arrival, but an uptick in deaths over the past week suggests the full toll of the pandemic’s most recent wave is only just starting to emerge.
The county has reported 10 deaths from the coronavirus in the past seven days, including one person who died today (Monday), according to Virginia Department of Health data.
(Updated at 2:35 p.m.) Fairfax County government workers must now show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing. The vast majority have chosen the former option, the county says.
The county’s policy officially took effect yesterday (Monday).
With the addition of 136 cases today (Monday), the Fairfax Health District has reported a total of 90,010 COVID-19 infections since identifying its first positive case nearly 20 months ago.
Case levels in the district, which includes Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, have stayed consistent for more than a month now after surging in August due to the spread of the especially contagious Delta variant.
(Updated at 2:10 p.m. on 10/1/2021) All Fairfax County employees will be required to be fully vaccinated or submit to weekly COVID-19 tests by Monday, Oct. 11, FFXnow has learned.
County government employees who do not get vaccinated or are not fully vaccinated by Oct. 11 will be required to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing to remain employed, including if they receive a medical or religious exemption.
(Updated at 9:45 a.m.) FCPS is ramping up efforts to provide on-site testing and prepare for vaccinations for elementary school-aged kids, including by enlisting a third party that hasn’t been publicly identified yet.
Although the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines for kids ages 5-11, Pfizer says its vaccine is safe for that age range, and it could obtain authorization in October.
Updated at 3:20 p.m. — Booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be available for those who are eligible in Fairfax County starting tomorrow (Tuesday), the Fairfax County Health Department announced this afternoon.
Earlier: After seeing COVID-19 cases climb throughout August, Fairfax County seems to be finishing September at a plateau in the Delta variant-driven surge that has refilled hospitals in many parts of the country.
Fairfax County Public Schools is revising a number of procedures around COVID-19 contact tracing, quarantining, and pausing, even as it maintains that case numbers remain proportionally very low in schools.
School officials are actively exploring their options for expanding student vaccination requirements, including a possible mandate once the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorize it for kids 5 and older, which could happen as early as the end of October.
