Cases, Hospitalizations, Positive Test Rates Falling In Virginia

VIRGINIA — The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Virginia totaled 1,591 on Saturday, the lowest hospitalization count since Nov. 28, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

After peaking at 3,289 on Jan. 19, the seven-day moving average of COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Virginia has been steadily declining and as of Saturday stood at 1,784 hospitalizations, the lowest seven-day average since Dec. 5.

The COVID-19 hospitalization rate has declining over the past month across most of the country.

In other COVID-19 news, Virginia on Saturday reported a record 99 deaths related to the disease, breaking the previous one-day high of 96 deaths reported on Sept. 15.

"The surveillance team is working through 2021 death certificates, and today’s number is due to a bit of a data lag," the VDH said Saturday in a statement.

The large number of deaths reported on Sept. 15 also was attributed to a data backlog of about two weeks.

The health department has noted that reports of deaths related to COVID-19 often lag behind the actual dates of death due to delays in verifying the cause of death and obtaining death certificates.

After reaching a seven-day moving average of 56.1 deaths on Feb. 1, the number of COVID-19-related deaths in Virginia had been steadily declining, reaching a seven-day moving average of 18.9 deaths on Friday.

Since the start of the pandemic, 7,197 deaths in Virginia have been attributed to COVID-19.

According to VDH data as of Saturday, 1,541,772 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Virginia. There are 1,101,433 people with at least one dose (12.9 percent of the population) and 420,574 with two doses (5.2 percent of the population).

The state is averaging 36,172 doses administered per day. Hospitals lead with 514,324 total doses given, followed by local health departments with 468,789, long-term care facilities with 185,735, medical practices with 155,476, community health providers with 151,037 and pharmacies with 66,411.

An additional 1,882 coronavirus cases were reported on Saturday. The seven-day average of daily cases was 2,055, the lowest average since Nov. 20. The cumulative coronavirus case total for Virginia is 559,930.

Northern Virginia had 409 new cases on Saturday and a seven-day average of 444, the lowest average for the region since Nov. 16.

As reported by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 78 percent, and ventilator use was at 32 percent.

Virginia's seven-day average of positive tests stood at 8.2 percent as of Feb. 16, the lowest percent positivity rate since Nov. 26. The average has been trending down since reaching a winter peak of 17.4 percent on Jan. 3. Northern Virginia's average is 7.2 percent, compared to a winter peak of 16.6 percent on Jan. 2.

The average number of daily PCR testing encounters is trending down since peaking at 35,024 on Jan. 14. The latest average is 22,927.

Below are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Friday to Saturday:

• Alexandria: 10,134 cases, 502 hospitalizations, 104 deaths; increase of 21 cases
• Arlington County: 12,805 cases, 753 hospitalizations, 212 deaths; increase of 37 cases
• Fairfax County: 64,921 cases, 3,459 hospitalizations, 841 deaths; increase of 171 cases, 11 hospitalizations and seven deaths
• Fairfax City: 478 cases, 35 hospitalizations, 12 deaths; increase of two cases
• Falls Church: 339 cases, 20 hospitalizations, seven deaths; increase of five cases
• Loudoun County: 22,557 cases, 830 hospitalizations, 199 deaths; increase of 71 cases and four deaths
• Manassas: 3,942 cases, 160 hospitalizations, 34 deaths; increase of four cases and one death
• Manassas Park: 1,112 cases, 66 hospitalizations, eight deaths; no changes
• Prince William County: 38,518 cases, 1,366 hospitalizations, 3334 deaths; increase of 98 cases, one hospitalization and six deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,717 cases, 91 hospitalizations, 14 deaths; decrease of five cases
• Spotsylvania County: 8,094 cases, 266 hospitalizations, 88 deaths; increase of 24 cases
• Stafford County: 9,310 cases, 300 hospitalizations, 55 deaths; decrease of two cases