COVID-19 Deaths In Virginia Hit New Record One-Day Total

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Department of Health reported a new record one-day total of 234 deaths related to COVID-19 on Friday, increasing the total number of Virginians who have died from the disease to 8,197. Of the new deaths reported Friday, 42 were in Northern Virginia.

Over the past week, 1,099 total new deaths have been reported, or 13.4 percent of the total number of deaths in Virginia since the start of the pandemic almost a year ago.

The week of new records for reported deaths comes as the VDH works through a backlog of death certificates from the surge in coronavirus cases in January and early February.

Six Virginia metro areas and 43 counties remain in the COVID-19 pandemic's "red zone," according to the latest report issued by the White House COVID-19 Team on Thursday. The numbers are down considerably from the previous week when 10 Virginia metro areas and 80 counties were still in the red zone.

Among the area counties in the red zone are Prince William, Stafford and Spotsylvania. Red zones are metro areas and counties that during the previous week reported new cases at or above 101 per 100,000 population and a lab test positivity result at or above 10.1 percent.

Fauquier County and the city of Winchester were the only jurisdictions in Northern Virginia in the "orange zone." Metro areas and counties that reported new cases between 51 and 100 per 100,000 population and a lab test positivity result between 8.0 and 10.0 percent, or one of those two conditions and one condition qualifying as being in the red zone, are considered to be in the orange zone.

Among other jurisdictions in the region, the cities of Alexandria, Fredericksburg and Manassas, along with the counties of Fairfax and Loudoun, are now in the "yellow zone," the lowest of the most serious zones.

Metro areas and counties that during the previous week reported both new cases between 10 and 50 per 100,000 population, and a lab test positivity result between 5.0 and 7.9 percent, or one of those two conditions and one condition qualifying as being in the orange zone or red zone, are considered to be in the yellow zone.

Arlington's percent positivity rate and cases per 100,000 population have improved to the point where the county is no longer listed in any of the three zones.

Virginia has the 12th-highest coronavirus percent positivity rate among its residents, according to the report. A week ago, Virginia had the 5th highest percent positivity rate in the nation. South Carolina, New Hampshire and Oklahoma lead the nation with the highest percent positivity rates.

The new COVID-19 weekly state report was the fifth one released by President Joe Biden's administration since the new president took office. Former President Donald Trump's administration declined to release the weekly COVID-19 reports for each state during the pandemic.

COVID-19 Data

According to VDH data as of Friday, 1,781,339 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Virginia. There are 1,193,349 people with at least one dose (14 percent of the population) and 587,990 with two doses (6.9 percent of the population).

The state is averaging 33,025 doses administered per day. Hospitals lead with 564,668 total doses given, followed by local health departments with 559,747, long-term care facilities with 202,589, medical practices with 198,026, community health providers with 173,142 and pharmacies with 83,167.

An additional 1,657 coronavirus cases were reported on Friday. The seven-day average of daily cases was 1,816. The cumulative coronavirus case total for Virginia is 572,639.

Northern Virginia had 496 new cases on Friday and a seven-day average of 455. After reaching a recent low of 436 cases, the seven-day average has increased each of the past three days.

As of Friday, the number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized stood at 1,479, which includes 313 in the intensive care units and 187 on ventilators. The seven-day moving average for hospitalizations in Virginia now stands at 1,545.4.

As reported by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 80 percent, and ventilator use was at 31 percent.

Virginia's seven-day average of positive tests stood at 7.8 percent as of Feb. 22. The average has been trending down since reaching a winter peak of 17.4 percent on Jan. 3. Northern Virginia's average is 6.8 percent on Feb. 23, 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 20,559.

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

• Alexandria: 10,285 cases, 506 hospitalizations, 113 deaths; increase of 27 cases and one death
• Arlington County: 13,060 cases, 765 hospitalizations, 221 deaths; increase of 40 cases, one hospitalization and four deaths
• Fairfax County: 66,198 cases, 3,491 hospitalizations, 908 deaths; increase of 228 cases, seven hospitalizations and 19 deaths
• Fairfax City: 489 cases, 37 hospitalizations, 13 deaths; increase of three cases
• Falls Church: 346 cases, 20 hospitalizations, seven deaths; increase of four cases
• Loudoun County: 22,939 cases, 851 hospitalizations, 214 deaths; increase of 66 cases, two hospitalizations and six deaths
• Manassas: 3,992 cases, 162 hospitalizations, 36 deaths; increase of seven cases and one hospitalization
• Manassas Park: 1,121 cases, 66 hospitalizations, nine deaths; increase of one case
• Prince William County: 39,150 cases, 1,378 hospitalizations, 389 deaths; increase of 121 cases, three hospitalizations and 14 deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,763 cases, 93 hospitalizations, 19 deaths; increase of six cases
• Spotsylvania County: 8,251 cases, 280 hospitalizations, 97 deaths; increase of 30 cases and one death
• Stafford County: 9,479 cases, 309 hospitalizations, 66 deaths; increase of 31 cases and one death