Alexandria's May 25 Testing Events Have 8 Percent Positive Rate

ALEXANDRIA, VA — After community coronavirus testing events were held in Alexandria on May 25, 8 percent of tested individuals received positive results.

A total of 2,953 people were tested at the Cora Kelly School and Landmark Mall sites, according to results released by the Alexandria Health Department. There were 176 positive results of 1,996 total tests at the Landmark Mall site and 60 of 957 tests at Cora Kelly School.

Analysis of the events found significant numbers of non-Alexandria residents. Alexandria residents represented 60.1 percent of individuals tested, 34.8 percent were non-Alexandria residents and 5.1 percent had an undetermined residence.

But more of the positive results came from non-Alexandria residents. Of the 236 positive results, 69 were Alexandria residents, or 29.2 percent. That means 70.8 percent of the positive results are from non-Alexandria or unknown residents.

Alexandria Health Department explained the result in its analysis: "The low percentage of Alexandrians testing positive indicates that Alexandrians who have symptoms and desire testing are obtaining it through the Alexandria’s medical practices, urgent care centers, Inova Alexandria Hospital and Neighborhood Health."

MAKO, the laboratory partner for the testing events, did not provide race, ethnicity and symptom information to the health department for analysis purposes.

The testing events were geared toward individuals who may not have had access to testing in the past. Scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Landmark Mall offered drive-thru and walk up testing, while Cora Kelly School had walk-up testing only. The city reported the Landmark Mall site reached capacity as of 5 p.m. and was not accepting more individuals, but the Cora Kelly site remained open.

As of Monday, Alexandria has 2,102 cumulative cases and 45 deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Health. There have been 10,811 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted to date in Alexandria with a 7-day positive rate of 10.5 percent. The statewide positive rate is 10 percent.

The Northern Virginia Regional Commission provides graphs of how Alexandria is performing on public health metrics.

While Virginia law has prevented VDH from releasing locations of cases at long-term care facilities, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has provided data for some nursing homes. The data is only available for assisted living facilities or to skilled nursing facilities participating in Medicare or Medicaid.

Four Alexandria facilities have available data. Woodbine Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center has 18 confirmed cases, three suspected cases and one death. Envoy of Alexandria has 25 confirmed cases, two suspected cases and eight deaths. The Fountains at Washington House has reported one case, and Goodwin House Alexandria has reported no cases.