Coronavirus: NoVA Accounts For 55.8 Percent Of New Cases

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Department of Health reported 946 additional cases of the new coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 illness, on Wednesday. As of Wednesday, Virginia's cumulative totals are 26,746 cases, 927 deaths and 3,520 hospitalizations. Gov. Ralph Northam is expected to make an official decision on Virginia's first reopening phase starting Friday, May 15, but an executive order issued Tuesday delays the reopening in Northern Virginia for at least two weeks.

As of Wednesday, 528 of the state's 946 new cases are in Northern Virginia, representing about 55.8 percent. That accounts for the following nine jurisdictions: Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church, Loudoun County, Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County. Virginia has 133 localities (95 counties and 38 independent cities); nine of these localities are considered part of the Northern Virginia region.

The commonwealth has a population over 8.5 million, and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission estimates the region's population is over 2.5 million.

According to WSLS, other new cases include 46 in Buckingham County, 40 in Henrico County, 29 in Culpeper County, 27 in Richmond, 25 in Chesterfield County and 23 in Harrisonburg.

Northam's executive order delays the first reopening phase for Northern Virginia localities until midnight on Thursday, May 28. In the announcement of the reopening delay for Northern Virginia, Northam noted differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state on the portion of new cases, positivity rate of total tests performed and portion of COVID-19 patients among all hospital patients.

The governor says the positivity rate is around 25 percent in Northern Virginia, while the rest of the state is closer to 10 percent. Both are seeing downward trends in the percentage of positive tests. Hospitalizations appear stable for Northern Virginia and the state as a whole, but COVID-19 patients make up a greater portion of hospital patients in Northern Virginia than rest of the state.

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association continues to report active hospitalizations and resource use, but regional data is not available. As of Wednesday, 1,526 people with pending or confirmed coronavirus test results are currently hospitalized, up from 1,504 on Tuesday. A total of 3,554 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals, up from 3,400 Tuesday.

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On Wednesday, 202 COVID-19 patients were using ventilators, up one from Tuesday. Among all hospital patients in Virginia, there are 656 ventilators in use of the 2,935 available ventilators in hospitals, representing 22-percent use in Virginia.

Across Virginia, 278 outbreaks of the coronavirus have been reported, with 164 of them occurring at long-term care facilities where there have been 3,802 cases and 545 reported deaths.

On Monday, the Virginia Department of Health reported 180,084 tests have been completed, up 8,845 from Tuesday. The health department is including antibody tests, but the specific number of antibody tests is not reported. By counting those tests, Virginia boosts the overall number of tests and lowers the percentage of positive results. Multiple tests for a person are counted individually; the total number of individuals tested stands at 160,077.

The Virginia Department of Health is ramping up hiring of positions related to testing and contact tracing, part of the governor's reopening criteria. The health department website advertises 1,000 contact tracer positions, 200 case investigator positions, 70 data manager positions, 10 testing coordinator positions, 10 contact tracing supervisor positions, and five COVID-19 analytics coordinator positions.

Here are the latest case updates for our coverage areas since Tuesday:

• Alexandria: 1,305 cases, 148 hospitalizations, 31 deaths; increase of 65 cases, three hospitalizations and one death
• Arlington County: 1,460 cases, 300 hospitalizations, 69 deaths; increase of 44 cases, 12 hospitalizations and three deaths
• Fairfax County: 6,666 cases, 999 hospitalizations, 262 deaths; increase of 196 cases, 27 hospitalizations and nine deaths
• Fairfax City: 43 cases, six hospitalizations, three deaths; increase of three cases
• Falls Church: 39 cases, nine hospitalizations, four deaths; increase of two cases
• Loudoun County: 1,283 cases, 129 hospitalizations, 38 deaths; increase of 73 cases, 10 hospitalizations and three deaths
• Manassas: 459 cases, 44 hospitalizations, four deaths; increase of 29 cases, two hospitalizations and one death
• Manassas Park: 152 cases, 16 hospitalizations, three deaths; increase of 13 cases
• Prince William County: 3,181 cases, 316 hospitalizations, 65 deaths; increase of 103 cases, 17 hospitalizations and seven deaths
• Fredericksburg: 72 cases, 14 hospitalizations, no deaths; increase of six cases
• Spotsylvania County: 270 cases, 30 hospitalizations, four deaths; increase of nine cases and four hospitalizations
• Stafford County: 413 cases, 60 hospitalizations, four deaths; increase of 17 cases and one hospitalization

SEE ALSO:

• Northam Executive Order Allows NoVA To Delay Phase 1 Reopening
• Coronavirus Hospitalizations Fluctuate Daily Across Virginia
• Health Department Hiring Coronavirus Contact Tracers Across VA