NoVA-Specific Coronavirus Data Provided On Positive Tests, More

VIRGINIA — On Thursday, the Virginia Department of Health confirmed 1,229 additional cases of the new coronavirus and 25 new deaths. The latest cumulative totals are 34,137 cases, 1,099 deaths and 4,093 hospitalizations.

The Northern Virginia region accounted for 818 new cases, or 66.5 percent of Virginia's 1,229 new cases. That includes 417 new cases in Fairfax County, 129 in Prince William County, 121 in Loudoun, 50 in Alexandria, 44 in Manassas, 35 in Arlington County, 16 in Manassas Park, four in Fairfax City and two in Falls Church.

Thursday's news cases reflects a higher percentage of positive cases than Wednesday's new cases:

• May 20: 763 new cases and 10,208 new PCR/antibody tests=7.4 percent positivity
• May 21: 1,229 new cases and 6,758 new PCR/antibody tests=18.1 percent positivity

The percentage of tests coming up positive continues to trend downward for the state. The statewide 7-day positivity rate is 13.2 percent when including PCR and antibody tests. The rate for only PCR tests is 14.4 percent. A total of 216,890 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests have been completed in Virginia, an increase of 5,925 since Wednesday. The testing total with PCR and antibody tests is 241,957, an increase of 6,758.

The Virginia Department of Health began separating PCR and antibody testing numbers last week. PCR testing is a viral test to determine a current infection through respiratory samples, while antibody testing checks for a previous infection through the presence of antibodies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antibody testing may not always find antibodies in an individual with a current infection, depending on the timing of testing and infection date.

Virginia's COVID-19 hospitalizations and hospital resource use are stable with small day-to-day fluctuations. The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association reported 1,491 people with pending or confirmed coronavirus test results currently hospitalized, up from 1,536 Wednesday. A total of 4,778 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals, up from 4,523 on Wednesday.

As of Thursday, 191 COVID-19 patients using ventilators and 627 total hospital patients using ventilators. Total ventilator use among 2,956 available ventilators represents 21-percent use in Virginia. No hospitals are experiencing difficulty obtaining or restocking protective gear or other medical supplies in the next 72 hours.

Northern Virginia Data Provided With Reopening Date Undecided

Aside from Northern Virginia, the city of Richmond and Accomack County, Virginia started phase one of easing coronavirus-related restrictions on May 15. The first reopening phase could start as early as May 29 for the other three areas. Gov. Ralph Northam' said Wednesday he is in daily communications with leaders in Northern Virginia over when the region can enter phase one but hasn't committed to a date.

Northam's criteria for easing public health restrictions are 14-day downward trends in positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, increased testing and contact tracing, increased and sustained personal protective equipment, and sufficient hospital capacity. When delaying phase one of reopening for Northern Virginia, the governor cited a higher positive rate in Northern Virginia's nine jurisdictions and how many of Virginia's new cases are in Northern Virginia.

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A new dashboard from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission provides more insight into the region's data, including some of the governor's reopening metrics. The data on daily cases, deaths, hospitalizations, tests completed and percent positive tests can be viewed by health district or Northern Virginia as a whole.

According to the data, the 7-day moving average of positive PCR tests for the region is trending downward in Northern Virginia. However, Northern Virginia's percent positive rate of 24.1 percent remains higher than the state average of 14.4 percent for PCR testing.

The data dashboard indicates daily hospitalizations in the region are declining, although there are day-to-day fluctuations. Daily tests completed are trending upward for the region.

A number of large-scale free testing events have been held or are planned in Northern Virginia. Numerous drive-thru and walk-up testing events have been held in Prince William County, and a May 20 Leesburg testing event had to close early due to the large testing demand. In Fairfax County, testing events will happen on May 23 in Annandale and May 24 in Bailey's Crossroads. Community testing at two Alexandria sites will happen on May 25.

Here are the latest cumulative case updates for our coverage areas as of Thursday:

• Alexandria: 1,627 cases, 171 hospitalizations, 37 deaths; increase of 50 cases, two hospitalizations and three deaths
• Arlington County: 1,763 cases, 346 hospitalizations, 89 deaths; increase of 35 cases, 12 hospitalizations and seven deaths
• Fairfax County: 8,580 cases, 1,165 hospitalizations, 309 deaths; increase of 417 cases, 32 hospitalizations and seven deaths
• Fairfax City: 51 cases, six hospitalizations, three deaths; increase of four cases
• Falls Church: 46 cases, 10 hospitalizations, five deaths; increase of two cases and one hospitalization
• Loudoun County: 1,700 cases, 147 hospitalizations, 49 deaths; increase of 121 cases and one hospitalization
• Manassas: 743 cases, 56 hospitalizations, six deaths; increase of 44 cases and five hospitalizations
• Manassas Park: 223 cases, 27 hospitalizations, three deaths; increase of 16 cases
• Prince William County: 4,183 cases, 408 hospitalizations, 79 deaths; increase of 129 cases and 24 hospitalizations
• Fredericksburg: 107 cases, 15 hospitalizations, no deaths; increase of six cases and one hospitalization
• Spotsylvania County: 366 cases, 31 hospitalizations, four deaths; increase of 15 cases and one hospitalization
• Stafford County: 540 cases, 65 hospitalizations, four deaths; increase of 26 cases and two hospitalizations

SEE ALSO:

• Virginia Reports Nearly 10K New PCR Tests For Coronavirus
• VA Working With Amazon, Vendors On Coronavirus Supplies: Northam