COVID-19 Deaths Drop In Virginia After Officials Conduct Review

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Department of Health on Friday reported a net decrease of 90 deaths on its COVID-19 dashboard. The health department attributed the lowering of the number of deaths to a review it conducted of mortality rates attributed to COVID-19.

Northern Virginia saw a net decrease of 14 COVID-19-related deaths on Friday, with Fairfax and Loudoun counties each reporting a net decline of five deaths from their records. Prince William County saw a net decrease of three deaths, while COVID-19-related deaths in the city of Alexandria saw a net decrease of two.

With the reduction in deaths, a total of 10,092 Virginians have died from COVID-19, according to the updated records.

In an effort to ensure that only COVID-19 related deaths are included in official state statistics, the VDH said it recently conducted an extensive review of the more than 10,000 previously reported deaths. Last Sunday, the VDH reported that the state had surpassed 10,000 deaths since the start of the health crisis.

Based on the review, 99 deaths, or less than 1 percent of the total number of deaths in Virginia from COVID-19, were determined to not qualify as "COVID-19 associated" deaths, according to the case definition. These deaths were reclassified to be a COVID-19 case that did not result in death, the VDH said.

The reclassification of the 99 deaths led to the VDH reporting a net decrease of 90 deaths on Friday, according to the health department.

"VDH strives to provide accurate and timely data to the public while performing ongoing and comprehensive data assurance and quality efforts," the health department said.

Federal Vaccine Funding

More than $4.3 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has been provided to the VDH to support COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the state, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia said Friday.

“As more Americans receive one of the three COVID-19 vaccines, the supply of available vaccines still can't meet the demand,” the senators said Friday in a joint statement.

RELATED: How To Get The COVID-19 Vaccine In Virginia

“We are glad to announce that this funding will provide increased support to distribute vaccines equitably throughout the Commonwealth, and we remain committed to ensuring that every Virginian has access to the vaccine as quickly as possible," they said.

The American Rescue Plan, signed by President Joe Biden on March 11, also included $7.5 billion to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for COVID–19 vaccine distribution and administration, including support for state, local, tribal, and territorial public health departments.

NoVA County Moves Back Into 'Red Zone'

With coronavirus cases increasing slightly in Virginia, two metro areas and 22 counties in the state are now in the COVID-19 pandemic's "red zone," according to the latest report issued by the White House COVID-19 Team on Tuesday. The numbers are up from the previous week when one metro area and 19 counties were in the red zone.

Clarke County moved back into the red zone, making it the only jurisdiction in Northern Virginia or the Fredericksburg area in the most serious category. 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.

No jurisdictions in the region were reported 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.

The counties of Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Stafford and Spotsylvania and the cities of Manassas, Fredericksburg and Winchester are among the jurisdictions in the "yellow zone." The city of Alexandria's numbers improved to allow it to drop out of the yellow zone.

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.

Virginia has the 13th-highest coronavirus percent positivity rate among its residents, the same national ranking as the week before, according to the report. New Jersey, Nebraska, Florida and Texas the nation with the highest percent positivity rates.

The new COVID-19 weekly state report was the eighth 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

As of Friday, 1,075,770 Virginians, or 12.6 percent of the state's population, are fully vaccinated. The VDH also reported that 2,940,103 vaccine doses have been administered in Virginia. There are 1,940,323 people with at least one dose, or 22.7 percent of the state's population.

The state is averaging 45,558 doses administered per day. Local health departments lead the state with 942,264 total doses given, followed by hospitals with 732,809 total doses.

On Wednesday, the VDH started including the vaccine doses administered and received by the Federal Long-Term Care Facility Program in the "pharmacies" category on its dashboard. By combining the two categories, pharmacies have now administered a total of 570,742 vaccines. Medical practices are next with 365,511 doses administered followed by community health providers at 282,456.

On Friday, 1,632 new coronavirus cases were reported, putting the seven-day average of daily cases to 1,424. The seven-day average is increasing again after reaching a 2021 low of 1,287 on Tuesday.

Current hospitalizations stand at 1,034, according to VDH data. The number includes 217 patients in the intensive care units and 114 on ventilators.

Ventilator use among all hospital patients is at 30 percent, and ICU occupancy is at 79 percent, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association.

The seven-day average of positive PCR tests is 5.5 percent as of March 15. The current positive rate is similar to the level last seen in late October before the winter surge in cases.

On average, 19,481 daily PCR testing encounters were reported statewide on March 15, down from a peak of 35,031 on Jan. 14.

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

• Alexandria: 10,699 cases, 521 hospitalizations, 128 deaths; increase of 28 cases and removal of two deaths
• Arlington County: 13,811 cases, 790 hospitalizations, 242 deaths; increase of 41 cases, five hospitalizations and removal of one death
• Fairfax County: 69,514 cases, 3,633 hospitalizations, 1,035 deaths; increase of 198 cases, eight hospitalizations and removal of five deaths
• Fairfax City: 508 cases, 40 hospitalizations, 16 deaths; increase of two cases and one hospitalization
• Falls Church: 371 cases, 20 hospitalizations, 10 deaths; removal of one case
• Loudoun County: 24,434 cases, 918 hospitalizations, 262 deaths; increase of 89 cases and five hospitalizations and removal of five deaths
• Manassas: 4,107 cases, 166 hospitalizations, 45 deaths; increase of eight cases and one death
• Manassas Park: 1,147 cases, 67 hospitalizations, 12 deaths; increase of two cases
• Prince William County: 40,885 cases, 1,494 hospitalizations, 469 deaths; increase of 90 cases and removal of three deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,830 cases, 94 hospitalizations, 22 deaths; increase of three cases and three hospitalizations
• Spotsylvania County: 8,598 cases, 286 hospitalizations, 107 deaths; increase of 17 cases
• Stafford County: 9,891 cases, 333 hospitalizations, 68 deaths; increase of 15 cases and one death removed