Virginia Coronavirus Cases In 2,000s For First 3 Days Of February

VIRGINIA — New coronavirus cases are in the 2,000s range in Virginia for the first few days of February after record high daily case numbers for several days in January.

On Wednesday, 2,959 new cases were reported, including 694 in Northern Virginia. Virginia's seven-day case average of 3,541 daily cases is still well above any case average before November. A notable increase in cases began in mid-November and started to take a downturn in the second half of January. The highest daily case counts so far in the pandemic have been 9,914 on Jan. 17, 7,245 on Jan. 18, 6,757 on Jan. 16 and 6,172 on Jan. 25.

Current COVID-19 hospitalizations increased from 2,468 to 2,540 on Wednesday, but the average has been trending down since Jan. 19. There are 500 COVID-19 patients in the intensive care units and 309 on ventilators. Northern Virginia has 467 total COVID-19 patients.

The state's 2,540 COVID-19 patients represent 19 percent of the 13,336 hospital beds occupied in Virginia. Virginia has 16,476 staffed hospital beds total. According to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association., ICU occupancy among all hospital patients is at 81 percent, and ventilator use is at 36 percent.

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The positive average of PCR tests continues to decline since taking a downturn in early January. The latest statewide average is 11.3 percent as of Jan. 30. Northern Virginia's average is 10.1 percent. The state's seven-day average of total testing encounters is 28,484, down from a peak of 34,695 on Jan. 14. Northern Virginia's positive average is 9.9 percent, back in single digits after rising above 10 percent in late November.

The state is averaging 27,924 daily PCR testing encounters, which is down from a peak of 34,694 on Jan. 14. Northern Virginia has an average of 7,260 daily testing encounters.

There were 58 new COVID-19 deaths reported statewide Tuesday. Since the start of the pandemic, 6,575 people in Virginia have been attributed to COVID-19.

As of Wednesday, 895,005 vaccine doses have been administered of the 1,385,875 distributed in Virginia, or approximately 64.5 percent. The average number of doses administered per day is 39,658, and 8.9 percent of the population has at least one dose. People with at least one dose total 758,274, and 136,731 are fully vaccinated.

Below are the latest coronavirus data updates for our coverage area from Tuesday to Wednesday:

• Alexandria: 9,544 cases, 490 hospitalizations, 104 deaths; increase of 16 cases and one hospitalization
• Arlington County: 11,867 cases, 735 hospitalizations, 203 deaths; increase of 61 cases and three hospitalizations
• Fairfax County: 60,265 cases, 3,288 hospitalizations, 792 deaths; increase of 305 cases, 12 hospitalizations and four deaths
• Fairfax City: 437 cases, 31 hospitalizations and 12 deaths; increase of three cases and one hospitalization
• Falls Church: 296 cases, 19 hospitalizations, seven deaths; no change
• Loudoun County: 20,791 cases, 779 hospitalizations, 184 deaths; increase of 173 cases, 10 hospitalizations and one death
• Manassas: 3,753 cases, 155 hospitalizations, 33 deaths; increase of 16 cases
• Manassas Park: 1,073 cases, 66 hospitalizations, eight deaths; no change
• Prince William County: 35,693 cases, 1,323 hospitalizations, 317 deaths; increase of 120 cases, three hospitalizations and two deaths
• Fredericksburg: 1,569 cases, 74 hospitalizations, 14 deaths; increase of three cases
• Spotsylvania County: 7,322 cases, 243 hospitalizations, 83 deaths; increase of 40 cases
• Stafford County: 8,123 cases, 275 hospitalizations, 50 deaths; increase of 65 cases and one hospitalization