Cases of COVID-19 are continuing to increase in the winter months in Alexandria, pushing schools to remain closed even as thousands of residents get their first doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
Unfortunately, vaccine supply is limiting the number of residents who can get vaccinated, not just in Alexandria but across Northern Virginia, the state and the country.
More than 3 percent of Alexandria residents have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and the Alexandria Health Department and local hospitals are vaccinating people as quickly as possible.
“Like everyone, we can use lots more doses,” Mayor Justin Wilson said in a Facebook post this week. “The limiting factor remains the vaccine supply.” Alexandria and other jurisdictions are putting pressure on the state and federal government to increase supplies.
The start of the new federal administration with the inauguration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday will mean changes to the way the federal government provides support to state and local vaccination efforts. President Biden has proposed using the Defense Production Act to increase supply manufacturing, using FEMA and the National Guard to help move vaccine supply, and has set a goal of providing 100 million doses in the next 100 days.
Statewide Trends Up
As of Thursday, Virginia had surpassed 450,000 documented cases of COVID-19 since tracking began last year. In Virginia, the vast majority have recovered, but many report lingering symptoms from persistent exhaustion to headaches.
In the City of Alexandria, 8,917 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 97 have passed away. In Fairfax County, 55,595 people have been diagnosed and 742 have died.
In the past few days, Alexandria has added 75 to 90 new diagnosed cases of COVID-19 per day. Fairfax County has added 650 to 700 cases per day.
The number of cases in Virginia has increased rapidly since early November, when colder weather started to push people indoors more.
This chart shows the daily case count in Virginia and was updated Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Virginia Dept. of Health
Statewide diagnosed cases of COVID-19.
Alexandria Releases ZIP Code Data
This week, Alexandria city officials released new data on which ZIP codes, ages and ethnicities have the highest incidences of COVID-19 in Alexandria.
A few ZIP codes (see map) have higher test positivity rates than others, and much of that depends on housing, employment type and testing.
The ZIP code with the highest rate of cases per 1,000 population is 22305 (northeastern Alexandria, including Arlandria) with 77.1 cases per 1,000 people through December. Similar calculations could not be made for 22311 and 22312, because those ZIP codes cover parts of other jurisdictions.
“All ZIP codes continue to experience increases in positivity rates between the November and December reports. This is not unexpected with the current regional and nationwide surge in cases. The number of cases from December 2 to January 1 represents over a quarter of all cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic,” according to city data.
In addition, there seem to be differences in who is affected by COVID-19.
“Everyone is at risk for COVID-19, but it has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations throughout the United States, in Virginia, regionally, and within Alexandria, due to underlying systemic inequities. … Individuals who identify as Latino or Hispanic make up 16.8% of the population in Alexandria but represent 38.8% of the diagnosed COVID-19 infections as of January 1,” according to Health Department data.
The percentages of positive cases among certain ethnic groups seems to be decreasing, but there is also an increase in those who are not reporting their ethnicity with testing.
Regarding age, the highest number of cases are among those ages 30 to 39.
For more data and explanations, click here.
More testing is now available through free, self-serve kiosks run in partnership with Curative at three locations in the City of Alexandria. Learn more at www.alexandriava.gov/coronavirus.
