Governor Announces 3,000 Free COVID-19 Tests for Alexandria, Cases Jump to 1,544

As Alexandria’s COVID-19 cases continue to surge, Governor Ralph Northam on Monday announced that 3,000 free COVID-19 tests will be administered in Alexandria on May 25, and that the state’s most impacted areas will get additional testing throughout the remainder of the month.

Virginia Department of Health and the Alexandria Health Department have not announced where the tests will be administered. There have been 4,986 tests administered in the city so far, and details are being finalized on where the new tests will be conducted.

“The number of tests we’re performing depends on the day. Yesterday we performed about 5,800 PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) tests, and about 1,700 antibody tests,” Northam said. “But you can see that we’re putting a focus on Northern Virginia, in particular.”

Mayor Justin Wilson wrote on Facebook that the tests are “an important step in our efforts to increase testing.”

There are now 1,544 cases of COVID-19 in Alexandria, which is an increase of 34 cases since yesterday. There are also 34 fatalities related to COVID-19 in the city, and the last deaths, which were a man and a woman in their 80s, were announced by VDH on Saturday.

Hispanic residents, which make up 17% of the population, have the highest number of cases in the city, with 715 cases, four deaths and 74 hospitalizations.

There have been 124 cases associated with 11 outbreaks in the city, and 102 of those cases have been health care workers. Nine of the outbreaks occurred at long-term care facilities, and 15 deaths have occurred at such facilities, although that number has not been updated since the city’s release on May 2. The other outbreaks occurred at a “congregate” setting and an educational setting.

It is also not clear how many people have recovered.

Additionally, Neighborhood Health recently conducted hundreds of tests in Arlandria, and has pledged to continue testing in Alexandria’s poorest neighborhoods, which have the highest infection rates.

The areas of the city with the leading number of cases is the 22304 and 22305 ZIP codes, which include the West End and Arlandria, Potomac Yard and Potomac West neighborhoods. As of today, there are 459 cases in 22304, which has an estimated population of 54,003 people, and in 22305 there are 436 cases (with an estimated population of 16,095).

A large percentage of deaths have occurred at long-term care facilities, and there has been one death of a person in their 20s. There have also been 16 reported deaths of residents in their 80s.

There are also 168 hospitalizations of residents, which is an indicator for the city as to whether it is appropriate to reopen the local economy by the governor’s extended May 29 deadline. According to age data (see below), it appears that there are five new hospitalizations since yesterday.

Statewide, there have been 1,041 reported deaths, and 1,007 of those deaths are confirmed to have been COVID-19-related, according to VDH. There are now 32,145 cases (30,539 confirmed, 1,606 probable) and 3,904 hospitalizations (including 28 probable cases).

There are 792 females with the virus (with 18 deaths and 74 hospitalizations) and 747 males (with 16 deaths and 94 hospitalizations) who tested positive for COVID-19 in the city. The sex of five cases was not reported.

The age breakdown of deaths and new cases:

• 80+     — 16 Deaths, 65 cases, 22 hospitalizations (Three new cases)
• 70-79 — Nine deaths, 79 cases, 30 hospitalizations (One new case)
• 60-69 — One death, 138 cases, 28 hospitalizations (Four new cases, one new hospitalization)
• 50-59 — Seven deaths, 201 cases, 32 hospitalizations (Three new cases)
• 40-49 — Zero deaths, 297 cases, 26 hospitalizations (10 new cases, two new hospitalizations)
• 30-39 — Zero deaths, 358 cases, 22 hospitalizations (Seven new cases, two new hospitalizations)
• 20-29 — One death, 224 cases, five hospitalizations (Four new cases)
• 10-19  — Zero deaths, 102 cases, one hospitalization (One new case)
• 0-9     — Zero deaths, 72 cases, two hospitalizations (Two new cases)

The following ZIP Code Data includes areas that share jurisdictions between Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax Counties:

22301 — 54 cases, 355 people tested (Estimated population 15,171)

22302 — 159 cases, 536 people tested (Estimated population 20,238)

22304 — 459 cases, 1,599 people tested (Estimated population 54,003)

22305 — 436 cases, 846 people tested (Estimated population 16,095)

22311 — 291 cases, 803 people tested (Estimated population 16,898)

22312 — 316 cases, 989 people tested (Estimated population 6,901)

22314 — 143 cases, 847 people tested (Estimated population 47,826)

The City acknowledged that VDH and the Alexandria Health Department have “significant gaps in non-reporting of racial and ethnic demographics in this data.”

• Hispanic or Latino — Four Deaths, 715 cases, 74 hospitalizations (13 new cases, four new hospitalizations)
• White, non-Hispanic residents — 23 deaths, 566 cases, 63 hospitalizations (12 new cases, two new hospitalizations)
• Black/African American residents — Six deaths, 228 cases, 48 hospitalizations (two new cases, two new hospitalizations)
• Not Hispanic or Latino — 26 deaths, 494 cases, 89 hospitalizations (Nine new cases, three new hospitalizations)
• Not reported — Four deaths, 444 cases, 13 hospitalizations (11 new cases, one less hospitalization)
• Other — One death, 306 cases, 44 hospitalizations (Eight new cases, three new hospitalizations)

The full timeline of the spread so far:

• March 11 — First positive case reported
• March 15 — Second positive case reported
• March  17 — Fourth positive case reported
• March 24 — The number of cases jumps to 13
• March 25 — The number of cases increases to 14
• March 26 — The number of cases increases to 20
• March 27 — The number of cases increases to 24
• March 28 — The number of cases increases to 28
• March 29 — The number of cases increases to 32
• March 31 — The number of cases increases to 44
• April 1 — The number of cases increases to 55
• April 2 — The number of cases increases to 67
• April 3 — The number of cases increases to 77
• April 4 — The number of cases increases to 93
• April 5 — The number of cases increases to 104
• April 6 — The number of cases increases to 130 (First fatality reported)
• April 7 — The number of cases increases to 141
• April 8 — The number of cases increases to 149
• April 9 — The number of cases increases to 170
• April 10 — The number of cases increases to 181
• April 11 — The number of cases increases to 200
• April 12 — The number of cases increases to 225
• April 13 — The number of cases increases to 241 (Second fatality reported)
• April 14 — The number of cases increases to 248 (Third and fourth fatalities reported)
• April 15 — The number of cases increases to 273 (Fifth and sixth fatalities reported)
• April 16 — The number of cases increases to 303 (Seventh fatality reported)
• April 17 — The number of cases increases to 321
• April 18 — The number of cases increases to 354
• April 19 — The number of cases increases to 383 (Eighth fatality reported)
• April 20 — The number of cases increases to 421 (Ninth and tenth fatalities reported)
• April 21 — The number of cases increases to 462 (Fatalities now at 11)
• April 22 — The number of cases increases to 474 (Fatalities now at 13)
• April 23 — The number of cases increases to 512 (Fatalities now at 14)
• April 24 — The number of cases increases to 547 (Fatalities now at 15)
• April 25 — The number of cases increases to 575 (Fatalities now at 18)
• April 26 — The number of cases increases to 591 (Fatalities now at 19)
• April 27 — The number of cases increases to 627
• April 28 — The number of cases increases to 653 (Fatalities now at 20)
• April 29 — The number of cases increases to 700 (Fatalities now at 21)
• April 30 — The number of cases increases to 754
• May 1 — The number of cases increases to 802 (Fatalities now at 24)
• May 2 — The number of cases increases to 848 (Fatalities now at 26)
• May 3 — The number of cases increases to 899
• May 4 — The number of cases increases to 940
• May 5 —  The number of cases increases to 983
• May 6 —  New cases and fatalities not reported by VDH
• May 7 —  The number of cases increases to 1,060 (Fatalities now at 29)
• May 8 — The number of cases increases to 1,110
• May 9 — The number of cases increases to 1,142 (Fatalities now at 30)
• May 10 — The number of cases increases to 1,193
• May 11 — The number of cases increases to 1,224
• May 12 — The number of cases increases to 1,240
• May 13 — The number of cases increases to 1,305 (Fatalities now at 31)
• May 14 — The number of cases increases to 1,349 (Fatalities now at 32)
• May 15 — The number of cases increases to 1,396
• May 16 — The number of cases increases to 1460 (Fatalities now at 34)
• May 17 — The number of cases increases to 1,476
• May 18 — The number of cases increases to 1,510
• May 19 — The number of cases increases to 1,544