Deaths Climb to 77 as Alexandria Surpasses 5,000 Cases of COVID-19

An Alexandria man in his 30s is the latest victim of COVID-19, as the number of cases in the city has ballooned over the past week.

The death count from the virus now stands at 77 in Alexandria.

There are or have been 5,010 cases of COVID-19 in Alexandria since the first case was reported in March, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

That’s an increase of 312 cases since Nov. 16. Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted that the city has not seen such an increase of cases since May.

A few thoughts about the uptick in Alexandria COVID cases:

1) We have now reached a level of known cases that we have not seen since May.

2) We just completed our HIGHEST week of testing ever.

3) Our hospitalizations remain low: half of our high, but double-ish our low. pic.twitter.com/lEYgTVNKTh

— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) November 22, 2020

There have also been 348 total hospitalizations since the onset of the pandemic in Alexandria. About one in 13 city residents who tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized, according to the Alexandria Health Department.

The city is also advising residents to stay home this Thanksgiving, and on Saturday the annual Christmas Tree lighting at Market Square was celebrated virtually.

According to the city:

The best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 remain wearing a mask in public, maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from others, and frequently washing your hands or carrying and using hand sanitizer with at least 60% ethyl alcohol. Help your loved ones and neighbors by answering a call from AHD if identified as a close contact of someone who tests positive for COVID-19, and download the Virginia Department of Health’s COVIDWISE app to be quickly and anonymously notified of likely exposure to the virus.

Across Virginia, there have been 3,942 deaths and there are or have been 221,038 cases of the virus. There have been 3.2 million PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and the state’s seven-day positivity rate is 7.2%.

Demographics

There are or have been 2,603 women (with 38 deaths) and 2,394 men (with 39 deaths) in Alexandria with the virus. The only age groups that have not experienced a death so far are children and teenagers.

• 80+    — 33 deaths, 140 cases
• 70-79 — 21 deaths, 163 cases
• 60-69 — Five deaths, 371 cases
• 50-59 — 14 deaths, 606 cases
• 40-49 — One death, 859 cases
• 30-39 — Two deaths, 1,140 cases
• 20-29 — One death, 1,011 cases
• 10-19  — Zero deaths, 342 cases
• 0-9     — Zero deaths, 361 cases

Latino residents have the most infections with 2,191 reported cases (with 13 deaths), white residents with 1,089 cases (40 deaths), and Black residents with 1,025 cases (19 deaths). There are 178 cases with Asian or Pacific Islander residents (and one death), 133 cases classified as “other” (with two deaths) and four native American cases (no deaths).

There have also been 41 outbreaks in the city, including 12 at long term care facilities, 22 in congregate settings, four in child care settings, one at a college, one in a K-12 setting and one at a correctional facility.

There have been 505 cases associated with the outbreaks. Health care workers also make up 336 positive COVID cases, according to VDH.

Testing Update

There have been 61,582 COVID tests administered in the city so far and 5,966 antibody tests. The city’s seven-day positivity rate is now at 6%.

• Arlington County has 5,856 cases, 157 deaths and a 7.1% seven-day positivity rate
• Fairfax County has 29,089 cases, 629 deaths and a 8.3% seven-day positivity rate
• Loudoun County has 9,345 cases, 139 deaths and a 8% seven-day positivity rate

Need a test? Inova is now offering vehicle-side and walk-in testing services for diagnosing flu and COVID-19, at the Victory Center parking lot (5001 Eisenhower Avenue).

Cases By ZIP Code

Some of the areas share jurisdictions between Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax Counties:

• 22301 — 193 cases, 5,393 people tested (Estimated population 15,171)
• 22302 — 557 cases, 9,712 people tested (Estimated population 20,238)
• 22304 — 1,573 cases, 18,245 people tested (Estimated population 54,003)
• 22305 — 989 cases, 7,183 people tested (Estimated population 16,095)
• 22311 — 869 cases, 8,295 people tested (Estimated population 16,898)
• 22312 — 1,260 cases, 10,424 people tested (Estimated population 6,901)
• 22314 — 570 cases, 12,754 people tested (Estimated population 47,826)

Photo via CDC/Unsplash