A year in, COVID-19 cases increase slightly in Alexandria

Alexandria is looking back on a full year of the coronavirus, and hopes are high that the end of the pandemic is in sight.

“It has been an extraordinary year in our City,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson tweeted this morning. “The fact that we are here, with an end in sight, is a testament to the tireless commitment of thousands of volunteers, public servants, community organizations and brave healthcare workers.”

To date, 128 city residents have died of COVID-19, and 10,771 have contracted the virus, according to the Virginia Department of Health. That’s 179 more cases since this time last week, and the city’s seven-day moving average is up slightly to 26.9 cases, which is up for the second week in a row.

Across Virginia, there have been 10,127 deaths and there are or have been 605,967 cases of the virus. There have also been 6.3 million PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and the state’s seven-day positivity rate is 5.6%.

With the public school system recently reopening, the city still advises residents to stay home as much as possible and frequently wash their hands.

A Few Statistics

The city reports the following:

• Nearly 5,000 volunteers and more than 300 City workers have accepted special COVID-19 related assignments
• More than 5 million free meals were distributed in more than 1,800 events
• Alexandria’s 30 person team of Case Investigators and Contact Tracers worked a collective total of more than 60,000 hours and conducted 11,270 COVID-19 case investigations
• More than 19,000 COVID-19 tests were administered through 33 testing events and 3 Curative testing kiosks. This does not include the thousands of tests administered by other providers
• Nearly $28 million in federal assistance was invested in services and relief for Alexandrians
• 2,786 households received emergency rental assistance to prevent eviction
• 650 businesses received grants for expenses related to reopening and rescaling
• 13,708 residents received aid from 57 organizations, including emergency financial assistance, education, health, housing and technology
• 151 children participated in the child care micro pods program

It has been an extraordinary year in our City.

The fact that we are here, with an end in sight, is a testament to the tireless commitment of thousands of volunteers, public servants, community organizations and brave healthcare workers.

Thank you. pic.twitter.com/EnP8HQKKbR

— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) March 22, 2021

Vaccine Update

VDH is now releasing vaccine demographic data for Alexandria, and 29,312 residents have gotten at least one shot and 16,878 residents have been fully vaccinated.

The city wants 80% of residents ages 16 and older (106,618 people) vaccinated by July 31. Residents can pre-register with the city to get the vaccine here.

White residents far outpace other races in the city for first doses and full vaccinations.

• White — 10,116 first doses, 6,911 fully vaccinated
• Latino — 2,654 first doses, 1,436 fully vaccinated
• Black — 2,189 first doses, 1,336 fully vaccinated
• Other — 1,940 first doses, 1,336 fully vaccinated
• Asian of Pacific Islander — 680 first doses, 442 fully vaccinated
• Native American — 71 first doses, 35 fully vaccinated

Women have received 17,878 first doses and 10,618 have gotten their second shot, while 11,434 men have received their first doses and nearly 6,260 have been fully vaccinated.The following age groups received their vaccinations:

• 80+    — 2,744 got one dose, 2,161 fully vaccinated
• 70-79 — 6,099 got one dose, 4,255 fully vaccinated
• 60-69 — 6,195 got one dose, 3,442 fully vaccinated
• 50-59 — 3,886 got one dose, 2,143 fully vaccinated
• 40-49 — 3,888 got one dose, 2,282 fully vaccinated
• 30-39 — 4,304 got one dose, 2,591 fully vaccinated
• 20-29 — 2,043 got one dose, 1,220 fully vaccinated
• 10-19  — 198 got one dose, 93 fully vaccinated
• 0-9     — No Vaccines distributed

Demographics

There are or have been 5,586 women (with 60 deaths) and 5,128 men (with 68 deaths) in Alexandria with the virus. The only age groups that have not experienced a death are children and teenagers.

• 80+    — 52 deaths, 266 cases
• 70-79 — 33 deaths, 349 cases
• 60-69 — 22 deaths, 812 cases
• 50-59 — 14 deaths, 1,267 cases
• 40-49 — Three deaths, 1,810 cases
• 30-39 — Two deaths, 2,503 cases
• 20-29 — One death, 2,168 cases
• 10-19  — Zero deaths, 792 cases
• 0-9     — Zero deaths, 779 cases

Latino residents have the most infections with 3,594 reported cases (19 deaths), white residents with 2,777 cases (62 deaths), and Black residents with 2,263 cases (34 deaths). There are 522 cases with Asian or Pacific Islander residents (six deaths), 350 cases classified as “other” (two deaths) and 11 native American cases (no deaths).

There have also been 99 outbreaks in the city, including 20 at long term care facilities, 53 in congregate settings, five at health care settings, 12 in child care settings, two at a college, four in a K-12 setting and two at a correctional facility. There have been 946 cases associated with the outbreaks. Health care workers also make up 588 of those positive COVID cases, according to VDH.

Testing Update

There have been 132,960 Polymer Chain Reaction (PCR) tests administered in the city; 6,998 antibody tests and 14,847 antigen tests.

Need a test? Find where tests are administered here.

Cases By ZIP Code

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

• 22301 — 551 cases, 12,367 people tested (Estimated population 15,171)
• 22302 — 1,204 cases, 21,423 people tested (Estimated population 20,238)
• 22304 — 3,612 cases, 39,098 people tested (Estimated population 54,003)
• 22305 — 1,566 cases, 14,024 people tested (Estimated population 16,095)
• 22311 — 1,725 cases, 15,495 people tested (Estimated population 16,898)
• 22312 — 2,618 cases, 21,169 people tested (Estimated population 6,901)
• 22314 — 1,562 cases, 30,553 people tested (Estimated population 47,826)

Photo via CDC/Unsplash