The state of emergency might be over, but the pandemic remains in Alexandria.

Following a two week blackout period, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is reporting four more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 195.

The CDC National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) did not return death certificates for “coding purposes” for two weeks — starting June 6.

“For a few weeks after the blackout period, you should expect to see a higher number of COVID-19-associated deaths added to the dashboards and data sets,” the Virginia Department of Health said. “This is because NCHS will be sending back newly-coded and re-coded death certificates to VDH that were put on hold during the blackout period.

As of Monday (July 11), there are 37,634 reported cases, and the seven-day average of new cases is steady at 70.9 — the same number it was on June 20.

There have been 772 new cases reported in the first 11 days of July alone, and the seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is 17.4%.

January saw the most new cases with 12,822 reported, followed by 2,900 cases in May, 2,357 cases in June, 1,488 cases in April, 1,227 cases in February and 593 cases in March.

The city currently has a Medium community level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Alexandria Health Department’s last update was on June 21, to announce the availability of vaccine shots for kids older than six months of age.

Alexandria’s two-and-a-half-year-long state of emergency expired on June 30.

Vaccine Update

• There are 21,733 unvaccinated Alexandria residents
• About 78% of residents (120,032 people) are fully vaccinated
• 86% (132,147 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 63,414 residents got booster shots

This month, VDH reported the following new cases in Alexandria:

• 45 new cases on July 11
• 72 new cases on July 10
• 64 new cases on July 9
• 90 new cases on July 8
• 106 new cases on July 7
• 58 new cases on July 6
• 61 new cases on July 5
• 70 new cases on July 4
• 66 new cases on July 3
• 63 new cases on July 2
• 77 new cases on July 1

Alexandria health providers are now offering the COVID-19 vaccine to children under five years of age, according to the Alexandria Health Department.

According to AHD:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for this age group and accepted the recommendation of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which met on June 17 and 18 to review administration and safety data for the vaccine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the vaccines’ Emergency Use Authorization last week to include doses and vaccine schedules for children between six months and five years of age. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is for ages six months – four years and is three doses, with three weeks between the first and second dose, and eight weeks between the second and third dose. The Moderna vaccine is for ages six months – five years and is two doses separated by four weeks.

Parents and guardians in Alexandria have multiple locations to choose from when getting their youngest vaccinated, including AHD vaccine clinics, pharmacies (for ages three and up), and pediatricians’ offices. Minors are not able to consent to immunizations, so a parent or guardian must consent either in advance or at the vaccination site, depending on the provider. Vaccine appointments for this age group at AHD clinics will be posted on a rolling basis, and parents and guardians are encouraged to contact their children’s healthcare provider/pediatrician to see if their office is providing COVID-19 vaccines for this group.

Appointments are required at this time.

In the meantime, two more residents have died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 191. The number of reported cases has reached 36,369, and the seven-day rate for new cases is 68.7, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Last month, AHD announced the availability of booster shots for kids ages five to 11.

Vaccinated in Alexandria

• About 78% of residents (119,667 people) are fully vaccinated
• 86% (131,739 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 65,283 residents got booster shots
• There are 22,141 unvaccinated Alexandria residents

Alexandria’s two-and-a-half-year-long state of emergency will expire on June 30..

As COVID numbers continue to rise, the Alexandria City Council will allow the city’s state of emergency to expire on June 30.

The declaration was made by Council in March 2020, and has been extended five times.

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson says there is no need for another extension.

“But we will be allowing the emergency declaration to expire as there is no need to continue the authority that it enables any further,” Wilson told ALXnow. “(T)he need for an emergency declaration to address the impacts of the pandemic will be past us.”

The Alexandria Health Department’s last update was on May 20, to announce the availability of booster shots for kids ages five to 11.

Case update

Today (June 6), Alexandria surpassed 35,000 cases of COVID-19. The official number is 35,041, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

The death toll remains at 189.

The seven-day average of new cases is 83.9 — down for the third straight week. Three weeks ago, the seven day-average for new cases reached 199.4.

The seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is 17%, up from 16.6% last week.

In Alexandria City Public Schools, there have been 1,191 cases reported since Dec. 1. Of those, 1,005 are children and 206 are staff, but the numbers on the school system’s dashboard don’t add up.

So far, there have been 536 new cases reported in the first six days in June, and the month is already assured to at least be the third-worst month of the year for new cases.

January was the worst month of 2022, with 12,822 reported, followed by a steep drop to 1,227 cases in February. There were only 593 cases reported in March, and 1,488 new cases in April. Alexandria currently has a Medium community level, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

VDH reported the following new cases this month in Alexandria:

• 70 new cases on June 6
• 87 new cases on June 5
• 85 new cases on June 4
• 93 new cases on June 3
• 138 new cases on June 2
• 63 new cases on June 1

Vaccine Update

• There are 22,345 unvaccinated Alexandria residents
• About 78% of residents (119,447 people) are fully vaccinated
• 86% (131,535 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 64,854 residents got booster shots

As of Monday (May 23), two more residents have died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 190. The number of cases has climbed to 33,764, an increase of 836 cases since this time last week.

The seven-day average of cases is now 119.4, up from 98.7 last week and 78.6 at the beginning of the month. The seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is 15.2%, up from 14.7% last week and 12.4% as reported in the first days of May.

May is now the second worst month of the year for new Covid cases, with 2,159 cases reported. January saw the most-ever cases with 12,822 reported, followed by a steep drop to 1,227 cases in February. There were only 593 cases reported in March, and 1,488 new cases in April.

While the number of Covid infections escalates, Alexandria residents should protect themselves by wearing face masks and staying up to date on their vaccinations. Those are among the recommendations that the Alexandria Health Department is now making, in addition to staying home, and staying in well-ventilated areas.

“The City of Alexandria, and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties have all experienced increased COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, placing the entire region in the CDC’s medium COVID-19 community level,” AHD said in a release. “Everyone should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, get tested if they have symptoms, improve ventilation in indoor spaces, and follow guidelines for isolation or quarantine if sick or exposed. Individuals may choose to wear a mask at any time.”

The CDC also recommends that travelers should get tested no more than three days before their departure and arrival dates.

Vaccine update

The Alexandria Health Department now offers vaccine boosters for children ages 5 to 11 at least five months after their last dose.

• There are 22,698 unvaccinated Alexandria residents
• About 77% of residents (119,084 people) are fully vaccinated
• 85% (131,182 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 63,779 residents got booster shots

In Alexandria City Public Schools, there have been 1,065 cases reported since Dec. 1. Of those, 906 are children and 178 are staff, but the numbers on the school system’s dashboard don’t add up.

The city remains in a state of emergency until June 30.

VDH reported the following new cases this month in Alexandria:

• 90 new cases on May 23
• 106 new cases on May 22
• 112 new cases on May 21
• 137 new cases on May 20
• 167 new cases on May 19
• 132 new cases on May 18
• 92 new cases on May 17
• 63 new cases on May 16
• 106 new cases on May 15
• 112 new cases on May 14
• 119 new cases on May 13
• 133 new cases on May 12
• 85 new cases on May 11
• 73 new cases on May 10
• 61 new cases on May 9
• 62 new cases on May 8
• 113 new cases on May 7
• 79 new cases on May 6
• 82 new cases on May 5
• 106 new cases on May 4
• 47 new cases on May 3
• 46 new cases on May 2
• 36 new cases on May 1

Get your stretchy pants ready, because the Well Ray festival is around the corner.

It’s the first year back after a two-year Covid hiatus, and organizers say that the free event on June 11 will go on rain or shine, with a central portion of Mount Vernon Avenue closed off for dozens of health vendors who will have live boxing, pilates and yoga demonstrations.

“It’s great for the community’s physical health, mental health, emotional health and spiritual health,” said Lola Capps of Chrysalis Chiropractic, who is co-chairing the event with Del Ray Business Association President Lauren Fisher. “It’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be big, with lots of fun stuff that’s not just for adults, it’s for kids as well.”

The event includes nearly 40 vendors, and is sponsored by the Jen Walker Team.

“We’re very glad to be bringing this event back after two years,” said Fisher, who owns Del Ray Psych and Wellness. “Our goal is to connect people to things that they might not even be thinking about, like introducing them to new modalities or fitness classes, because there are many different things that can help our physical, emotional, spiritual and mental wellbeing.”

The event includes:

• A rock wall
• Acupuncture
• Pilates
• Dance
• Yoga
• A zen zone
• Boxing
• Dog fitness area
• Hula hooping
• Human and canine massages
• Physical therapy consultations
• Chiropractic assessments
• Nutritional counseling
• Blood pressure screenings
• Meditation
• Wellness coaching

Via Facebook

After being overwhelmed by behavioral health-related calls for service, the Alexandria Co Response Team (ACORP) pilot program is being expanded.

The pilot program soft-launched last fall, with the ACORP team (a licensed behavioral health clinician and specially trained officer) responding to 145 (16%) of behavioral health-related calls for service between October 2021 and February 2022, according to a report that goes before City Council on Tuesday (May 10).

The collaboration between the Alexandria Police Department and the city’s Department of Community and Human Services has been deemed a success by Council, which approved two more ACORP teams in the city’s fiscal year 2023 budget.

In 14 incidents where an arrest could have been made, the ACORP team diverted 10 of them (71%) from arrests, according to the report.

However, the ACORP team has been unable to respond to approximately 85% of the 958 total behavioral-health related calls because they were off duty (63% of calls) or busy with another call (21% of calls).

The team has also been hampered by a 40-hour-per-week schedule, and after a few modifications, now work between Monday and Thursday, from noon to 10 p.m., “to better address the high number of calls consistently coming in on Mondays,” according to the report.

The overwhelming majority of behavioral health-related calls for service were in the 22304 Zip code (317 calls, or 33%) and in 22314 (253 calls, or 26%).

Of the 145 behavioral health calls for service ACORP responded to between October 2021 and February 2022:

• 52% were for unusual behavior or threats/ harm to self
• 45% of the calls were resolved on-scene (45%)
• 13% of calls that ACORP responded to resulted in involuntary transport to the hospital

These two incidents were mentioned in the report:

ACORP was dispatched to a scene involving a person engaging in suicidal behavior, with a knife in his hand, who had been cutting himself. Several units jointly responded to the call since there was a weapon involved, so there was a heavy police presence on the scene. As the ACORP team was trying to engage with the individual, they were surrounded by police officers (due to the imminent danger). The individual shared that he did not trust the police due to previous negative encounters and threatened to harm anyone coming close to him physically. He did say that he would talk to the ACORP co-responder (Megan) alone, but given that he was still a threat, the co-responding officer stayed in the room, and the other law enforcement officers were asked to slowly, one-by-one, step outside briefly. At that time, the ACORP team was successfully able to de-escalate this individual, get him to hand over the weapon, and voluntarily go with them to the hospital for further assessment and treatment. The individual got the help that he needed. This situation also increased trust between law enforcement and the co-response team and between the individual and law enforcement.

The ACORP team responded to a scene involving an individual in distress following a domestic dispute in the early Fall of 2021. The ACORP team successfully de-escalated this individual on-scene and referred them for additional services. A few months later, after not hearing from this man, ACORP responded to a call for service involving a different person who was heavily intoxicated and experiencing suicidal ideation. They arrived on scene, assessed the situation, and stepped into the hallway to discuss a strategy. While in the hallway, the man ACORP served months prior appeared and shared how grateful he was to the ACORP team for helping him get connected with services and as a result, leave a tumultuous relationship and achieve a better quality of life. This man heard the individual in distress behind the door, whom he knew. He was able to speak with his neighbor in distress and share how much he himself had been helped by the ACORP team. This first-hand experience helped the distressed man trust the ACORP team, agree to speak with them, and ultimately get connected to the services he needed.

In the budget approved last week, we funded two new Co-Response (ACORP) teams, our program to pair police officers and behavioral health clinicians.

Tomorrow evening we will receive an external evaluation of this new program, which has diverted 71% of eligible calls from arrest. pic.twitter.com/m9YybeQRzy

— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) May 9, 2022

May is on track to be the second worst month of the year for new cases of Covid.

As of May 9 (Monday), reported cases climbed to 32,237, an increase of 550 cases since this time last week. The seven-day average of cases is 78.6, up 68.7 last week, and the seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is 12.4%, up from 10.2%.

The number of COVID-related deaths remains at 188. There have been 632 new cases reported so far in May, which is nearly half of the cases reported in April.

This year started with Covid levels at an all-time high, with a record-setting 12,822 cases reported, followed by 1,227 cases in February. There were only 593 cases reported in March, and during that month City Council loosened its mask and distancing requirements after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved the City’s community level from High to Low.

There were 1,488 new cases reported in April, and the CDC downgraded the city’s community level to Medium.

Fake Covid tests

The Alexandria Health Department is warning the public about fake Covid tests. According to AHD:

Beware of Counterfeit COVID-19 Tests

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns the public about counterfeit at-home COVID-19 diagnostic tests being distributed or used in the United States. Counterfeit tests are not authorized, cleared, or approved by the FDA for distribution or use but are made to look like real, FDA-authorized tests.The reliability of unauthorized tests has not been adequately established, so the risk of false results is very high. For reliable, FDA-authorized tests, order up to four at a time for free from USPS, pick up a free test at a participating Alexandria Public Library, or find other trusted testing options at alexandriava.gov/COVIDTesting.

VDH reported the following new cases this month in Alexandria:

• 36 new cases on May 1
• 46 new cases on May 2
• 47 new cases on May 3
• 106 new cases on May 4
• 82 new cases on May 5
• 79 new cases on May 6
• 113 new cases on May 7
• 62 new cases on May 8
• 61 new cases on May 9

Vaccine stats

• There are 23,068 unvaccinated Alexandria residents
• About 77% of residents (118,662 people) are fully vaccinated
• 85% (130,812 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 62,648 residents got booster shots

In Alexandria City Public Schools, there have been 836 cases reported since Dec. 1. Of those, 713 are children and 142 are staff, but the numbers on the school system’s dashboard don’t add up.

The city remains in a state of emergency until June 30.

Alexandria has started the month of May with a high number of new cases.

As of May 2 (Monday), reported cases of Covid climbed to 31,687, an increase of 407 cases since this time last week.

Two more COVID-related deaths were also reported in Alexandria by the Virginia Department of Health, bringing the death toll from the virus to 188.

The seven-day average for new cases is 68.7, up from 54.4 last week. The seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is 10.2%.

New cases were not reported by VDH on April 30 or May 1, and the number of cases reported on May 2 was 172 — the most cases reported for a single day since January.

There were 1,488 reported cases in April, which has turned out to be the second worst month for new cases this year. Also last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention downgraded Alexandria’s s community level from “Low” to “Medium”.

The April figures are a 151% increase over the 593 cases reported in March, and 20% more than the 12,227 cases reported in February.

In Alexandria City Public Schools, there have been 756 cases reported since Dec. 1. Of those, 646 are children and 131 are staff, but the numbers on the school system’s dashboard don’t add up.

The city remains in a state of emergency until June 30.

Vaccine stats

• There are 23,236 unvaccinated Alexandria residents
• About 77% of residents (118,441 people) are fully vaccinated
• 85% (130,644 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 62,378 residents got booster shots

It’s been a bad month for COVID-19 in Alexandria, as the number of new cases has eclipsed those reported in February, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

As of Sunday (April 25) there were 1,229 new cases reported this month, a 107% increase over the 593 cases reported in March. There were also 1,227 cases reported in February, which was a steep decline after a record-setting 12,822 cases in January.

Last week, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention downgraded the city’s community level from “Low” to “Medium.”

Friday (April 22), the number of reported Covid cases increased by 77 — the highest single-day number of cases since February 11, when 98 new cases were reported. There are now 31,280 cases of the virus reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, and the seven-day average of new cases is now 54.4, up from 52.3 last week.

The number of deaths remains at 186.

In Alexandria City Public Schools, there have been 718 cases reported since Dec. 1. Of those, 614 are children and 123 are staff, but the numbers on the school system’s dashboard don’t add up.

The city remains in a state of emergency until June 30.

This month, VDH reported the following new cases in Alexandria:

• 36 new cases on April 25
• 38 new cases on April 24
• 50 new cases on April 23
• 77 new cases on April 22
• 59 new cases on April 21
• 71 new cases on April 20
• 17 new cases on April 19
• 47 new cases on April 18
• 51 new cases on April 17
• 59 new cases on April 16
• 52 new cases on April 15
• 68 new cases on April 14
• 45 new cases on April 13
• 44 new cases on April 12
• 36 new cases on April 11
• 17 new cases on April 10
• 61 new cases on April 9
• 55 new cases on April  8
• 52 new cases on April  7
• 35 new cases on April  6
• 30 new cases on April 5
• 17 new cases on April 4
• 31 new cases on April 3
• 35 new cases on April 2
• 46 new cases on April 1

Vaccine stats

• There are 23,431 unvaccinated Alexandria residents
• About 77% of residents (118,250 people) are fully vaccinated
• 85% (130,449 people) of residents got at least one dose
• 61,911 residents got booster shots

The Alexandria Health Department is asking residents to stay up to date on vaccinations and to travel safe this spring break.

The guidance was issued in the city’s weekly COVID-19 update.

“The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones is to stay up-to-date on your vaccinations,” AHD advised. “If you will be spending time with individuals at higher risk of severe COVID-19, consider getting tested one-to-three days before you travel to see them. Monitor yourself for symptoms after you travel.”

There has been an uptick in Covid cases this month, and the number of cases is now 30,655, an increase of 89 cases since Monday (April 11), according to the Virginia Department of Health. The seven-day average of new cases is now 46.6 — up from 40.9 on Monday. The number of deaths remains unchanged at 185.

Face masks are still mandatory on public transportation, including on buses, planes and trains.

Alexandria is currently at a low COVID-19 community level according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).