Alexandria is gunning for authority to run its own health department.
Every year, Alexandria sends representatives to Richmond to plead its case to the General Assembly. With the city under the yoke of the Dillon Rule — which says that local government can only exercise powers expressly granted by the state — often times those legislative priorities focus on areas where the city wants a little more wiggle room.
With the holiday season approaching, a prerequisite for some family gatherings could be a negative Covid test. With Curative shutting down its testing kiosks throughout the region that might get slightly harder, but there are other resources.
The kiosks have provided around 195,000 Covid tests, the City of Alexandria said in a release, but demand for kiosk testing has dropped off dramatically since 2021.
Nine Alexandria residents died of COVID-19 over the last month, bringing the death toll from the virus to 210.
The number of cases is still declining, and the city’s Community Level remains low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The seven-day average of new cases is now 10.7 — down from the mid-30s at around this time last month.
With summer heat in full swing, Covid cases are trending downward in Alexandria.
As of Monday (August 8), there are 39,692 reported cases, according to the Virginia Department of Health. There have been 196 deaths.
Covid rates have increased during Alexandria’s midsummer.
As of Monday (July 25), there are 38,779 reported cases, an increase of 605 cases since this time last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The seven-day average of new cases is now 86.4, up from 77.1, and the seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is now 22.3%, up from 19.2%.
Another Alexandria resident has died from Covid, and cases continue to steadily increase.
As of Monday (July 18), there are 38,174 reported cases, an increase of 540 cases since this time last week. The seven-day average of new cases is now 77.1, up from 70.9, and the seven-day positivity rate for Covid tests is now 19.2%, up from 17.4%.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
