Category: Covid-19

AUSTIN (KXAN) Austin Public Health is working on a way to more accurately trace COVID-19 as more people rely on at-home COVID-19 tests to determine whether they have the virus or not.

With the omicron COVID variant already sweeping through the U.S., the demand for COVID testing has increased. The demand is so great, retailers likeWalgreenshave imposed purchasing limits on their at-home COVID tests and many have been wiped clean.

A spokesperson for Austin Public Health told KXAN theyre still working on a way to get all of those tests reported and said positive cases are underreported in our community.

That said, APH is asking people who have a positive at-home test to call the citys health equity line to report the positive cases for now. That number is (512) 972-5560. APH said they would notify the public if theres a change to that procedure.

Whats most important is that people isolate athomeif theytestpositive with an at-homekit or if theyre experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, an APH spokesperson said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns antigen tests might not detect the highly-transmissible omicron variant. The agency continues to authorize the use of the tests but said antigen tests are generally less sensitive and less likely to pick up very early infections compared to molecular tests.

Officials said if a person tests negative with an antigen testbut is suspected of having COVID-19 such as experiencing symptoms or having a high likelihood of infection due to exposure follow-up molecular testing is important for determining a COVID-19 infection.

APH said the gold standard for COVID-19 detection continues to be the PCR test.If a person has COVID-19-like symptoms, they should isolate from others and wear a mask until they are tested.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends if a person tests negative on day five after symptom onset,they should still continue to wear a mask for five days when around other individuals.

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How to report your positive COVID-19 home test to Austin Public Health - KXAN.com

A member of the Salt Lake County Health Department COVID-19 testing staff walks past a line outside the department on Tuesday. The number of new COVID019 cases hit a record this week, topping numbers from January. Rick Bowmer/AP hide caption

A member of the Salt Lake County Health Department COVID-19 testing staff walks past a line outside the department on Tuesday. The number of new COVID019 cases hit a record this week, topping numbers from January.

The omicron variant is spreading rapidly all over the country, but hospitalization and death rates remain relatively low.

The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases topped 280,000 this week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University's tracker. It's a record number of new cases in the country; the last time the number of cases hit a peak close to that was January.

Public health officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky say the new variant appears to be less severe than ones in the past but still emphasize the need to follow public health protocols like getting vaccinated and wearing a mask to curb the spread of the virus.

Data from the White House provided at a briefing Wednesday shows the seven-day average of hospitalizations is about 9,000 per day which is a 14% increase in hospitalizations from last week. However, there was a 60% rise in cases over the same time frame. The seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths is down from last week, at about 1,100 deaths per day.

Officials say the difference is in part because omicron causes less severe symptoms for those who are vaccinated and especially for those who are boosted.

Another reason for the wide gap between the increase in hospitalizations and cases, Fauci said, is that hospitalizations tend to lag behind recorded cases. Still, "all indications point to less severe illness with omicron than delta," he said.

Fauci also cited a new study out of South Africa which shows that hospital admissions from the omicron wave there were 4.5% of cases versus 21.3% with other variants. The number of patients who needed oxygen while in the hospital with the omicron variant was half as much as the number of patients with previous variants. And the length of stay in the hospital was about four days with the omicron variant, compared with an average of 8.8 days with earlier waves.

Despite the seemingly lower severity of the omicron variant, Fauci emphasized the need for people to get vaccinated and boosted.

"Boosters bring back up that degree of protection," he said. "Boosters are critical."

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Record number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the US - NPR

As the omicron variant rips through NBA players and coaches, it has reached a season-high among game officials: 36% of the league's referees are in COVID-19 protocols, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

With 25 of the league's 70 active referees currently in quarantine, the league has been promoting G League referees to fill out the nightly roster of games, sources said.

There have been rare instances lately when only two referees -- instead of the standard three -- were available for games, but the NBA has continued to work to limit those occasions, sources said.

The G League has paused the season until Wednesday to allow for players and referees to be available to the NBA.

NBA referees are 100% vaccinated and are required to be fully boosted prior to Wednesday, sources said. Only a percentage of refs currently on road trips haven't been boosted, but must do by Wednesday.

Officials don't have the protections that teams do with charter flights and five-star hotels, but the NBA has been working with the National Basketball Referees Association on improvements related to travel -- including hotels -- that might serve to lessen exposure to the virus, sources said.

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More than one-third of NBA referees are in COVID-19 protocols, sources say - ESPN

Bill Gates may not love New Year's resolutions, but he's still setting large goals for 2022 and beyond.

At the top of his list: avoiding future pandemics.

In his end-of-year blog post earlier this month, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder and healthcare philanthropist wrote that among the world's biggest problems, the next Covid-level health scare is pressing enough to demand attention in 2022.

"We can't afford to repeat the suffering of the last two years," Gates wrote. "The world had a chance to invest in the tools and systems that could've prevented the Covid-19 pandemic, and we didn't take it."

Gates hinted that the topic will be the subject of his next book, set to publish next year. In the meantime, he wrote, investing in medical research and development is a smart place to start: Many of the world's highest-profile medical projects, paused by Covid, could accelerate again in the near future.

In one example, he noted, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation helped fund a Phase III trial of islatravir, a preventative HIV medication, in Africa.

Current pill treatments offer reliable protection, but they must be ingested in frequent or otherwise planned intervals. The new treatment, also a pill, would only need to be taken once per month and the trial's first results, released this summer, were promising, Gates noted.

Gates and ex-wife Melinda French Gates have also donated billions of dollars to various health organizations. In a 2019 Wall Street Journal essay, the pair said they'd given up to $10 billion to organizations like the Global Fund, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) over the past two decades.

In his blog post, Gates wrote, some of this year's achievements show that the world may really be able to end the Covid pandemic and curb the next one, from governments and nonprofits combating climate change together to the World Health Organization's approval of the first malaria vaccine.

But a growing global distrust in public institutions, he noted, represents a significant hurdle. According to the 2021Edelman Trust Index, a survey of more than 33,000 people across 28 countries that Gates cited in his post, Americans in particular don't trust their public officials: The study noted that 40% of U.S. respondents "deeply" distrust the country's federal government.

"If your people don't trust you, they're not going to support major new initiatives," Gates wrote. "And when a major crisis emerges, they're less likely to follow guidance necessary to weather the storm."

It's a timely issue: According to some experts, the next pandemic could be even worse, and it might not even be far away. "I think that as time goes forward we're going to see more of them," Richard Preston, author of "The Hot Zone," a 1994 book about Ebola, told CNBC last year. "And they're going to balloon faster."

For Gates, that means political leaders and private citizens alike need to get on board with preventative actions before Covid starts to fade from people's priority lists.

"Now is the time to learn from our mistakes and take steps to prevent this terrible experience from ever happening again," Gates wrote. "I'm hopeful that we'll see broad support for pandemic preparedness efforts, and I plan on spending a lot of time advocating for them."

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BEIJING, Dec 30 (Reuters) - China's industrial and tech hub of Xian reported on Thursday more than 100 new cases of COVID-19, taking its tally of locally transmitted infections to the highest in any Chinese city this year.

Xian reported 155 new local cases for Dec. 29, official data showed. That takes its number of local infections to more than 1,100 since the flare-up began on Dec. 9 and compelled authorities to put the city of 13 million under lockdown.

Despite the low case count compared with clusters in many cities around the world, Xian officials have imposed tough curbs on travel within and out of the city since Dec. 23, as Beijing demands each outbreak be contained quickly.

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"Xian has reached a live-or-die stage in its fight against the virus," Zhang Fenghu, a city government official, told a news conference on Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and Micron Technology (MU.O), two of the world's largest memory-chip makers, have warned that the lockdown could affect their chip manufacturing bases in the area. read more

Xian is also a major tourism destination, drawing visitors to its collection of terracotta warriors buried with China's first emperor more than 2,000 years ago.

Authorities have embarked on multiple rounds of citywide testing to trace transmissions. A sixth round began on Thursday, a day after a fifth round.

Many residents have been barred from leaving their housing compounds unless going out to take COVID-19 tests or attend to essential matters approved by authorities.

The Xian police have dispatched personnel to each residential compound to make sure COVID curbs are properly implemented, a police official told a news briefing on Thursday.

The restrictions have curtailed access to daily necessities, with many people unable to go out to shop, leaving them dependent on deliveries.

But the curbs have caused a staffing crunch at companies involved in ensuring the delivery of supplies and the government was working on resolving the issue, a Xian government official said on Wednesday.

WUHAN ANNIVERSARY

A Xian resident surnamed He told Reuters she tried to order groceries on the online app of Alibaba-backed supermarket chain Freshippo but could not secure many items including potatoes and cucumber.

The app posted a message under many items saying: "Delivery staffers are not available", according to a screenshot He provided.

Several city districts have arranged for the delivery of free groceries to some residential compounds, state media said.

The total supply of necessities in Xian was sufficient, a spokesperson at the commerce ministry told reporters.

The Xian lockdown, now in its eighth day, coincides with the second anniversary of early signs of the coronavirus outbreak in the central city of Wuhan.

Wuhan health authorities said in a notice issued on Dec. 30, 2019, that some pneumonia patients were stricken by an illness of an "an unknown cause," according to state media.

Also on Thursday, thousands of people left messages on the social media account of the late COVID-19 whistleblower Li Wenliang on the anniversary of the day - also Dec. 30, 2019 - that he learned of the possibility of a pneumonia-causing virus in Wuhan. read more

As of Wednesday, mainland China had reported 101,890 confirmed coronavirus cases, including both local and imported ones, with a death toll of 4,636.

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Reporting by Ryann Woo, Roxanne Liu, Beijing Newsroom, Gabriel Crossley and Albee Zhang; editing by Karishma Singh

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Xian battles COVID-19 in worst outbreak to hit a Chinese city this year - Reuters

AUSTIN (KXAN) One in four molecular COVID-19 tests in Texas in the past week have yielded positive results, according to data from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

As of Thursday, the seven-day positive rate for PCR tests is 26.49%. The positive rate has hit a new record high for six days in a row.

KXAN is keeping track of COVID-19 across Texas. Click here to see that latest statistics.

Prior to this week, the record high was 20.79% on Jan. 3, 2021. The rate has increased by 165% over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, the seven-day positive rate for antigen (rapid) tests is 16.49%. Thats the highest since July 17, 2020. The record is 25.10%, set on July 1, 2020.

The state has reported close to 100,000 new test results each day over the past week. Two-thirds of those are molecular (PCR) tests, which are much more sensitive than the antigen (rapid) tests.

The demand for testing has increased significantly over the past few days. In Austin, hours-long lines formed outside the Long Center each day this week as people waited to get free tests.

Nomi Health, the host of the drive-thru popup testing site, will offer tests again Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The company said antigen test results are available within 15 minutes via text message, and PCR test results come back in 24 to 48 hours.

Jennie Whitaker, a spokesperson for Nomi Health, told KXAN 28% of the antigen tests done on Monday came back positive. Of those, 92% of patients had symptoms, and 79% were vaccinated. On Tuesday, 26% of tests were positive.

Meanwhile, experts said the positive rate is likely higher than what is being reported, due to the increase in at-home testing.

The only ones that are being reported are the ones that are done in a facility, said Dr. George Willeford, medical director of Point of Care Health Services. So, the number of positives may well exceed Im sure it does well exceed the numbers that were seeing posted.

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1 in 4 COVID-19 tests in Texas are returning positive results - KXAN.com

As COVID-19 surges, some NFL teams are taking extra precautions to keep their quarterbacks from contracting the virus.

Just as in 2020, teams such as the Indianapolis Colts are coping with the possibility of not having their top quarterback available for a key game. Colts starter Carson Wentz, who is unvaccinated, was placed on the team's COVID-19 reserve list on Wednesday, leaving his availability for Sunday's game with the Las Vegas Raiders (1 p.m. ET, Fox) in doubt.

Whether it's keeping one quarterback isolated, spacing out the quarterback room, holding virtual meetings or adhering to other safety guidelines outlined by the league and government officials, here is how some NFL teams that have either locked up a playoff bid or are contending for one are trying to ensure they have a healthy quarterback. Teams are listed by conference seeding.

All three of the Packers' quarterbacks -- Aaron Rodgers, Jordan Love and the practice squad's Kurt Benkert -- have had COVID-19 this season, so they don't need to test anymore. The soonest Rodgers would be subjected to another test would be the week of the Super Bowl. Love is clear from testing through the Super Bowl.

While the Packers wouldn't need to do anything special for their quarterbacks, coach Matt LaFleur has said he will take the team virtual for everything but practice whenever he feels there's a reason to do so. -- ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky

Because the Cowboys are in a virtual-meeting mode anyway, they do not need to separate quarterbacks. In fact, they even pulled No. 3 quarterback Will Grier from virtual meetings because he had sniffles, according to coach Mike McCarthy. Ultimately, the Cowboys hope to get back to in-person -- yet, socially distanced -- meetings before the playoffs and have talked about different scenarios.

Here's how the postseason bracket looks at the moment and what scenarios lie ahead. Playoff picture and clinching scenarios ESPN's interactive NFL Playoff Machine Standings | Football Power Index

"We are very cognizant of the position groups and being smart with everybody," McCarthy said. "But it's really the personal focus is what's most important. As far as our time together, outside of being on the practice field and in the locker room, the way it's set up, I think we are doing a really good job here." -- ESPN Cowboys reporter Todd Archer

Bucs interim head coach Harold Goodwin called it "business as usual in the quarterback room" and praised that position group for its adherence to COVID-19 protocols. The Buccaneers have had an emergency option there for the past two seasons in tight end Cameron Brate, should Tom Brady, Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask and Ryan Griffin all not be available.

The Bucs keep four quarterbacks with three on the active roster, so that helps. -- ESPN Bucs reporter Jenna Laine

None of the quarterbacks on Arizona's roster -- Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy, Trace McSorley and Chris Streveler -- has had COVID-19 this season. Arizona will continue to space them out but not separate them.

"We feel like we have a good plan for it," coach Kliff Kingsbury said. -- ESPN Cardinals reporter Josh Weinfuss

Coach Kyle Shanahan said the team switched all meetings to virtual on Wednesday, two days after punter Mitch Wishnowsky became the team's first player to go on the COVID list since August.

"We've been pretty fortunate with it so far having just one guy down," Shanahan said. "But just watching the world and watching everybody, knowing how it's a matter of time is what it looks like, so we're just trying to be careful and keep everyone separate right now until we go outside."

The Niners also signed QB Tyler Bray to the practice squad, which means they have Bray and Nate Sudfeld as QBs on the practice squad and Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance on the active roster. -- ESPN 49ers reporter Nick Wagoner

The Eagles are keeping quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew and Reid Sinnett in separate rooms at the NovaCare Complex amid the surge in coronavirus cases, coach Nick Sirianni said recently.

"We're going to make some adjustments ... we're going to definitely make even more adjustments than what we need to just keep everybody safe," Sirianni said. "The quarterbacks will be in separate rooms. We're going to be even more safe with them being in separate rooms." -- ESPN Eagles reporter Tim McManus

After the Vikings placed backup quarterback Sean Mannion, who is vaccinated, on the reserve/COVID-19 list hours before their loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, coach Mike Zimmer said the team is taking more safety measures this week and will be separating their quarterbacks in meetings.

"We don't want those guys in the same room together, so we're going to try and spread them apart," Zimmer said.

Starting quarterback Kirk Cousins remains unvaccinated, and rookie Kellen Mond, who served as Cousins' backup versus Los Angeles during the first game he was active all year, has been following protocols for unvaccinated players. -- ESPN Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin

Coach Arthur Smith has been putting protocols in place for his quarterbacks -- and other positions -- throughout the season, trying to mitigate risk as best as possible.

"I don't think anybody has the perfect solution right now," Smith said. "I think that's the one thing that's painfully obvious about the omicron variant."

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Quarterback Matt Ryan said he has done everything he could from a vaccination and booster standpoint to protect himself. And inside the Falcons' building, everyone has been spaced out all year in different parts of a room to limit contact and not be as closely positioned around each other.

"We're not in a tight meeting room," Ryan said. "None of us are really that close all day." -- ESPN Falcons reporter Michael Rothstein

The Saints already suffered through the worst-case scenario last week when they lost their top two quarterbacks, Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian, along with 18 other eligible players, to positive COVID-19 tests. The Saints had to start rookie QB Ian Book in Monday night's 20-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins. But now, both Hill and Siemian should be available for the remainder of the season, so the Saints won't have to worry about isolating them at this point. -- ESPN Saints reporter Mike Triplett

Washington's top two quarterbacks, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen, both missed the Dec. 21 game at Philadelphia because they had tested positive for COVID-19, and Kyle Shurmur was put on the list Thursday. But there is one other quarterback on the roster, Garrett Gilbert, and there are coaches to consider, so Washington will continue to take precautions. Rather than sit in their usual small meeting room, the seven of them take over the team meeting room that has 75 seats. Coach Ron Rivera said they wear masks and spread out. -- ESPN Washington Football Team reporter John Keim

The Titans still have their quarterbacks in the building. They'll use the practice bubble for meeting space and also have what coach Mike Vrabel described as "a massive team meeting room that you have just a few people in."

Overall, the organization is taking a conscious approach to ensure that everybody is more than adequately spaced out. Quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill and Logan Woodside are vaccinated. -- ESPN Titans reporter Turron Davenport

The Bengals used a "quarantine" quarterback last season, and they're similarly isolating practice squad quarterback Jake Browning this season.

A couple of weeks ago, coach Zac Taylor said the team removed Browning from the quarterback meetings and had him join via video teleconferencing in order to limit the potential physical interactions. Taylor said the quarterbacks have voluntarily worn masks and made efforts to limit in-person contact to practices and games. -- ESPN Bengals reporter Ben Baby

The Bills have kept their plans for quarantining any quarterbacks private, but the team has been meeting virtually for the past two weeks, which makes any separation plans mostly unnecessary. On top of that, backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky missed two games on the reserve/COVID-19 list over a month ago, which means he is not currently testing.

Josh Allen is the only other quarterback on the active roster, along with Davis Webb on the practice squad, but there have not been plans shared currently to separate Webb.

"We talk about those things quite a bit, trying to go through all the scenarios and impossible situations that could come up," coach Sean McDermott said. "So we haven't decided to go that route yet, but we'll see where it goes." -- ESPN Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg

Frank Reich wouldn't discuss his team's plans after it was announced Tuesday that Wentz was being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list, but the coach addressed the topic on Monday and said the quarterbacks had been trying to follow their own protocols to stay safe.

"They've been kind of doing that in their own informal way," Reich said. "There have been times where we have all met together, but there's other times where normally the guys might be all watching tape together in the same room, and so there's less of that going on. Kind of like when we're not in a formal meeting, a lot of times the guys would be watching tape together, so we kind of minimize that." -- ESPN Colts reporter Mike Wells

Bill Belichick didn't care to divulge specifics on how the Patriots have handled their COVID-19 plan with quarterbacks, but he spoke generally when he said: "We've tried to take the highest precautions that we can with everybody ... particularly the ones who aren't vaccinated."

The dynamics of the Patriots' QB situation led to the group having at least one quarterback separated from the rest during meetings. -- ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss

The Ravens are in virtual-meeting mode, so the quarterbacks are not in meetings together. Baltimore's top two quarterbacks -- Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley -- have had COVID-19 this season. In fact, the Ravens had to turn to Josh Johnson to start last Sunday, when Huntley tested positive for COVID-19 and Jackson was already out with an ankle injury. -- ESPN Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley

The Chargers returned to virtual meetings and news conferences this week as over a dozen players were put on the COVID-19 reserve list, although that number has dropped to 10. Backup quarterback Chase Daniel was on the list last week and was not available for the Chargers' loss to the Houston Texans, but he has since been activated.

"Yeah, we're keeping physical distance," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. "A lot of the meetings have been virtual. We're taking all of the precautions we can. I think the players ... are in their homes meeting over their phones or computers. They drive in for practice where everything is outside. We're trying to minimize their chances of getting it." -- ESPN Chargers reporter Shelley Smith

Raiders coach Rich Bisaccia didn't speak specifically about his quarterbacks, but he did say the team recently enhanced its precautions.

"[Director of team operations] Tom Jones rebuilt the new rooms in the back of the indoor facility on both sides," Bisaccia said. "The chairs are 3-5 yards apart, and guys have been wearing masks in the building. And we Zoomed a bunch at the end of last week as well.

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"We kind of put ourselves into some type of an intensive protocol as early as last week, and we've followed through again going into this week. It's all over the league obviously. It's in multiple leagues, and we are going to deal with it like everybody else.

"We've talked about every week you seem to play with a different team, and you seem to be playing against a different team. Here we are again getting ready to play the Colts and we're preparing for multiple quarterbacks. We aren't 100 percent sure who we are going to see. So, it's become part of the norm." -- ESPN Raiders reporter Paul Gutierrez

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 13, and he wouldn't be subjected to another test until days before the Super Bowl, under the NFL's COVID-19 policy.

The Steelers are adhering to the protocols and will make adjustments as necessary to all position groups, but because Roethlisberger already had the virus, the Steelers don't have the same level of concern as some of the other teams. -- ESPN Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor

The Broncos have used social distancing for most of the season with the quarterbacks meeting in the team's indoor complex when they huddle with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and quarterbacks coach Mike Shula. The group sits far apart on a portion of the indoor field. The Broncos also use virtual meetings at times.

The team has kept its extra quarterback -- most often No. 3 QB Brett Rypien -- in virtual meetings all season, even if the others were meeting in person. The only time the third quarterback was with the others was on the practice field or briefly in the locker room before practice.

Broncos starter Teddy Bridgewater is currently in concussion protocol, but to this point in the season none of the team's quarterbacks has tested positive for COVID-19. -- ESPN Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold

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Quarantines, spacing and Zoom - How NFL teams are trying to protect QBs from COVID-19 - ESPN

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What Happens When You Get a Positive Covid-19 Test Traveling Overseas - The Wall Street Journal

OMICRON VARIANT UPDATEGov. Justice announced today that, with the number of Omicron variant cases climbing across the country, he has directed state health officials and his COVID-19 response team to continue closely monitoring case numbers along with the states hospital bed availability.

We only have 18 cases, but we know its absolutely moving. Its going to get higher, Gov. Justice said. Ive directed my team to keep a close watch and provide me with recommendations about our hospitals and our critical care infrastructure.

The bottom line is that we need to save lives, protect our hospitals, and protect our ability to care for our people, Gov. Justice continued. It is absolutely essential that we be concerned about the possibility that we could get into a situation where our hospitals are overrun.

The Governor added that West Virginians can do their part to lessen the load on hospitals by getting vaccinated or boosted to protect against serious COVID infection.

You really need to step up and get yourself vaccinated or get that booster shot, Gov. Justice said.

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COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice directs state health officials to continue monitoring Omicron numbers and hospital bed availability - Governor Jim...

By Denise Dunbar | [emailprotected]

Alexandria is experiencing a spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19 that is unprecedented since the citys first residents were diagnosed back in March 2020. In the three-week period from Nov. 30 to Dec. 21, confirmed cases have risen almost tenfold, despite the citys high overall vaccination rate.

Back on Nov. 30, Alexandria was in the substantial transmission rate, with 56 cases reported during the preceding seven days per 100,000 residents. That number tripled in one week, to 152.1 cases per 100,000 residents by Dec. 7 and placing Alexandria back in the high transmission category, according to the City of Alexandria COVID-19 data page.

By Tuesday, the last day for which data was available, that number had swelled to 551.1 total confirmed cases per 100,000 residents in the last seven days. The citys 7-day moving average of daily confirmed actual cases (not per 100,000 residents) rose almost tenfold during those three weeks, from 13.1 per day on Nov. 30 to 129 by Dec. 21.

The data indicates that this number is still surging, as on Wednesday, the Virginia Department of Health website reported that 257 cases not a moving average and not per 100,000 residents of COVID-19 were reported as confirmed or probable in Alexandria in the preceding 24 hours. If the infection rate continues at this level for the next week, there would be 1,799 new cases of COVID-19 in Alexandria over that timeframe. If the infection rate continues to rise the number could be much higher.

This case spike is surprising given Alexandrias relatively high vaccination rate. In Alexandria, 79.1% of residents ages 5 and up have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 68.5% were fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, according to the City of Alexandrias website.

Alexandrias vaccination rate is slightly higher than that of Virginia as a whole, where 76.5% of residents are partially and 67.1% are fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Virginias rate topped the overall United States rate of 74% with at least one dose and 62% who are fully vaccinated as of Sunday, according to USAFacts.org.

There is no available data at this time on the percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 who are vaccinated versus unvaccinated.

VDH data reveals that this is the third major spike of COVID-19 cases, with a couple of mini-surges, since the pandemic began almost two years ago.

This surge, which began right after Thanksgiving and with the arrival of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, follows one in March through May 2020 and one that occurred during the holidays in 2020. Its the steepest and largest surge in number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

There are three significant caveats to this leap in case totals, which could somewhat mitigate the alarming data: the positivity rate for COVID-19 tests, the impact that vaccinations will have on severe cases of COVID-19 and whether the Omicron variant causes less severe cases of COVID-19.

Confirmed case totals are a function of both how many people are tested as well as the positivity rate. Because free PCR tests for COVID-19, which are considered more reliable than rapid home tests, are now so readily available, more overall tests are being given than at the start of the pandemic. If more people who are perhaps asymptomatic are tested, then case totals will rise.

Widespread testing, however, was widely available when the December 2020 surge began, and case totals then did not reach the current levels.

Alexandrias COVID-19 positivity rate was 8.6% as of Dec. 18, the most recent date for which data was available on the VDH website. This remains significantly below the peak positivity rate of 13.3% recorded on Jan. 2, 2021,* though it is the highest recorded rate since Jan. 23, 2021. To put the current positivity rate into perspective, it means that more than 91% of people who are currently receiving PCR COVID-19 tests do not have the virus.

Hospitalization and death rates remain relatively low in Alexandria, as there has been one reported death from COVID-19 since Nov. 30. There has been an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the past couple of weeks, and three additional people were hospitalized on Tuesday, but so far the rise in hospitalizations more closely mirrors the mini-surge of cases in late September and early October 2021 than the major spike this time last year.

Hospitalizations and deaths have typically lagged several weeks behind case surges, however, and the relatively stable hospitalization and death rates may be due to the fact that the current surge has happened so quickly.

There is insufficient data to draw clear conclusions about the severity of the Omicron variant, though a Reuters report this week said early data from the United Kingdom indicates Omicron is not causing less severe COVID-19 than the Delta variant there.

*Much higher positivity rates were recorded in late March to early April 2020, when COVID-19 tests were scarce and only people with observable symptoms were being tested.

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COVID-19 cases reach new highs | Alexandria Times ...