More than 60 days after Fairfax County announced its first case of COVID-19, the county has, by far, the most infections, hospitalizations and deaths than any county in Virginia — and now the county’s emergency information department is giving three reasons why.
The county, the largest in population in the state at an estimated 1.1 million people, said Thursday its pandemic curve is still in the exponential growth phase. As of Wednesday night, Fairfax County has 5,045 cases, 832 hospitalized and 211 deaths from COVID-19 — each of those numbers is more than twice the total of the next highest county.
Fairfax County outlined the causes:
- Significant communitywide transmission is happening in the Fairfax health district, which means more people are getting sick and, in turn, infecting others.
- Commercial lab capacity continues to increase and more testing means more cases documented.
- What is counted by public health as a COVID-19 case has changed.
Fairfax County said it has taken proactive measures to slow the spread of the virus in high-risk places like nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
The county said even as Virginia and other states begin to ease restrictions, residents should stay vigilant with mitigation actions and think of these measures as a marathon, rather than a sprint.
- Stay home and away from others as much as possible.
- Isolate when you become sick so you don’t spread the disease.
- If you get sick, reach out to close contacts so they can stay home and away from others for at least 14 days.
- Wear face coverings in public settings or in situations where it is difficult to do social distancing (staying 6 feet apart).
- Wash your hands frequently and do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth.
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Looking for more information? D.C., Maryland and Virginia are each releasing more data every day. Visit their official sites here: Virginia | Maryland | District of Columbia
