The rate of new reported COVID-19 cases in Arlington has ticked up over the past few days, while new hospitalizations remain low.
The overall number of coronavirus cases rose from 2,496 on Thursday to 2,533 today, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. The trailing seven-day rate of new cases is now just under 10 per day, up from a low of six per day in late May.
No new COVID-related hospitalizations were reported over the weekend. Cumulative hospitalizations in Arlington stand at 421, while the trailing seven-day total of new hospitalizations stands at three. On Sunday, the statewide number of current COVID hospitalizations reached a new low in Virginia: 792.
In Arlington, meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-related deaths has not increased in more than a week.
On Friday, Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey, when asked about concerns regarding Virginia’s recent Phase 3 reopening, suggested to the Washington Post that officials were apprehensive.
“If you look at the data, we’re in pretty good shape,” Garvey told the Post. “Nobody’s enthusiastic [about the situation], but we need to figure out how to live with and be with this virus, and using the numbers seems to be the best way to do it.”
The uneasy reopening comes as Sun Belt states struggle with a surge of new virus cases that some experts say is a “second wave” of the disease. Other states that have, like Virginia, largely flattened their epidemic curve are also approaching reopening cautiously.
“Massachusetts may have flattened its coronavirus curve,” said a Boston Herald article Sunday, “but experts eyeing spikes across the Sun Belt are saying now is not the time to grow lax, warning that a second wave is ‘almost inevitable’ here and that it could have devastating health and economic impacts.”