A pre-Christmas testing bonanza helped contribute to a steep, record-breaking rise in Covid cases in Arlington last week, but the holiday managed to bend the curve.
A more modest 126 cases were reported today, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data, bringing the seven-day moving average down slightly to 364 daily cases. Reports of serious illness remain muted, with an average of one hospitalization per day.
After nearly three weeks without a reported Covid death in Arlington, two fatalities have been reported since Christmas day.
The state health department does not break out other details locally, such as whether any of the serious illness and death in Arlington was attributable to the new, quickly spreading Omicron variant.
While a rise in testing leading up to Christmas likely helped to inflate case counts, a big drop in testing reports sent to VDH during the holiday weekend appears to be a primary contributor to the drop in new cases. Through it all, the county’s test positivity rate has continued to rise, reaching 12.4% today.
That’s the highest test positivity rate since May 2020, during the pandemic’s first wave.
