Virginia's COVID-19 Positivity Rate Spikes To February Levels

VIRGINIA — The Virginia Department of Health reported 1,845 new cases of the coronavirus on Friday, the highest one-day increase since mid-April when a far smaller percentage of the state’s adult population were fully vaccinated to COVID-19.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 have been spiking in Virginia over the past two weeks due to the delta variant, according to state health experts.

Over the previous four days, new cases of the coronavirus in Virginia totaled 1,760 on Thursday, 1,717 on Wednesday, 1,403 on Tuesday and 1,165 on Monday.

The 7-day moving average for cases now stands at 1,373 cases per day, the highest daily average since April 20.

As of Friday, Virginia's 7-day positivity rate among tests conducted stood at 7.1 percent, up from a pandemic low positivity rate of 1.3 percent on June 21, according to the VDH. The last time the positivity rate was above 7 percent in Virginia was in late February.

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The positivity rate in Northern Virginia has climbed to 4.5 percent after reaching a pandemic low of 0.7 percent on June 16. In the area of Virginia outside the northern region, the percent positivity rate now stands at 8.6 percent.

Twelve new COVID-19-related deaths were reported on Friday. Since the start of the pandemic, 11,558 people have died in Virginia from COVID-19, according to state health officials.

On Thursday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced a vaccine mandate for state employees due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The delta variant, now the predominant variant in the U.S., has been linked to rising COVID-19 cases largely among unvaccinated people. Many of Virginia's cases, hospitalizations and deaths since Jan. 21 have been among people who were not fully vaccinated.

According to the VDH, 54.4 percent of Virginians are fully vaccinated. Among residents 18 and older, 65.4 percent are fully vaccinated.