News

As Hospitalizations Remain Low, Arlington Records Biggest One-Day Case Count Since May

An additional 42 coronavirus cases were reported in Arlington overnight, the highest one-day total since late May.

The new cases bring Arlington’s total since the start of the pandemic to 3,176. At the same time, however, reported hospitalizations remain remarkably low. Despite Arlington’s trailing seven-day case total being above 100 since July 31 — it currently stands at 139 — there has not been a new COVID-related hospitalization reported since Saturday.

The cumulative number of hospitalizations in the county is currently 437. Two months ago it stood at 400. Ten COVID-related deaths were reported during that time span.

The lack of hospitalizations may be attributable in part to who’s getting sick: mostly younger people. Over the past month, 57% of new cases in Arlington have been among those in their 20s and 30s — an age range that’s about 40% of the county’s population.

Just over 350 Arlington residents are getting PCR-based coronavirus tests each day, according to the latest Virginia Dept. of Health data. The county’s positivity rate recently ticked up to 4.6%, but remains below the statewide figure of 7.2%