Expect to see a lot more kids named Charlotte and Liam running around Virginia in a couple of years.
Those are the most popular names for boys and girls among the 96,683 babies born in the commonwealth last year, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health. Both names have held the top spot for at least six years straight.
A pre-school age child with measles traveled through Reagan National Airport and on a Yellow Line Metro train last week.
That’s according to an alert from the Virginia Dept. of Health. The child “is a resident of another state and traveled through Ronald Reagan Washington National airport on January 26,” VDH said.
Two measles exposures were reported at Reagan National Airport and on the Yellow Line last Friday.
Exposures were possible on the airport’s terminal shuttle bus between noon and 2:30 p.m., the Virginia Department of Health announced in a press release yesterday. They were also possible between 12:15 and 3:15 p.m. on the Yellow Line train from the airport, transferring at the L’Enfant Plaza station to the Silver Line train heading toward Downtown Largo.
Arlington County’s health department is warning of a possible measles exposure at a local grocery store.
A person visiting from another state went to the Harris Teeter on N. Glebe Road in Ballston between noon and 4 p.m. on Monday, July 1, authorities say.
An Arlington LGBTQ+ group is calling for better county outreach related to sexual health.
Equality Arlington, which advocated for greater county spending on LGBTQ+ issues this budget cycle, applauded a new $25,000 marketing budget set aside for Arlington Public Health. The group hopes this funding can increase awareness about sexual health testing, prevention and treatment services including a county STI clinic.
Don’t look now but Covid cases are on the rise in Arlington.
As of today, the Virginia Dept. of Health is reporting a seven-day average of just over 21 daily cases in the county. That’s the highest point since this past February.
Covid cases in Arlington reported to health authorities have fallen to the lowest level in a nearly a year and a half.
The Virginia Dept. of Health is currently reporting a seven-day average of about 17 cases per day in Arlington, though VDH notes that it expects an elevated level of cases over the next two weeks “due to a delay in the transfer of case reports from laboratories to VDH.” Nonetheless, that’s the lowest case rate since the summer of 2021.
Covid appears to be on the decline in Arlington, but hospitalization levels rose sufficiently last week to move the county to the CDC’s “medium” Covid level.
The level moved from “low” to “medium” as of last Thursday. The latest Virginia Dept. of Health stats, however, show cases falling to a seven-day moving average of 38 per day as of yesterday (Tuesday), from a seasonal peak of 65 cases per day just before Christmas.
In another sign that we’ve reached the later stages of the pandemic, Arlington County is permanently closing its public vaccine clinic next month.
The announcement was made this morning.
(Updated at 9:50 a.m.) Covid cases have held relatively steady in Arlington for most of September, as the weather turns cooler and flu season looms.
Just under 50 cases per day are being reported on average over the past week, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. The test positivity rate has been falling and now stands at 11.6%.
Arlington has resumed its Covid vaccination effort after receiving the new bivalent booster shots from the state.
The county announced today that it has started taking appointments for the updated Covid vaccine, which is expected to be more protective against the Omicron variant. Appointments are available for those ages 12 and over at the Arlington Dept. of Human Services office at Sequoia Plaza (2100 Washington Blvd).
With updated Covid boosters now approved, the county has paused providing shots to adults as it waits for its supply from the state.
As of this past Friday, Sept. 3, Arlington County Public Health Division is “unable to offer booster dose appointments for Pfizer or Moderna vaccines” per the county’s website.
