COVID cases in Virginia are down to lowest level in five months

Cases of COVID-19 have reached their lowest levels since April, hospitalizations have dipped and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has downgraded the Richmond area to a low level of transmission for the first time in months.

But Dr. Elaine Perry, director of the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, cautioned that COVID levels could increase again this fall. Cases and hospitalizations have climbed in the autumn each of the past two years as more people congregate indoors.

“We are very encouraged by seeing our COVID-19 community levels drop this week,” Perry said. “We hope people enjoy this time of low levels while still remaining flexible and ready to implement more mitigation procedures should we shift back into higher levels.”

There were 1,200 average cases across the state Friday, the lowest number since late April, when the BA.4 and BA.5 variants were spreading across the country. Cases rose until late May and stayed relatively flat until late July.

For the past two months, COVID cases have declined in Virginia.

Hospitalizations, which tend to lag behind cases, have begun to drop. COVID hospitalizations rose from May to August, peaking at about 800 hospitalizations per day throughout the state.

Hospitalizations have been on the downswing since the beginning of September. There were 579 average hospitalizations Friday, the lowest number since early July.

The community level for the Richmond area has been downgraded to low after bouncing between medium and high all summer. Most of northern and eastern Virginia are low, and much of western and southwest Virginia remain medium, including Albemarle and Montgomery Counties and Roanoke.

Four localities in far southwest Virginia remain high, including Wise and Giles Counties. The CDC assigns community levels for each county and city based on case and hospitalization rates.

Omicron-specific booster shots were released this month, and roughly 15,000 Virginia residents received a shot each day this week. Eighty-one percent of Virginians are considered fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses of a two-dose series.

Roughly 3 million residents have received a booster, and almost 600,000 have gotten a second.