Inauguration of a new president today in D.C. Meanwhile the number of cases and deaths from coronavirus continue to rise nationally, although the rate of has declined. This is weekly update number 42 on the coronavirus in the DC area. Decided to maintain my very current and relevant picture.
This week the D.C area (pop. 5.4 million) increased by 18,934 new cases. Last week it was 17,973 new cases. Eleven weeks ago there were only 4,256 new cases. We are still at least six months way from having a vaccine available for everyone.
Almost all of Europe is still struggling with controlling the spread of the disease. Italy (pop. 60.3 million), the original epicenter of the European outbreak, is still struggling with 10K new cases reported for yesterday. It remains high in the UK (33K yesterday), France (24K), Spain (34K), Germany (12K) and Russia (21K). The U.S., which has never gotten the virus under control, had 177K new cases yesterday. This is a downward trend. This is in contrast to places like China (159 cases), Japan (5,284), South Korea (403), Taiwan (6), Vietnam (1), Singapore (30), Australia (9) and New Zealand (5).Â
The number of reported cases in the DC area was hovering around 8,000 to 9,500 a week for several months, then declined to a low of 2,406 cases twenty-nine weeks ago. It has since increased. All the data is from the Johns Hopkin’s website as of 11:22 AM: Johns Hopkins CSSE
……………………..….Population…last week…this week…Deaths
Washington D.C…….…..702,445…….32,600…..34,403……863
Arlington, VA……………..237,521..…..10,277..…10,860……189
Alexandria VA……………160,530………8,307……8,810……..96
Fairfax County, VA…….1,150,795.……50,705…..54,918……733
Falls Church, VA…………..14,772.….……210………243……….6
Fairfax City, VA……..…..…24,574..….…..342………373……..10
Loudoun County, VA….…406,850….…15,711…..17,236……170
Prince Williams C., VA…..468,011…….28,987…..32,237……278
Manassas…………………..41,641..…….3,184……3,458.,……30
Manassas Park………….…17,307….…..1,004……1,041..,..….8
Stafford Country, VA……..149,960….……6,192……6,887…….35
Fredericksburg, VA…………29,144……..1,180…….1,310…….13
Montgomery C., MD…….1,052,567……52,368…..55,203…1,245
Prince Georges C., MD.…..909,308…..60,972……63,994…1,191
Total……….…….….……..5,365,425…272,039…290,973….4,867
This is a 7% increase since last week. The Mortality Rate for the area is 1.67%. This last week, there were 156 new fatalities reported out of 18,934 new cases. This is a mortality rate of 0.82%. The population known to have been infected is 5.42% or one confirmed case for every 18 people. The actual rate of infection has been higher, perhaps as much as 4 times higher.
Virginia has a number of large universities (23,000 – 36,000 students) located in more rural areas, often tied to a small town. This includes James Madison (JMU) at Harrisonburg, University of Virginia (UVA) at Charlottesville and Virginia Tech (VT) at Blacksburg. Most of them were emptied out due to Thanksgiving and the upcoming Christmas holidays. Most of these universities are back in session except for UVA.
Harrisonburg, VA (pop. 54K) is reporting 5,080 cases (4,888 last week) and 55 deaths (up 7 this last week!), while Rockingham County (pop. 81K), where the town resides, is reporting 5,097 cases (4,737 last week) and 63 deaths (up 9 this last week!). This is where James Madison University is located.
Charlottesville, VA (pop. 47K) has 2,586 cases (2,482 last week) and 35 deaths, while Albemarle County, VA (pop. 109K), where the town resides, has 3,575 cases (3,366 last week) and 34 deaths. This is where UVA is located. UVA had a covid tracker which is worth looking at: https://returntogrounds.virginia.edu/covid-tracker. This is definitely worth looking at, as you can see how they were able to bring the virus under control with a student body of 25,000. Â
Lynchburg (pop. 82K), the home of Liberty University, has 5,514 cases (5,040 last week) cases and 60 deaths.
Further south, Montgomery County, VA (pop. 99K) has 5,894 cases (5,691 last week) and 54 deaths (up 6 this last week!). This is where Virginia Tech is located.
Virginia (pop. 8.5 million) had 4,526 cases yesterday. Last week it was 4,561. For a long time, it pretty much ran 1,000 cases a day, neither going up or going down.
Dare County, North Carolina (pop. 37K), a beach area in the outer banks, has 1,523 cases (1,346 last week) and 6 deaths. With summer over, not sure why this continues to grow. It is growing a lot faster than during the summer.
