As Henrico’s COVID-19 cases slow to trickle, Omicron’s death toll becomes evident

New confirmed COVID-19 cases in Henrico have been on a steep decline during the past month, but the Omicron variant that blazed through the county in January left a somber mark.

Officially, the county has reported fewer than 50 new COVID cases each of the past six days, according to the Virginia Department of Health; it’s the first time that’s happened since Nov. 5-10 and further evidence that the worst of Omicron’s impact is in the past.

But that impact – which in January alone produced more than 17,230 confirmed COVID cases in Henrico (more than 27% of the county’s pandemic total) – was costly, as VDH data shows.

Since Feb. 1, the county has reported 105 virus-related deaths – about 12% of the county’s pandemic total of 870; most were the result of Omicron’s spread since the start of the year.

Those recent fatalities included a child or teen between the ages of 10 and 19 and someone in his or her 20s, as well as four people in their 40s, nine in their 50s, 19 in their 60s, 24 in their 70s and 47 who were 80 or older.

In addition to the January cases reported to VDH, countless other people also were infected that month but either confirmed their cases with at-home tests whose results weren’t reported to the VDH or never tested.

January saw only five days with fewer than 300 new cases in the county reported by VDH, but since then the county has witnessed no days with more than the 278 new cases reported Feb. 3. The new case count in Henrico has topped 100 just three times since Feb. 13.

The county has been averaging just less than one new COVID-related hospitalization per day during the past 30 days, according to VDH data.