Henrico posts back-to-back days with more than 80 new COVID-19 cases

For the first time in four months, Henrico County has witnessed back-to-back days with more than 80 new COVID-19 cases.

The county reported 84 new cases Tuesday and 81 Wednesday, according to the Virginia Department of Health. The last time two such consecutive days occurred in Henrico was April 2-3, when 92 and 87 new cases were reported.

Two new hospitalizations also were reported in Henrico – one Tuesday and one Wednesday. The last COVID-related death in the county was reported July 28.

Most of the new cases in Henrico likely are attributable to the delta variant of the virus, which is four to six times as transmissible as the original strain and now accounts for 80% to 90% of all new cases nationally.

“The delta variant is certainly surging,” Henrico and Richmond Health Director Danny Avula said Wednesday during a press conference with Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.

COVID cases are up by 40% nationally in the past seven days, while virus-related hospitalizations and deaths are up 25% during the same period of time, Avula said. Most of those cases are occurring among unvaccinated people, he said.

“And because of that, we are more and more convinced that our only path out of this is through vaccination,” he said. Though it’s likely that Virginia ultimately will reach 90% to 95% immunity one way or another, Avula said that officials want it to happen through vaccination – not through infection.

“There’s clearly a significant toll that takes place when it happens though infection,” he said.

Though recent studies have shown that some vaccinated people may still be able to spread the virus as unvaccinated people do, those who are vaccinated are almost always protected from serious health effects themselves, Avula said.

“What we can all take away from that is that people who are fully vaccinated don’t need to be concerned about severe outcomes from COVID,” he said. “People who are unvaccinated are going to be at much higher risk.

“We really need to get as many people vaccinated as possible.”

In Virginia’s Central region, since Jan. 21, there have been just more than 39,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – 98.6% of which occurred in unvaccinated people. During the same timeframe, about 97% of those hospitalized with COVID and 98% of those who died from COVID in the state also were unvaccinated, according to VDH data.

Following similar guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts last week issued guidance urging everyone – even those who are vaccinated – to wear masks indoors, to prevent against the spread of the delta variant. Avula reiterated that message Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of virus circulating in the community,” he said. “Masks are incredibly effective at stopping the transmission of disease.”

Stoney Wednesday formally announced that Richmond will require all of its city employees, except schools employees, to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 1 or face penalties. Virginia's largest locality, Fairfax County, appears headed for a similar proclamation, after the county’s board of supervisors last week voted to require it, pending final approval from the county’s top administrator.

Avula said that Gov. Ralph Northam is weighing the idea for state employees.

“I expect a decision to be made very soon,” he said.

Avula also said he expects that at some point, booster shots will be necessary for those who have been vaccinated but that there's not yet clear evidence for their need among people who are otherwise healthy. But, those who are immuno-compromised, he said, could begin receiving booster shots within one or two months.

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To learn how to be vaccinated against COVID-19, visit https://vaccinate.virginia.gov.