Henrico reports most new COVID-19 cases on a single day since August

Henrico on Thursday reported its most new COVID-19 cases on a single day in three and a half months.

The county witnessed 153 new cases Thursday, then another 121 Friday, to push its seven-day average daily number of new cases up to 107 – the highest that metric has been since Sept. 26.

The last time Henrico reported as many as 153 new cases on a single day was Aug. 26, when it witnessed 161. The county’s single-day record for new cases (326) came Jan. 16.

The total number of new cases per 100,000 people in the county during the past two weeks is 395 – 39 higher than the statewide average.

Hospitalizations among county residents related to the virus remain low, with an average of just one reported per day during the past week, according to Virginia Department of Health data. One new virus-related death in the county was reported Dec. 9 – the first reported in six days.

Henrico’s seven-day positivity percentage among PCR testing encounters (7.5%) is slightly below the statewide average of 8.1%, while the county’s rapid testing encounter percentage of 8.3% is just above the state average of 8%.

Nearly 65% of all Henrico residents (and 75% of adults 18 and older) are fully vaccinated, according to the VDH. Five weeks after they became eligible to receive the vaccine, about 27% of children 5 to 11 in the county (nearly 7,650 in total) have received at least one dose and almost 14% are fully vaccinated.

During the week that ended Dec. 4, unvaccinated people in Virginia tested positive for COVID at nearly 10 times the rate of those who are fully vaccinated (519 per 100,000 to 54 per 100,000), according to the VDH.

Of the 5.57 million Virginians who were fully vaccinated as of Dec. 4, only about 1.2% had later developed confirmed cases of the virus.

Virginia confirmed its first case of the new Omicron variant this week, in the northwestern part of the state. The variant first was detected in South Africa, and health officials believe it may be more easily transmissible than other variants and some fear that it may be more resistant to vaccines than others have been, too, though sufficient data does not yet exist to draw foolproof conclusions.

Thursday, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts announced that they will continue to operate a weekly community vaccination hub at the Eastern Henrico Recreation Center, 1440 north Laburnum Avenue, through February – reversing an earlier decision that would have closed it at the end of this month in favor of a smaller site. The hub will continue, officials said in a statement, because of increasing vaccination appointments there. Its hours in January and February will be Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

A similar community hub at the Henrico Social Services building, 8600 Dixon Powers Drive, will operate Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in January and February.

All RHHD-operated vaccination clinics will be closed from Dec. 24 through Jan. 2, but the community vaccination center at Arthur Ashe Center in Richmond will be closed only from Dec. 23 to 27, then again Dec. 31-Jan. 1. It will feature adjusted hours Dec. 30.

All events are open to walk-ins, though appointments also may be made at vax.rchd.com or by calling (804) 205-3501.