New COVID-19 cases continue rising in Henrico

The average number of new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in Henrico County has risen by about 80% in the past 20 days, according to Virginia Department of Health data – from about 34 to 61.

Henrico witnessed 78 new cases on Thanksgiving and again Monday – the most cases reported in the county on single days since 97 were reported Oct. 15. The recent increase comes on the heels of an encouraging stretch from mid-October to mid-November, during which the county fell from the “high” transmission level to the “substantial” level for two weeks and was consistently reporting better COVID metrics than was the state.

But the increase has pushed Henrico above the state in average new daily cases per 100,000 people (18.6, compared with 16.2 statewide). The average number of new daily cases statewide has grown only by about 6% during the same 20-day period.

The county has reported three new COVID-related deaths since Saturday, along with two new virus-related hospitalizations during the same timeframe.

A total of just more than 70% of all people in Henrico now have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and about 62.5% are fully vaccinated. Among adults in the county, more than 80% have had at least one dose and 74% are fully vaccinated.

Nearly 6,500 Henrico children 5 to 11 (about 22% of that population in the county) now have received their first dose of Pfizer vaccine since the vaccine became available to them more than three weeks ago.

Local, state and federal health officials are urging people who have not yet been vaccinated to begin the process as soon as possible, particularly in light of the new Omicron variant of the virus that was discovered recently in South Africa. Though it's not yet clear whether the variant is more easily transmitted or causes worse outcomes than previous variants, health officials are sounding alarms that it may have that potential.