New daily COVID-19 cases in Henrico remain on downward trend

New daily COVID-19 cases in Henrico have continued to trend downward recently, and the county is now averaging just 53 new cases per day in the past week, according to Virginia Department of Health data. Only 29 new cases in the county were reported Wednesday.

Since Oct. 16, the county has experienced only two days with more than 75 cases (75 on Oct. 21 and 77 Oct. 23). Since a summer peak of 152 average new daily cases, Henrico’s numbers generally have been on a gradual decline.

Henrico has witnessed 7 COVID-related deaths since Oct. 21 but is averaging just one new daily virus-related hospitalization during the past week, according to the data.

The county’s seven-day positivity percentage among PCR testing encounters (5.4%) and rapid encounters (4.7%) each are slightly below the respective state averages.

There are seven known active outbreaks (two or more related cases) in Henrico, according to the VDH, all at public schools (Ashe, Glen Allen, Greenwood, Lakeside and Pemberton elementaries, and Freeman and Godwin high schools). Among those, Glen Allen reported the most related cases (seven), while Pemberton has reported six.

A total of 201,367 county residents – or nearly 61% of Henrico’s population – now are fully vaccinated.

Approval that would allow children 5 to 11 to receive the Pfizer vaccine could come as soon as next week. On Tuesday, an FDA advisory committee signed off on the move – the first officials step in the process.

“The Virginia Department of Health is tremendously excited about this first step by the FDA’s advisory committee to recommend expanding the Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in 5-11-year-old children," said Virginia's vaccination coordinator Danny Avula. "It’s a milestone on the road toward emerging from the pandemic, returning to a more normal life, and most importantly being able to provide this protection to more Virginians.

“VDH has been planning for several months for the eventual rollout of this vaccine to young children, working with a wide range of healthcare partners to get these vulnerable children vaccinated as quickly as possible, utilizing channels ranging from pediatricians, family practices, and pharmacies to Community Vaccination Centers and local health departments. We await action by the FDA and then the CDC’s final decision, hopefully by next week. There’s light at the end of this pandemic tunnel sooner rather than later.”

To find a vaccination site, visit http://vaccinate.virginia.gov.