Coronavirus

Stafford County is now considered an area of high transmission for the coronavirus due to a rise in the number of reported cases.

With the Stafford County's Fire and Rescue Department, Kim Murphy-Orr updated the Board of Supervisors on the latest coronavirus numbers in the county.

Between August  3 to Sept. 28, Stafford recorded 515 new cases of viral infections, raising the total of cases in the county to 13,502 since the pandemic. Of these new cases, nine have been reported to be hospitalized, and two people have died.

Stafford now bears the distinction as a high transmission area, which means that cases in the area have reached 10 percent per 100,000 residents, according to information from the Rappahannock Area Health District.

These Stafford numbers combine with the five jurisdictions in the health district, which includes Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, a total of 985 new cases were reported the week for a total of 33,206 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

A total of 16 people from the district have been hospitalized, and three have died, bringing the county's totals up to 1,033 and 306, respectively.

Murphy-Orr also reported on a new symptom manifesting in those new cases -- instances of ear pain and ear infections, new testing data shows. 

Murphy-Orr also reported a slight uptick in vaccinations in Stafford County since this past summer. Also reported was the full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for people aged 16 and over, which will be marketed under the new name Comirnaty.

The Center for Disease Control has recommended a third shot for those aged 12 or older who are immunocompromised. That decision could come later this fall. The CDC and other organizations are considering including children between the ages of  5 to 11.

During the presentation, Rock Hill District Supervisor Crystal Vanuch asked if federal employees had been added to the vaccination counts. They have not, Murphy-Orr responded.

Federal employees are offered vaccines at their offices, including Quantico Marine Corps Base, and are not added to those totals. Vaunch estimated that as much as 60 percent of the county's population might be part of the federal and contracted workforce.

Murphy-Orr also announced that free drive-thru coronavirus testing at Stafford Hospital ended on September 3. However, other testing events will continue to occur at locations throughout the district.