While omicron numbers surged during December and January, the numbers have begun to fall. The Virginia Department of Health reported only 84 cases in Fairfax County on February 22nd, which marks the first time the number of reported cases was below 100 since December 11, 2021, which had 69 cases reported. So far, Fairfax County is averaging 128 cases per week, which is the lowest weekly average since November 30th 2021, when there was an average of 127 cases per week.

According to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, Covid community transmission in Fairfax County recently dropped from “high” to “substantial” on February 22nd, for the first time since the week of November 21-27, 2021. The CDC ranks community transmission levels by the number of new cases per 100,000 people, and the percentage of positive tests over the past week. With a population of about 1.15 million, Fairfax County is the most populous county in all of Virginia and on February 22nd, Fairfax County’s case rate of 99.1 people per 100,000 was just under the 100 case mark that separates high level counties from substantial ones. And as of February 24th, the Fairfax County case rate per 100,000 people is 80. The positive test rate is only 5.04% in Fairfax County, which would fall under “Moderate,” but the community transmission level is determined by the higher data group. This drop in Covid cases prompted Fairfax County Public Schools to drop their mask mandate, and it is still unknown how this will affect case numbers.