To the Fairfax County Community,

I want to begin by wishing a Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate and I hope that you have a healthy holiday. Like all other holidays this year, it will have to be celebrated differently. It's sad that during the holiday season we must continue to fight this disease, but that's the reality we are in. Ideas and guidelines for activities with a low-risk of COVID-19 transmission can be found here.

I'll be blunt about how we are doing. Fairfax County's and Virginia's COVID-19 case numbers aren't looking good. Our percent positivity and the state's percent positivity rates are both at 11%. Cases per day in Virginia are almost four times higher than they were in May. Community transmission is high across the state. While we still have hospital capacity in Fairfax County, should cases continue to rise at this rate, that could easily change. We are in this together and will only get out of this if we do our best to take care of one another.

Much of our rise in cases is caused by the following: spending more time inside with those out of your household, more family gatherings, increased travel, and mitigation fatigue. As much as possible, we need to stay home, wear a mask and social distance when not home, and limit activity to those within your household.

Today, Governor Northam announced steps to address the statewide caseload. They are outlined in the following section.

See below for the full December 10 edition of my newsletter. For COVID-19 resources mentioned in past newsletters, visit my website. If you have a friend who would like to sign up for this newsletter, they can do so here.