covid-19 pandemic in virginia covid-19 pandemic in virginia the covid-19 pandemic in virginia is part of the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. the first confirmed case was reported on march 7, 2020, in fort belvoir, and the first suspected case arrived in virginia on february 23, 2020, which was a man who had recently traveled to egypt. in response to the spread of covid-19, the state mandated a stay at home order from march 18, 2020, until may 12, 2020, when the state began a four-phased reopening plan that lasted through july 1, 2020. from may 31, 2020, until may 28, 2021, the state enforced a mask mandate, being one of the first states in the nation to enforce a statewide mask mandate. the state remained relatively stagnant in covid-19 cases through november 2020, until there was a large surge in covid-19 cases during the winter of 2020–21, as part of a nationwide surge in cases. cases gradually subsided to summer and fall 2020 numbers by march 2021, with numbers falling to early pandemic numbers by june 2021. covid-19 pandemic in virginiafairfax county, virginia parks closed march 24, 2020 map of the outbreak in virginia by confirmed new infections per 100,000 people over 14 days (last updated march 2021) 1,000+ 500–1,000 200–500 100–200 50–100 20–50 10–20 0–10 no confirmed new cases or no/bad datamap of the outbreak in virginia by confirmed total infections per 100,000 people (last updated march 2021) 10,000+ 3,000–10,000 1,000–3,000 300–1,000 100–300 30–100 0–30 no confirmed infected or no datadiseasecovid-19virus strainsars-cov-2locationvirginia, u.s.first outbreakwuhan, hubei, chinaindex casefort belvoirarrival datefebruary 23, 2020 (found march 7, 2020)confirmed cases677,013active cases3,254hospitalized cases331 (current)critical cases121 (current)ventilator cases71 (current)recovered662,506 (estimate)56,678 (previously hospitalized)deaths20,187fatality rate1.69%government websitewww.vdh.virginia.gov/coronavirus/ part of a series on thecovid-19 pandemicscientifically accurate atomic model of the external structure of sars-cov-2. each "ball" is an atom. covid-19 (disease) sars-cov-2 (virus) cases deaths timeline 2019 2020 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2021 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november responses december responses 2022 january responses february responses march responses april responses may responses june responses july responses august responses september responses october responses november december 2023 january february march april may locations by country and territory africa antarctica asia europe north america oceania south america by conveyance cruise ships naval ships international response endemic phase evacuations face masks international aid investigations into origin lockdowns by country misinformation by governments fake treatments social distancing software travel united nations world health organization wto ip waiver undercounting of deaths covid-19 apps zero-covid national responses africa china european union germany ghana india ireland netherlands new zealand nigeria philippines russia sweden uk government us federal government vietnam medical response disease testing breathalyzer development drug development drug repurposing public health mitigation vaccines history research vitt deployment authorizations operation warp speed misinformation and hesitancy us vaccine card vaccine passports current vaccines coronavac covaxin convidecia janssen medigen moderna novavax oxford–astrazeneca pfizer–biontech sinopharm bibp sputnik v variants variants of concern alpha beta gamma delta omicron other variants epsilon zeta eta theta iota kappa lambda mu cluster 5 lineage b.1.617 economic impact and recession arts and culture aviation cannabis cinema films disney fashion financial markets food industry food security journalism music performing arts retail shipping television us sportscasting programs tourism video games by country canada india ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us by sport association football baseball basketball combat sports cricket disc golf gaelic games gridiron football ice hockey motorsport rugby league impacts animals black people crime death rates by country disability domestic violence emergency evacuations education female environment hospitals language lgbt community long-term care media coverage mental health symptoms migration military notable deaths other health issues politics diplomacy popular culture protests pregnancy prisons religion catholic church hajj science and technology social media strikes suicides telehealth xenophobia and racism society ireland malaysia new zealand russia uk us covid-19 portal on december 14, 2020, the state began a mass vaccination effort as part of the country's larger covid-19 vaccine campaign. in january 2021, the state imposed a four-phase plan to prioritize what individuals by profession and age group would be eligible to receive the vaccine. on april 18, 2021, the entire population became eligible for the vaccine. by may 10, 2021, half of the state received at least covid-19 vaccine. as of june 1, 2021, the virginia department of health reported 675,538 positive cases and 11,186 deaths in the u.s. state of virginia (officially known as the commonwealth of virginia). as of june 5, 2022, virginia has administered 16,858,301 covid-19 vaccine doses, and has fully vaccinated 6,334,662 people, equivalent to 74.93% of the population. timeline march 7–12 on march 7, virginia confirmed its first case, a us marine assigned to fort belvoir. he had recently traveled abroad. on march 8, the state reported its second presumptive positive case, an 80-year-old man from fairfax who had recently returned from a cruise on the nile river. on march 9, the state reported 3 more presumptive positive cases: a man in his mid 60s from arlington county who had recently travelled internationally, a woman from fairfax city who is the spouse of the patient reported the day before, and a spotsylvania county resident. this brings the total number of cases in the state to 5. on march 10, health officials in loudoun county announced that a county resident tested presumptive positive for coronavirus. during the same day, a virginia beach couple who traveled on a nile river cruise was tested presumed positive, becoming the first two cases for hampton roads, bringing the state's total to eight. on march 10, fairfax county public schools announced that they would close on march 13 and march 16 to begin the transition to online classes if the school system would need to shut down. on march 15, it was announced that all schools and school administration buildings in fairfax county would close until april 10. on march 11, the university of virginia in charlottesville announced that classes will be moved online beginning on march 19 "for the foreseeable future, quite possibly through the end of the semester." furthermore, administrators issued a blanket prohibition on "events with more than 100 people," saying that such events "should be postponed, cancelled, or offered virtually." the closure followed closely on the heels of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in central virginia in a teenager from hanover county near richmond who returned from international travel "to a country... a level 3 alert" on march 8. the teenager was reported to be "doing well" in isolation at home, and hanover county public schools confirmed that the teenager is not a current student attending a public school in that county. on march 12, governor ralph s. northam declared a state of emergency and cancelled out-of-state travel for public employees, after the state's total cases doubled since the last update. the declaration activated the virginia emergency operations center, banned price gouging, activated the virginia national guard to state active duty, and authorized $10,000,000 to be used for any recovery and/or response efforts in the state due to the coronavirus. northam stated that local school districts were allowed to make their own decisions about closing schools. several public school districts, including loudoun county, prince william county, stafford county, and fairfax county suspended classes. march 13–16 several jurisdictions declared local states of emergency throughout march. the code of virginia permits officials of local jurisdictions that have issued declarations of local emergencies to, among other things, "control, restrict, allocate or regulate the use, sale, production and distribution of food, fuel, clothing and other commodities, materials, goods, services and resource systems which fall only within the boundaries of that jurisdiction and which do not impact systems affecting adjoining or other political subdivisions" without being under the supervision and control of the governor. local emergencies were declared in arlington county and madison county on march 13; alexandria and stephens city on march 14; prince william county, loudoun county, fauquier county, stafford county, falls church, fredericksburg, and purcellville on march 16. on march 13, the state's total cases increased by 13, raising the total sum of confirmed cases to 30. governor ralph northam suspended all k–12 schools in the state for a minimum of two weeks. on the evening of march 14, the virginia department of health announced the number of positive cases had increased to 41. they also announced the state's first death from the coronavirus: a man in his 70s who died of respiratory failure. the county where the man died was not released, but it was announced he was from the peninsula health district. the same day, the college of william & mary announced that a member of staff had tested positive for the disease. on march 15, the virginia department of health announced the number of positive cases had increased to 45, fairfax county has the most cases among virginia's counties with 10 confirmed cases. on march 16, the university of virginia confirmed its first case, a member of staff in her late 50s. the virginia department of health announced an additional six positive cases of coronavirus in the state, as well as the state's second death. the man who died was in his 70s from the peninsula region and died of respiratory failure. these cases increased the number of positive cases to 51. march 17–22 a restaurant in clarendon, arlington, virginia offering only take-out options on march 18, 2020.local emergencies were declared in fairfax county, rappahannock county, spotsylvania county, clarke county, culpeper county, warren county, page county, shenandoah county, the city of fairfax, manassas city, and winchester on march 17; leesburg on march 18; and frederick county on march 19. during the afternoon of march 17, governor northam issued an order allowing law enforcement to enforce a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people in public spaces; earlier in the day, he had appeared unwilling to take such measures. some restaurant owners had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of direction provided by the government. on march 19, virginia officials asked law enforcement to avoid arrests where possible. the administration also asked magistrates and judges to consider alternatives to incarceration. on march 19, virginia reported its first coronavirus case in a minor, a child under the age of 10 in gloucester county. on march 20, governor northam activated the virginia national guard and elements of the virginia defense force. the state announced they have 114 cases of covid-19, with 20 hospitalizations. march 23 on march 23, northam issued an order that banned within virginia all gatherings of more than 10 people. the order required all public schools to be closed for the remainder of the current school year. the order also closed all public access to recreational and entertainment businesses, such as bowling alleys, gyms, and theaters. the march 23 order closed "dining and congregation areas" in restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, farmers markets, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries and tasting rooms, but left open all other areas in those types of businesses. the order also left open certain specified "essential retail businesses" including pharmacies, grocery stores, and banks (among others). on march 26, an alexandria pub — that a covid-19 positive person had visited on march 10, march 14, and march 15 — reportedly said on its facebook page that it was closed only through march 28 for cleaning and sanitizing. the march 23 order stated that all "essential" retail establishments must, to the extent possible, adhere to social distancing recommendations, enhanced sanitizing practices on common surfaces, and other appropriate workplace guidance from state and federal authorities. the order also stated that any brick-and-mortar retail business not listed in the order as "essential" must limit all in-person shopping to no more than 10 patrons per establishment, adhere to social distancing recommendations, sanitize common surfaces, and apply relevant workplace guidance from state and federal authorities. the order stated that if any such business cannot adhere to the 10-patron limit with proper social distancing requirements, it must close. northam's march 23 order did not define construction activity as being "essential". however, the washington post reported on march 28 that the district of columbia, maryland and virginia had designated construction