Key Takeaways
- COVID-19 indicators continue to rise. In Virginia, COVID-19 diagnoses at emergency departments and urgent care facilities have doubled in the last month. Also, for the first time since March, reproductive number estimates hint at potential future growth.
- A new COVID-19 variant EG.5 (Eris) is growing across the U.S. and potentially fueling new growth globally.
- Immunizations for COVID-19, flu, and RSV should be available before the start of respiratory illness season. Flu and RSV shots will reach pharmacies in mid-August, and COVID-19 boosters by early October.
- Violence against healthcare workers remains a crisis across the U.S. with an estimated 1,700 assaults per month nationally.
- Severe weather blanketed the East Coast last Monday spawning tornado warnings across much of Virginia.
- Wildfires in Canada continue to burn, though smoke is not expected to affect Virginia. Wildfires in Hawaii have devastated a small town and killed at least 55 people.
VDH OEP Weekly Situation Update.
UVA Biocomplexity Institute Slides.
This page updates weekly on Friday by 5:00 PM.
The VDH OEP Weekly Situation Update is produced by the VDH Office of Emergency Preparedness. This update covers ongoing or potential public health and emergency preparedness issues, including COVID-19. This product is intended to enhance situational awareness among the public health, healthcare, and emergency management communities. Some items covered may pose little or no threat to the public at large. These items are included for situational awareness only and do not represent an endorsement of the source or information therein.