Key Takeaways
- COVID-19 indicators continue to increase. While still low, COVID-19 hospital admissions increased 22% in Virginia for the week ending August 19, similar to national levels.
- Virginia is expected to experience extreme heat today (Friday), with heat indexes requiring extreme caution in most of the state, and reaching dangerous levels in a few spots. Extreme heat will persist on Saturday, but temperatures are expected to cool early next week.
- The WHO has included BA.2.86 as a Variant Under Monitoring. BA.2.86 has a large number of mutations and has been detected in several geographically disperse countries. Although early, there is no evidence of increased severity or transmission, and BA.2.86 appears to compete much less effectively against existing variants compared to Omicron.
- Maryland experienced its first case of locally acquired malaria in over 40 years. Florida and Texas have also reported similar cases this year.
- Officials and community members continue to respond to the wildfires that devastated parts of Maui on August 8.
VDH OEP Weekly Situation Update.
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.