By Denise Dunbar | ddunbar@alextimes.com

Two different metrics show that cases of COVID-19 are rising rapidly in Alexandria, while 31% of the city’s residents age 12 and older remain totally unvaccinated.

Two weeks ago, Alexandria was in the “substantial” COVID-19 transmission category, which is between 50 and 99.99 of new cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period. But the city was barely over the 50-case threshold at 56.64 cases in the week leading up to the July 29 issue of the Alexandria Times. As of Wednesday, Alexandria’s seven-day total of new cases per 100,000 residents had increased by 20, to 76.74 per day.

Similarly, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases was just 1.3 on June 10. By July 10, that total had more than doubled, but was still just 3.4 cases averaged per day. As of Aug. 10, the seven day average of daily cases had increased more than fivefold, to 18 per day.

While 69% of city residents age 12 and up have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 60% are fully vaccinated, that leaves almost 44,000 residents age 12 and older who are wholly unvaccinated.

For information on how to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, please see alexandriava. gov/coronavirus.