CDC names Manassas a coronavirus hotspot, over 1,300 cases reported

Manassas City has become a coronavirus hotspot with a higher density of cases compared to its surrounding localities.

Manassas his hit over 1,300 cumulative cases of coronavirus, according to the Virginia Department of Health, with 89 hospitalized and 16 dead.

The city is seeing a dense ratio of cases at a little over 3,246 cases per 100,000 people.  There have been little more than 213 hospitalizations per 100,000 and roughly 38 deaths per 100,000.

The CDC is working with Manassas to conduct a house-to-house, 30-question survey with questions related to healthcare and the coronavirus.

The press release states:

In an effort to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in zip codes with more positive cases, i.e., 20109, 20110 and 20111, and targeted communities, the Hispanic/Latino community, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) will conduct a survey, beginning Monday, June 22, 2020, in the Cities of Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County. The team will go house-to-house with the 30-question survey, which will be administered in Spanish.

Questions will be related to healthcare and COVID-19. The information collected will help the health professionals at the Prince William Health District and the CDC understand what resources are most needed by the community. The survey is completely voluntary and no
personally identifiable data will be collected.

The CDC may also reach out by telephone as they are looking for some participants who have tested positive in the past.

Manassas’ coronavirus case density ratio is a sharp contrast to neighboring Prince William County, which has more cases and reported hospitalizations and deaths, but much less of a dense caseload to population ratio.

Prince William Health District Director Dr. Alison Ansher explained that the 100,000 statistic is used “… so you are able to compare apples to apples.”

According to VDH, Prince William County has 6,756 total cases, 629 hospitalized, and 131 deaths, but close to 1,443 cases per 100,000. The hospitalization ratio is 134.4 to 100,000 and the death ratio is 28 to 100,000.

Manassas’ case density ratio also surpasses neighboring Manassas Park, which has 2,322.8 cases per 100,000.

The ratio for the City of Manassas is also noticeably higher than its northern neighbors of Fairfax County (1,150.9 cases to 100,000), Alexandria (1,369.2 per 100,000), and Arlington (1,008.8 per 100,000).

The 1,300 benchmark number of cases comes as the CDC has named Manassas a hotspot.

“The seven day rolling average of new cases for the City of Manassas has continued to decline from a high on [May] 31 of about 40 new cases per day to just under 10 new cases per day as of June 15. Residents should continue to follow the general guidelines of staying six feet apart and wearing face coverings,” City Manager Patrick Pate told Potomac Local in an e-mail.

“We are working with the Virginia Department of Health and the Prince William Health District to hold testing sites so that those who feel sick or who have been exposed can get tested and then self-quarantine and in that way help to stop the spread of this awful virus,” said city spokeswoman Patty Prince.

Why does Manassas have such a high number of cases of coronavirus when compared to its population? Potomac Local News has received no clear answers from the city or health officials.

“The entire Northern Virginia area has been on the high side of cases and that is why Governor Northam delayed opening to phase 1 and now phase 2 for this area,” Prince said in an e-mail to Potomac Local News.

“It could be that there is access to testing in the community. It could be that there may be conditions that decrease the ability to social distance or isolate or quarantine appropriately,” Prince William Health District Director Alison Ansher said.

Ansher also said that cases are attributed by resident address, not by the location of the test site.

Following Manassas’ announcement noting the CDC is going door to door to take a survey to “targeted communities” – namely, the Hispanic community. Ansher said that this being done because:

“We are trying to understand why that ethnicity has the greatest number of cases and hospitalizations, and are there preventive measures that can be improved or implemented to limit transmission. It is a targeted survey to that population.”

The data available on the VDH website shows that the Hispanic community is the largest reported demographic affected by COVID-19 in the Prince William Health District, which includes Prince William County, Manassas Park,  and Manassas.