Prince William Times 08/05/2021

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FOOTBALL GAMES START SOON: Cedar Run and Cardinal District schedules, SPORTS, Page 13

August 5, 2021 | Vol. 20, No. 31 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

‘Breakthrough’ COVID-19 cases rise locally 25% to 35% of July cases among the fully vaccinated, health district says By Jill Palermo

Times Staff Writer

FILE PHOTO BY DOUG STROUD

Mountain View Elementary kindergarten teacher Carrie Murphy helps a student during the first day of in-person learning last school year.

Prince William schools to require masks By Jill Palermo

Times Staff Writer

“Many of us are experiencing pandemic fatigue and a real desire to return to normal. However, we are still in this together and will get through this.”

Face coverings will be required on a nearly universal basis when Prince William County students return to schools on Aug. 23, Superintendent LaTanya McDade announced this week. Saying “safety will remain top of mind for everyone” amid the ongoing pandemic and citing the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, McDade said “universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status, will be required with some exceptions.”

SUPERINTENDENT LATANYA MCDADE

See MASKS, page 2

Plans for 2 new libraries, senior center in Woodbridge Page 3

Local “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19 are more prevalent than initially anticipated -- likely due the rise in the Delta variant, according to an analysis of COVID-19 cases reported between July 1 to 17 conducted by the Prince William Health District. Of the 233 new COVID-19 cases reported in the health district during the first three weeks of July, between 56 to 66 of them -- or about 25% to 30% -- involved people who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, said Sean Morris, a COVID-19 epidemiologist with the Prince William Health District. The numbers were first reported by WUSA9 news on Wednesday, July 28, and are vastly different from what the Virginia Health Department is still reporting on its website regarding the prevalence of COVID-19 cases among fully vaccinated Virginians. As of Aug. 1, VDH’s “COVID-19 cases by vaccination status” web page showed only 19 breakthrough cases among a total 2,686 COVID-19 cases reported across Northern Virginia since July 1. That data suggests that more than 99% of the cases since July 1 were among unvaccinated residents, which was not true in the Prince William Health District according to the new analysis. The VDH website lists cases by vaccination status only by region – not by individual health districts. See BREAKTHROUGH, page 7

Staind plays Jiffy Lube Live Page 10

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7/6/21 4:33 PM


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