Today Virginia blew past its previous daily record of new COVID-19 cases, set just days earlier. The record comes amid rising caseloads and hospitalizations in the D.C. region.

The commonwealth tallied 4,398 new cases today; on Saturday and Sunday it saw records of 3,793 and 3,880 cases, respectively. There are 267,128 known cases in all.

Gov. Ralph Northam tightened COVID restrictions in mid-November. He restricted indoor and outdoor gatherings to 25 people, boosted enforcement of coronavirus precautions at stores, and expanded the mask mandate. But despite worsening metrics since then, the governor has declined to impose more restrictions, instead stressing “personal responsibility” at a press conference one week ago.

Today another 21 people died from the virus, bringing its toll to 4,281 fatalities. Virginia’s positivity rate stands at 10.9%, a level not seen since May and well above the 5% threshold that epidemiologists say indicates a need for more testing.

The 7-day moving average of hospitalized COVID patients (both confirmed and those presumed positive with test results pending) continues to climb and now stands at 1,885 people, its highest level yet. Hospitalization is a “lagging indicator,” meaning that upticks follow increased case counts by a week or two, as the people who have contracted the virus get sicker.

Still, Northam said last Wednesday his biggest capacity concern is not so much lack of ICU space or ventilators, but rather hospital staff burnout. He said the state stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) is currently adequate, and hospitals experiencing shortages should request help.

D.C. also had a large caseload today with 265 new infections, 23,854 in all. Cases have been on the rise since October. Another three people have died, bringing the District’s coronavirus fatalities to 704.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tightened existing Phase Two restrictions on Nov. 23, limiting indoor and outdoor gatherings, restricting indoor group exercise classes and capping alcohol sales at restaurants at 10 p.m. On Monday, she announced a ban on some high-contact sports but declined to reimpose another stay-at-home order. DC Health Director LaQuandra Nesbitt said such restrictions “would not be widely acceptable” by city residents.

The District’s 7-day rolling average of cases per 100,000 — which tracks the trend of how many new cases of the virus are being added — has been increasing since mid-October. On May 5, it peaked at 27.56 new cases per 100,000; today it stands at 38.72. That metric and its “mean test turnaround time” indicator are both in the red, meaning they don’t meet the criteria for Phase Two of reopening. D.C.’s positivity rate is 5.9%, a level not seen since mid-June.

The percentage of patients hospitalized for COVID has been on the rise since early November, and now stands at 8.8%. D.C. considers 10% of patients hospitalized for COVID to create “insufficient capacity” in the health system.

Maryland also had a large caseload today — 2,692 infections — bringing its total to 222,653 cases in all. Another 46 people have died, 4,962 total. Its rolling 7-day average positivity rate stands at 7.74%. The state has seen several record caseloads in past weeks, most recently on Dec. 4 with 3,792 new cases.

Today 62 more people have been hospitalized in the state, and the total number of patients hospitalized for the virus has reached an all-time high.

On Nov. 10, the state department of health activated plans for hospital surge capacity in response to spiking infections that topped 1,000 new cases for seven days straight. Gov. Larry Hogan tightened some restaurant restrictions the same day, and hard-hit Montgomery, Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties tightened restrictions further from where they had stayed in Phase Two.

A week later on Nov. 17, Hogan further rolled back some Phase Three permissions amid still-rising infections, requiring all restaurants, bars and other establishments selling food and alcohol to close by 10 p.m. All retail businesses, houses of worship, and gyms in Maryland must now operate at 50% capacity, back at Phase Two levels.

On Tuesday, the three jurisdictions surpassed 500,000 total coronavirus cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.