New cases slow, but steady

COVID-19 Coronavirus in Page County, Virginia
Page Valley News will have continuing coverage of the Coronavirus' impact on Page County.

By Randy Arrington

LURAY, June 10 — The COVID-19 pandemic continues to recede all across Virginia and for most of the Lord Fairfax Health District.

Only small spikes in new cases are being reported within the district, like the 10 new cases reported this morning in the City of Winchester and the 17 new cases reported in Frederick County on Sunday. All other daily increases in new cases across the district have remained in the single digits over the last five days.

Page County has seen one new case of COVID-19 reported each of the last three days. That represents the second-smallest gain in new cases within the health district during that time. Clarke County only reported two new cases.

A breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code shows a slightly clearer picture of where positive cases are located within Page County. Since May 31, the Virginia Department of Health has reported 13 new cases in the Luray area (22835), nine new cases in the Shenandoah area (22849), and five new cases in the Stanley area (22851). 

The Rileyville area (22650) actually dropped by one case, from six to five. While VDH offers no explanations for data changes, a likely reason could be that a case was either reclassified to another ZIP code (like Luray) or the case was later found not to be COVID-19.

Page County has not reported a hospitalization or pandemic-related death in the last eight days. Within the five-county health district, VDH has only reported two hospitalizations (Frederick and Shenandoah counties) and two deaths (Winchester and Shenandoah).

A breakdown by jurisdiction of the health district’s 1,662 total cases of COVID-19 is as follows (hospitalizations – deaths):

  • 492 — Shenandoah County (51-25)
  • 415 — Frederick County (27-4)
  • 248 — City of Winchester (15-3)
  • 247 — Page County (26-24)
  • 225 — Warren County (14-4)
  • 35 — Clarke County (3-0)

The RSW Regional Jail just north of Front Royal reported on Monday that 55 inmates are currently positive for COVID-19 and are being isolated. A total of 17 inmates have recovered and have been removed from isolation. Five staff members of the regional jail are still positive for the coronavirus and are isolating at home, according to the jail. This is the only reported outbreak at a correctional facility within the health district.

Harrisonburg and Rockingham County have reported a total of 32 new cases of COVID-19 in the last three days; however, only three were hospitalized and no new deaths were reported.

Across the state, 439 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported on Wednesday. That follows 487 new cases on Tuesday, and 570 new cases on Monday. Those are welcome figures considering the daily statewide average for new cases of COVID-19 in May remained at more than 800, with five of the last seven days in the month surpassing 1,000 new cases.

The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported today that 1,155 people are currently hospitalized that have either been confirmed to have COVID-19 or are awaiting test results. That figure represents a third consecutive day of declines in the number of people hospitalized from the pandemic.

Among those hospitalized, 296 are in intensive care, according to VHHA. That figure is down 15 from yesterday, and it’s the first time that COVID-19 ICU patients have dropped below 300 in Virginia since mid-April.

A total of 139 COVID-19 patients are currently on ventilators. That represents a decline of 16 from yesterday, and is also the lowest level since mid-April.

Since the pandemic began, VHHA also reports that 6,826 people who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 and were hospitalized, have been discharged.

VDH reported 18 new deaths related to the pandemic on Wednesday, bringing the total in Virginia to 1,514. The COVID-19 death rate continues to decline in the Commonwealth. While there were only three days in May where the daily death toll remained in the single digits, that has occurred three times in the past week.

RELATED ARTICLE

Warren County sees spike in new cases after mass testing at regional jail

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*