By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Dec. 15 — The Virginia Department of Health reported 29 new cases of COVID-19 in Page County on Tuesday morning, after reporting 26 cases over the two previous days. That brings the three-day total to 55 cases of the coronavirus surfacing in the county since Sunday.
Despite Tuesday’s spike in new cases — the third-highest one-day total since the first case was reported in the county on March 31 — Page’s current seven-day positivity rate remains at yesterday’s 14.4 percent, according to Daily Locality Metrics data on the VDH website. On Nov. 16, that rate stood at only 3.4 percent.
Page County also reported one hospitalization on Tuesday (the county’s 65th of the pandemic), but no deaths related to the virus have been reported in the county since Dec. 2.
According to ZIP code data provided by VDH, the new cases of COVID-19 reported in Page County on Tuesday surfaced in the following areas:
• 17 cases — Luray area (22835)
• 8 cases — Stanley area (22851)
• 4 cases — Shenandoah area (22851)
A breakdown of new cases of COVID-19 reported in Page County since Friday surfaced in the following areas:
• 48 cases — Luray area (22835)
• 17 cases — Stanley area (22851)
• 13 cases — Shenandoah area (22851)
• 2 cases — Rileyville area (22650)
The Lord Fairfax Health District reported 155 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the highest count in three days. Frederick County reported nearly a third of all cases in the district with 50, while the county seat of Winchester added 38. Shenandoah County saw 21 new cases on Tuesday, while Warren County had 10 and Clarke County reported seven.
The district has reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases for 11 consecutive days, after breaking the century mark for the first time on Nov. 17. The health district set a record of 217 new cases of COVID-19 on Nov. 30.
The health district reported three new hospitalizations on Tuesday, with one each in Frederick, Page and Shenandoah counties. Frederick County also reported its 23rd pandemic death on Tuesday.
A cumulative breakdown by jurisdiction of the health district’s 8,290 reported cases, 482 hospitalizations and 165 deaths is as follows (hospitalizations – deaths):
- 2,995 — Frederick County (131-23)
- 1,773 — Shenandoah County (131-68)
- 1,357 — City of Winchester (70-6)
- 1,096 — Warren County (65-31)
- 782 — Page County (65-33)
- 287 — Clarke County (20-4)
After slowing down on Sunday and Monday, Harrisonburg and Rockingham showed a surge in cases on Tuesday. The city reported 51 new cases of COVID-19, while the county reported a record-high 94. Rockingham also reported one hospitalization, as well as its 38th fatality from the pandemic.
Statewide, 3,160 new cases of the virus were reported on Tuesday, continuing a third day of declines despite still high daily counts.
Virginia’s current seven-day positivity rate has climbed to 11.2 percent.
A University of Virginia model projecting the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state doesn’t show a peak to the current rise in cases until sometime between the last week of January and the first week of February.
Valley Health System is receiving an initial shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine today (Tuesday, December 15) and “will immediately begin vaccinating front-line healthcare workers who interact directly with patients with COVID-19,” according to a press release from the regional healthcare system.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported on Tuesday that a total of 2,361 people are currently hospitalized that have either been confirmed to have COVID-19 or are awaiting test results. That figure sets yet another state record and continues eight days of consecutive increases in statewide hospitalizations.
Among those hospitalized statewide, 490 are currently in intensive care being treated for COVID-19 — once again, the highest level of the pandemic in Virginia. There are 240 COVID-19 patients statewide on ventilators — also the highest level of the pandemic. Overall, Virginia’s ICU occupancy remains at 77 percent.
Since the pandemic hit Virginia, VHHA reports that 26,929 people who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 and were hospitalized, have been discharged.
The state health department reported 56 more deaths related to the pandemic on Tuesday — the most since Sept. 15. Virginia surpassed the 4,000-death mark the day before Thanksgiving and currently reports a total of 4,470 people have died from COVID-19 since March 14.
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