By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Oct. 28 — The Virginia Department of Health reported another fatality related to COVID-19 in Page County on Wednesday morning. That marks the county’s 31st death since the pandemic hit the region in mid-February — the second-highest death toll within the Lord Fairfax Health District.
Warren County reported two COVID-19 deaths over the weekend and has seen 13 of the health district’s 18 pandemic deaths reported in October. Page County has reported two deaths from coronavirus in October, with the last one on Oct. 14. Shenandoah County has also reported two deaths this month, while Winchester had one.
Page County also reported the second-highest total of new cases of COVID-19 within the health district on Wednesday with eight. That’s the highest one-day total Page has seen since May 25 and May 27, when nine cases were reported in a single day.
Currently, Page County’s 14-day positivity rate stands at 8.4 percent, according to the School Metrics data on the VDH website. However, according to ZIP code data provided by the state health department, the last seven days show a slightly higher positivity rate:
- 22835 (Luray area) — 9 positive cases among 85 tests, equals a positivity rate of 10.6 percent;
- 22849 (Shenandoah area) — 5 positive cases among 47 tests, equals a positivity rate of 10.6 percent;
- 22851 (Stanley area) — 4 positive cases among 46 tests, equals a positivity rate of 8.7 percent.
Page County also reported two new hospitalizations on Wednesday, bringing the county’s cumulative total to 51 hospitalizations — the third-highest total within the health district.
Warren County lead the health district in new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with 20 reported in a single day. That marks the second-highest, one-day total for new cases in the county since the pandemic began. Warren has only reached double-digits in new cases on 11 days since the pandemic first hit the region — five of those days were reported in October. The only day with a higher total of new cases in Warren County came on June 3, when 38 cases were reported.
Frederick County reported a dozen new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, while Winchester added six. Shenandoah County has seen a slow down of new cases, with only one reported Wednesday. However, Shenandoah County and Winchester both reported new hospitalizations this morning.
The Lord Fairfax Health District reported a total of 50 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday — the highest one-day total for the health district since May 30, when 53 new cases were reported.
A cumulative breakdown by jurisdiction of the health district’s 3,966 reported cases, 326 hospitalizations and 131 deaths is as follows (hospitalizations – deaths):
- 1,181 — Frederick County (84-13)
- 967 — Shenandoah County (97-61)
- 617 — City of Winchester (42-5)
- 603 — Warren County (39-20)
- 478 — Page County (51-31)
- 120 — Clarke County (13-1)
Harrisonburg reported only eight new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, after reporting 30 on Tuesday and 40 over the weekend. During that time, the Friendly City has seen only four new hospitalizations, and no new deaths have been reported since Oct. 8.
Rockingham County has reported 11 new cases of the virus each of the last two days, after seeing 21 over the weekend. Rockingham also reported two new hospitalizations on Wednesday, but the county has not reported a new death related to the pandemic in the last three days.
Statewide, 1,345 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday, continuing an upward trend over the last few days. Daily reports of new cases statewide in October have remained above 1,000 per day for most of the month, after falling below that plateau for most of September.
New hospitalizations continue to rise across the state as well, with 64 reported on Wednesday. Virginia’s current seven-day positivity rate stands at 5.1 percent — up from 4.5 percent in mid-October.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported Wednesday that 1,068 people are currently hospitalized that have either been confirmed to have COVID-19 or are awaiting test results. That represents an increase of 20 since Monday.
Among those hospitalized, 252 are currently in intensive care being treated for COVID-19 statewide, according to VHHA — an increase of 58 in the last eight days. Currently, there are 113 COVID-19 patients statewide on ventilators — that figure has remained steady over the past six days.
Since the pandemic hit Virginia, VHHA reports that 19,786 people who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 and were hospitalized, have been discharged.
The state health department reported 16 more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, after reporting 19 on Tuesday. Virginia’s pandemic death toll has now grown to 3,616 since mid-March.
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