By Randy Arrington
LURAY, July 12 — While most COVID-19 data trends seem positive at this point, people continue to die from the highly contagious respiratory virus. While only seeing seven new cases and one hospitalization over the past week, Page County reported its 60th pandemic death over the weekend.
The county’s seven new cases mark an increase over only two cases the previous week. Since March 31, 2020, Page County has reported a total of 2,137 cases of COVID-19, along with 121 related hospitalizations.
Despite a slight rise in cases, Page County’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped again to 1.9 percent. The rate was at a weekly high of 3.9 percent last Monday and Tuesday, while hitting a low of 0.8 percent on Thursday. With less than 10 cases being reported each week since a short-lived spike started off June, a few cases can sway the positivity rate a few percentage points as testing has decreased.
A total of 209 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered in Page County over the past week — up from 187 the previous week. The number of local residents receiving at least one dose grew by 124 in the last seven days (up from 81 the previous week), while the number of fully vaccinated residents increased by 66 (down from 117). As of Monday’s report by VDH, a cumulative total of 16,927 vaccinations have been given locally, with 9,338 people in the county receiving at least one dose (39.1 percent of the population and 47.2 percent of adults) and 8,263 fully vaccinated (34.6 percent of the population and 42.3 percent of adults).
Here’s a regional comparison within the Lord Fairfax Health District of the percentage of the population that are fully vaccinated:
• 49.1% — Clarke County
• 43.4% — City of Winchester
• 40.9% — Frederick County
• 40.6% — Shenandoah County
• 36.1% — Warren County
• 34.6% — Page County
Statewide, Virginia has administered more than 9.2 million doses of vaccine, with nearly 5.1 million receiving at least one dose and more than 4.4 million individuals, or 62.8 percent of the adult population, fully vaccinated. Just before Memorial Day, the Old Dominion was averaging 50,111 vaccinations each day — over the past week, that figure has fallen to a daily average of just 10,715. Last week, that figure stood at 13,747.
The Lord Fairfax Health District reported 50 new cases of COVID-19 over the past week, down from 72 the previous week. Frederick County reported 21 of the district’s new cases, with 12 reported in Warren County and seven in Shenandoah County. There were only three virus-related hospitalizations reported across the district in the last seven days, and two COVID deaths — one in Frederick and one in Page.
Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate is currently 2.1 percent and has held steady over the last week. The commonwealth’s daily case count has averaged 237 over the past week, an increase over 182 the previous week. While numbers remain low, Virginia’s case count as been creeping up steadily for several weeks.
Statewide hospitalizations related to COVID-19 were fairly stable over the past week totaling 222 as of Monday, with 54 patients in ICU and 32 on ventilators. The state reported 19 deaths related to the virus over the past seven days — down from 29 the previous week — and a total of 11,450 since March 14, 2020.
The state of emergency that Governor Northam declared on March 12, 2020 in response to COVID-19 expired on June 30.
Unvaccinated individuals and those who are not fully vaccinated should continue wearing a mask, practicing physical distancing, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces in accordance with federal CDC guidance.
Vaccines are available by pre-registration and appointment. To pre-register, or to update your pre-registration record, visit www.vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA (1-877-829-4682). English- and Spanish-speaking operators are available. Translation services also are available, in more than 100 languages. For TTY, dial 7-1-1.
•••
RELATED ARTICLES
Vaccinations down, but so are new cases
Page County among lowest vaccination rates in Virginia
Page County reports health district’s only COVID-19 death for second-straight week
Page County reported area’s highest count for new cases, yet positivity rate fell to 1.1%
Page County reports 19 cases on Tuesday along with first death since March 17
Two Valley Health medical practices merge in Luray
Governor lifts mask mandate, plans to end public health restrictions May 28
Virginia starts vaccinating ages 12-15 following federal approval
Be the first to comment