Page County reports health district’s only COVID-19 death for second-straight week

Vaccination Update
Page Valley News will have continuing coverage of the vaccination efforts in our community.

By Randy Arrington

LURAY, June 21 — Despite only reporting nine new cases of COVID-19 over the last two weeks, the Virginia Department of Health has reported two deaths related to the virus in Page County during that time. Those are the only two pandemic fatalities that have been reported in the Lord Fairfax Health District.

Page County saw only three new cases and one hospitalization reported over the last seven days, while three cases were also subtracted from its cumulative total due to data adjustments. However, Page reported its 59th death due to COVID-19 on Friday, after reporting its 58th death only four days earlier.

Page County’s seven-day positivity rate remains steady at 2.7 percent, after sitting at 2.8 percent last Monday. The rate reached a high of 3.3 percent for the week on Tuesday before plummeting to a weekly low of 0.9 percent on Wednesday.

A total of 372 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered in Page County over the past week (down from 434 the previous week), with the number of residents receiving at least one dose growing by 136 (up from 202) and the number of fully vaccinated residents increasing 252 (down from 253). As of Monday’s report by VDH, a cumulative total of 16,240 vaccinations have been given locally, with 8,974 people receiving at least one dose (37.5 percent of the total population and 45.6 percent of the adult population) and 7,915 have been fully vaccinated (33.1 percent of the population and 40.7 percent of adults).

Here’s a comparison of the percentage of adults who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within the Lord Fairfax Health District:

• 62.5% — Winchester

• 56.7% — Frederick County

• 54.8% — Shenandoah County

• 51.2% — Warren County

• 46.6% — Clarke County

• 45.6% — Page County

Governor Ralph Northam announced today that 70 percent of adults 18 years and older in the Commonwealth have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Virginia is the 16th state in the nation to meet this goal set by President Joe Biden in early May and reaches the key vaccination milestone two weeks ahead of the nationwide July 4 target. To date, over 8.8 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Virginia and more than 4.2 million individuals, or 60.3 percent of the population 18 and older, are fully vaccinated.

“Virginia has reached a significant milestone in the fight against COVID-19,” Governor Northam said. “Thanks to the millions of Virginians who have rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated, the virus is in retreat, our economy is growing, and we are closer to putting this pandemic behind us. A statewide effort has brought us to this point, with strong partnerships in our communities, health systems, the private sector, and across all levels of government. Even as we celebrate this tremendous achievement, we will continue working together to vaccinate everyone who is eligible so our Commonwealth so can keep moving forward.”

Virginia continues to see a significant decline in new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. New daily cases exceeded a seven-day moving average of 5,900 in early January and dropped under 250 by June 1. The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 peaked in early January with a seven-day moving average above 2,600 and had decreased to nearly 500 by June 1. Deaths from COVID-19 reached a seven-day moving average of 83 in mid-January and fell below 7 by June 1. Additional data on COVID-19 and vaccination efforts in Virginia can be found on VDH’s data dashboards.

Federal approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 15 has made more than 400,000 additional Virginians eligible to get vaccinated, and about 30 percent of individuals in that age group have received the vaccine so far. VDH will continue working with school districts to make the vaccine available to students as the vaccination efforts shift from large-scale vaccination sites to health care providers, pharmacies, and mobile vaccine clinics.

The Lord Fairfax Health District saw a total of 36 new cases of COVID-19 reported over the past week (down from 41 the previous week), along with two hospitalizations. The only virus-related death in the district was reported in Page County. Data adjustments to cumulative totals in the district continue to take place as Warren County actually added a total of 36 cases this week (including 21 on Thursday), while Shenandoah County had 20 cases subtracted from its total (including 15 on Thursday).

Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate has dropped to 1.5 percent, where it has sat for the last four days. Last Monday, the rate stood at 1.9 percent. The commonwealth’s daily case count has averaged 136 over the past week, which indicates a slight increase.

Statewide hospitalizations related to COVID-19 are at a total of 268, with 70 in ICU and 37 patients on ventilators. The state reported 42 deaths related to the virus over the past seven days — down from 73 the previous week — and a total of 11,360 since March 14, 2020.

With increased vaccination rates, public health metrics trending in the right direction, and revised federal guidelines, Virginia ended all COVID-19 mitigation measures on May 28. The state of emergency that Governor Northam declared on March 12, 2020 in response to COVID-19 is set to expire 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.

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