By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Aug. 2 — While the Virginia Department of Health reported 22 new cases of COVID-19 in Page County over the past week — the same as the previous week — new cases of the virus continued to rise significantly across the Lord Fairfax Health District and the state as a whole.
In addition to those new cases, Page County also reported one hospitalization related to COVID on Thursday (one of four within the district over the last seven days) and one death — the county’s 61st of the pandemic, and the only fatality reported within the health district over the past week. Page reported two COVID deaths in both June and July.
Page County’s seven-day positivity rate has been fairly steady over the last week and currently stands at 7.7 percent. The rate was 8.2 percent last Monday and reached a weekly high of 8.7 percent on Tuesday before gradually falling later in the week. Clarke County currently has the highest positivity rate in the district at 8.5 percent; however, Clarke only reported eight new cases of COVID-19 over the past week — the lowest in the district. All other jurisdictions within the health district have a positivity rate of less than 6 percent.
The Lord Fairfax Health District reported 184 new cases of COVID-19 over the past week, up from 121 the previous week and 87 the week prior. Frederick County again lead the district with 75 new cases reported over the past week, while Warren County had 40 and Shenandoah County reported 24. Below is a breakdown of new cases reported in the last week and each locality’s current positivity rate within the health district:
• 75 — Frederick County — 4.9%
• 40 — Warren County — 5.8%
• 24 — Shenandoah County — 5.2%
• 22 — Page County — 7.7%
• 15 — City of Winchester — 4.1%
• 8 — Clarke County — 8.5%
A total of 199 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered in Page County over the past week — up from 162 the previous week. The number of local residents receiving at least one dose climbed by 130 in the last seven days (up from 100 the previous week), and the number of fully vaccinated residents increased by 78 (up from 74 the previous week). As of Sunday’s report by VDH, a cumulative total of 17,504 vaccinations have been given locally, with 9,524 people in the county receiving at least one dose (39.8 percent of the population and 48.1 percent of adults) and 8,712 fully vaccinated (36.4 percent of the population and 44.1 percent of adults).
Statewide, Virginia has administered nearly 9.5 million doses of vaccine, with nearly 5.2 million receiving at least one dose and more than 4.6 million individuals, or 65.1 percent of the adult population, being fully vaccinated.
Virginia’s daily average of new COVID-19 cases over the last five weeks has grown from 182, to 237, to 376, to 671, to this past week’s daily average of 1,108. Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate is currently 6 percent, up from 4.3 percent last Monday.
Statewide hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have risen as well over the past week totaling 534 as of Monday — the highest total since late May — with 137 patients in ICU. The state reported 28 deaths related to the virus over the past seven days — up from 23 the previous week — and a total of 11,534 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.
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What makes me furious is that we are sending our kids back to school and the state offices , DMV , SOCIAL SECURITY ADMIN. ETC, are not fully opened to the public, by appointment only.