By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Feb. 14 — Page County has seen a dramatic drop-off of new cases of COVID-19, as well as the county’s seven-day positivity rate. Both figures fell by about 50 percent when comparing week-to-week data in February. For the first time in 10 weeks, Page reported fewer than 100 cases over a seven-day period, and the county’s positivity rate is no longer the highest in the health district.
The Virginia Department of Health has reported 64 new cases of COVID-19 in Page County over the past week, including 23 over the weekend. There were 128 cases reported the previous week and a winter peak of 304 new cases four weeks ago. There was only one hospitalization related to the virus reported in the county this past week.
Page County’s seven-day positivity rate declined for a third-straight week and is currently 18.6 percent (as of Feb. 14). Last Monday, the county’s positivity stood at 30 percent. Prior to this winter’s Omicron surge, Page’s positivity rate had not exceeded 23 percent — but just three weeks ago on Jan. 24, the county’s rate was reported at 43.5 percent.
Page reported four COVID-related deaths over the past week, which brings the county’s pandemic death toll to 107.
The Lord Fairfax Health District reported 676 new cases of COVID-19 over the last seven days, down from 1,090 the previous week and 3,554 five weeks ago when the health district hit its winter peak. Every locality within the health district reported fewer new cases this week, and five-of-six showed a decrease in its positivity rate. Clarke County showed a slight increase. Below is a breakdown of new cases reported since Feb. 7 and each localities’ positivity rate within the health district (as of Monday, Feb. 14):
• 282 — Frederick County — 20.1%
• 129 — Shenandoah County — 18.6%
• 90 — Warren County — 20.2%
• 71 — City of Winchester — 15.7%
• 64 — Page County — 18.6%
• 40 — Clarke County — 16%
The health district reported 10 hospitalizations related to COVID over the past seven days (20 the previous week) and 28 related deaths (51 last week). Warren County reported seven of those COVID-related deaths, while Frederick County had six. Shenandoah County saw five deaths from the virus, while the City of Winchester and Page County reported four and Clarke County had two.
Over the past week, Virginia has averaged 3,783 new cases of COVID-19 per day — down more than 31 percent from 5,514 the previous week, after a 40-percent drop the week prior from 9,194. Four weeks ago Virginia peaked at a daily average of 16,917, and set a new one-day, record-high of 26,175 new cases reported on Jan. 8.
Statewide hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have fallen to 1,676 after sitting at 2,250 last Monday and peaking at 3,948 on Jan. 18. Currently, 349 patients are in intensive care being treated for COVID, with 210 on ventilators.
Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate fell for a fifth-straight week and sits at 11.1 percent (as of Feb. 14). The rate has steadily dropped from the commonwealth’s pandemic high of 35.8 percent on Jan. 14. Last Monday, the rate stood at 19.7 percent. During last winter’s surge, Virginia’s positivity peaked at 16.8 percent on Jan. 10, 2021. During the Delta surge in September, the state reached only 10.9 percent positivity.
Virginia reported 590 deaths related to COVID-19 over the past seven days, compared to 890 the previous week. However, the recent spike is related to VDH now reporting a number of deaths from January that were backlogged. The commonwealth has reported a total of 17,697 deaths from COVID-19 since March 14, 2020.
A total of 376 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered in Page County over the past week — down from 465 the previous week. As of Monday’s report by VDH, a cumulative total of 28,281 vaccinations have been given locally, with 12,513 people in the county receiving at least one dose and 11,760 fully vaccinated (or 49.1 percent of the population). A total of 5,346 in the county have received a third shot or booster for the COVID-19 vaccine (27.4 percent of the adult population in the county).
Statewide, Virginia has administered about 15.2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, with about 6.8 million receiving at least one dose and 6.1 million individuals, or 80.8 percent of the adult population, being fully vaccinated. About 2.8 million Virginians have received a third “booster” dose of the vaccine.
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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