By Randy Arrington
LURAY, June 29 — While a trickle of new cases continues to crop up, Page County has seen a significant decrease in COVID-19 activity during the month of June.
The Virginia Department of Health only reported one new case of the coronavirus in Page County over the last three days. In the last 29 days, Page has seen nine days with only one new case of COVID-19 reported and another nine days with no new cases.
For the month of June, a total of 47 new cases of the virus were reported in Page County. In May, that figure stood at 120.
May proved to be the peak of the pandemic in Page and across the state. During May, Page County had 13 people hospitalized and 20 deaths related to COVID-19. With the first case being reported in the county on March 31, April saw 11 hospitalizations and one death locally. By comparison, Page has had only four hospitalizations and three deaths related to the pandemic in June. All three deaths were reported on June 2.
A current breakdown of COVID-19 cases and testing in Page County (as of June 28) by ZIP code is as follows:
- 22835 (Luray) — 154 cases, 601 tests, 25.6% positivity rate;
- 22851 (Stanley) — 72 cases, 243 tests, 29.6% positivity rate;
- 22849 (Shenandoah) — 37 cases, 274 tests, 13.5% positivity rate.
The 22650 ZIP code (Rileyville) data on new cases remains suppressed by VDH because of the low number of cases and the small population in that area. The state suppresses data in these areas in order to protect patients’ privacy. The last data available (June 28) shows that 19 people in the 22650 area have been tested for COVID-19.
It should also be mentioned that while positivity rates in the county are going down as more testing is done, the number of people being testing is still too low to offer a completely accurate account of COVID-19’s penetration in those communities (ZIP codes) within the county.
In the Lord Fairfax Health District, 63 new cases have been reported by the state in the last three days — 39 of those were reported on Saturday alone, followed by 17 on Sunday. Frederick County showed the highest gain, with 26 new cases over the weekend. Warren County added 16 new cases of coronavirus in the last three days, while Winchester had 12 and Shenandoah County reported seven. Both Clarke and Page counties only saw one new case over the weekend.
Overall, the six jurisdictions within the health district reported eight new hospitalizations and two deaths since Friday. Five of the hospitalizations took place in Shenandoah County, with three in Frederick County. Both of those counties reported one additional fatality related to the pandemic.
A breakdown by jurisdiction of the health district’s 1,965 cases of COVID-19 is as follows (hospitalizations – deaths):
- 559 — Shenandoah County (62-29)
- 491 — Frederick County (37-5)
- 314 — City of Winchester (22-3)
- 285 — Warren County (19-5)
- 267 — Page County (28-24)
- 49 — Clarke County (4-0)
The City of Harrisonburg reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend, with one person hospitalized and one new death. Rockingham County saw 28 new cases of the virus surface, with six people hospitalized and one new death.
Statewide, 453 new cases of COVID-19 were reported on Monday. That followed 489 new cases reported on Sunday, and 677 on Saturday. Despite the three-day downward trend, the number of new cases has fluctuated daily between a high of 1,284 on June 7 to a low of 380 on June 15.
The average in Virginia has fallen between 450 to 650 new cases of COVID-19 each day during June. Those figures seem modest compared to states like California, Florida and Texas, which have been peaking and posting new highs each day that have surpassed 5,000, then 7,000, and ultimately 8,530 new cases reported just yesterday in Florida.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported Monday that 796 people are currently hospitalized that have either been confirmed to have COVID-19 or are awaiting test results. That figure is down 22 from yesterday and down 58 since Friday.
Among those hospitalized, 225 are in intensive care, according to VHHA — down 10 from the previous day. Currently, there are 101 patients statewide on ventilators, down six from the previous day.
Since the pandemic began, VHHA also reports that 8,023 people who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 and were hospitalized, have been discharged.
Despite a decline in new cases and in the number of seriously ill patients across the state, VDH still reported 40 new fatalities related to the pandemic over the weekend. Of those, 24 were reported on Saturday, while Sunday and Monday both saw eight new deaths reported.
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