By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Oct. 23 — The Virginia Department of Health reported two more COVID-19 deaths in Warren County on Friday morning. That bring’s Warren’s October death toll from the pandemic to 13.
Warren County has also reported 43 new cases of COVID-19 in just the past four days — the highest total within the Lord Fairfax Health District. The county saw 15 new cases of coronavirus reported on both Wednesday and Thursday, as well as four hospitalizations in the last three days.
Frederick County has reported 40 new cases of COVID-19 in the past four days, along with six hospitalizations, but no deaths. The county seat of Winchester added another 25 new cases of the virus, but reported no hospitalizations or deaths this past week.
Shenandoah County, once the “hot spot” of the health district for a few months, has seen new cases decrease with 17 being reported since Monday. One new hospitalization was reported in the county on Thursday, while one new fatality was reported Tuesday.
Page County has also seen a decrease in new cases of COVID-19, with only seven reported since Monday. Thursday proved to have the highest count with three new cases reported. While the number of cases is low, all but one of the new cases was reported in the 22849 ZIP code area around the Town of Shenandoah, according to ZIP code data provided by VDH. Page County has only seen one new hospitalization and no deaths reported this week.
A cumulative breakdown by jurisdiction of the health district’s 3,809 reported cases, 319 hospitalizations and 128 deaths is as follows (hospitalizations – deaths):
- 1,137 — Frederick County (82-13)
- 941 — Shenandoah County (97-60)
- 588 — City of Winchester (40-4)
- 563 — Warren County (39-20)
- 464 — Page County (49-30)
- 116 — Clarke County (12-1)
Rockingham County reported one new death related to the pandemic on Wednesday. Both Rockingham and the City of Harrisonburg reported one new hospitalization each from COVID-19 this week. New cases remain steady in both localities, but the influx has subsided from September’s surge there. Harrisonburg has seen 31 new cases since Monday, while Rockingham reported 24.
Statewide, 1,180 new cases of the coronavirus were reported on Friday. That marks the third consecutive day over 1,000 new cases, and the fourth-straight day of rising numbers in Virginia. With seven days remaining, more than half of October has seen the daily total of new cases surpass 1,000 — in September that only occurred on 10 days.
New hospitalizations have averaged about 65 per day since Monday, with 73 reported on Tuesday alone. Virginia’s seven-day positivity rate is holding at 5 percent, after dipping as low as 4.5 percent in mid-October.
The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reported Friday that 1,012 people are currently hospitalized that have either been confirmed to have COVID-19 or are awaiting test results. After remaining below the 1,000 mark from Sept. 17 through Oct. 6, this figure has remained above 1,000 for six of the last 10 days, including the last three days straight.
Among those hospitalized, 233 are currently in intensive care being treated for COVID-19, according to VHHA — an increase of 15 since yesterday and a jump of 39 since Tuesday. Currently, there are 113 COVID-19 patients statewide on ventilators — up 16 since Wednesday.
Since the pandemic hit Virginia, VHHA reports that 19,406 people who have been confirmed to have COVID-19 and were hospitalized, have been discharged.
The state health department reported 15 more deaths due to COVID-19 on Friday. There have been 82 pandemic deaths in Virginia since Monday. The state’s total death toll due to the coronavirus is 3,539.
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