State’s COVID-19 rate stays steady at 4.8%

Virginia recorded 5,964 new COVID-19 cases and 104 virus-related deaths last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Oct. 5 update. The state’s positivity rate stayed steady at 4.8%, up just 0.1% from last week.

The state has 152,557 total cases and 3,276 fatalities as of Oct. 5. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases reported at Virginia colleges and universities surpassed 5,300 about a month into the fall semester, and President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump tested positive, Trump announced on Twitter at 1 a.m. Friday.

Since Friday, he has been receiving treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and required supplementary oxygen twice over the weekend, according to the White House doctor, Dr. Sean Conley, although information about the president’s condition has been incomplete, outside doctors say. Several other Washington, D.C., officials — including three U.S. senators — have tested positive as well, although none has reported being in serious condition.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and first lady Pamela Northam, who tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week ago, continued to quarantine in their residence, and the governor has reported that he and the first lady are “on the mend.”

Several Virginia universities are reporting COVID-19 rates among students, faculty and staff members, although the universities are using different methods. Here are the most current university stats:

• James Madison University: 1,522 total cases since July 1. The overall positivity rate of student tests at the university’s health center is 8.1% as of Oct. 4.
• Virginia Tech: 1,095 positive tests since Aug. 3, with 118 new cases from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4. The seven-day moving average positivity rate as of Oct. 4 is 16.86%.
• University of Virginia: 840 positive cases among students and employees reported since Aug. 17. The university recorded 192 new cases from Sept. 25-Oct. 1, according to its tracker.
• Virginia Commonwealth University: 284 total positive tests, including 251 student cases as of Oct. 1. According to prevalence testing, the positivity rate is 0.46% as of Oct. 1.
• Old Dominion University: 70 positive cases out of 3,236 tests performed as of Oct. 5.
• George Mason University: 72 positive cases among students and employees between Aug. 17 and Oct. 1.
• Radford University: 411 total positive cases among students and employees as of Sept. 28, with two new cases since Sept. 21. Overall positivity rate is 10.11% as of Sept. 29. The dashboard is updated each Tuesday.

Meanwhile, some regions around the state still report relatively high coronavirus rates, although many hotspots have seen declines in the last few weeks.

Here are the health districts with higher than 10% positivity rates as of Oct. 1, the most recent day available:

• Lenowisco (Lee, Wise and Scott counties and the city of Norton): 10.1% (up from 4.5% Sept. 24)
• West Piedmont (Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties and the city of Martinsville): 10.5% (down from 10.9%)

In West Piedmont, there are 19 outbreaks listed, with seven at long-term care facilities, 10 in congregate settings and two at correctional facilities. Lenowisco Health District saw 22 total outbreaks, including 12 in congregate settings, four in K-12 schools, three in correctional facilities, two in long-term care facilities and one in a health care setting.

These are the 10 Virginia localities that have seen the most cases in the state, as of Oct. 5:

• Fairfax County: 21,357
• Prince William County: 12,783
• Virginia Beach: 7,102
• Loudoun County: 6,987
• Chesterfield County: 6,180
• Henrico County: 5,593
• Norfolk: 4,953
• Richmond: 4,775
• Chesapeake: 4,433
• Arlington County: 4,057

Globally, there are 35.3 million reported COVID-19 cases and 1,038,797 confirmed deaths as of Oct. 5. The United States, which has the most confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, has seen 7.43 million confirmed cases so far, with 209,928 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since February.

Below is the latest data from VDH:

Subscribe to Virginia Business.

Get our daily e-newsletter.