COVID-19 on rise in Va., as nation sees cases surge

Virginia recorded an increase of 9,143 COVID-19 cases and 77 deaths last week, according to Virginia Department of Health statistics reported Monday, Nov. 2. The state’s positivity rate climbed from 5% to 5.8%.

Virginia’s case numbers are relatively low compared to other states, which have seen positivity rates zoom far above 10% in recent weeks. On Oct. 30, the United States recorded 98,583 new cases, a new daily record.

As of Monday, Virginia has seen 183,418 total coronavirus cases and 3,658 deaths since the pandemic started.

Several Virginia health districts reported positivity rates above 10%, including Alleghany, Lenowisco, Mount Rogers, Roanoke and West Piedmont.

The Alleghany Health District — the cities of Covington and Salem and the counties of Alleghany, Botetourt, Craig and Roanoke — saw its positivity rate rise to 12%, up from 9% on Oct. 23. The Lenowisco Health District — which covers Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the city of Norton — saw its positivity rate rise to 17.9%, up from 12% on Oct. 23. The Roanoke Health District saw its positivity rate rise up to 10.1%, up from 8.2% on Oct. 23. Including Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties and the city of Martinsville, West Piedmont Health District’s rate declined slightly to 10.9% on Oct. 29; it was 11.3% on Oct. 23.

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

• James Madison University: 1,615 total cases since July 1. The overall positivity rate of student tests at the university’s health center was 0.8% as of Nov. 2.
• Virginia Tech: 1,478 positive tests since Aug. 3, with 84 new cases from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1. The seven-day positivity rate as of Nov. 1 is 2.6%.
• University of Virginia: 1,100 positive cases among students and employees reported since Aug. 17. The university recorded 51 new cases from Oct. 18-24, according to its tracker.
• Virginia Commonwealth University: 353 total positive tests, including 337 student cases, as of Oct. 30. According to prevalence testing, the positivity rate is 0.23% as of Oct. 30.
• Old Dominion University: 164 positive cases out of 5,863 tests performed as of Nov. 2. From Oct. 25-31, there were 11 new positive tests.
• George Mason University: 127 positive cases among students and employees between Aug. 17 and Nov. 1, including 25 positive tests in the past two weeks.
• Radford University: 524 total positive cases among students and employees as of Oct. 27, with 35 new cases since Oct. 20. Cumulative positivity rate is 10.9% as of Oct. 27. The dashboard is updated each Tuesday.
• Liberty University: 80 positive cases from Oct. 14-27 among students and staff, out of a total 669 cases between Aug. 16-Oct. 27.

These are the 10 Virginia localities that have seen the most cases in the state, as of Nov. 2:

• Fairfax County: 24,399
• Prince William County: 14,660
• Virginia Beach: 8,248
• Loudoun County: 8,048
• Chesterfield County: 7,320
• Henrico County: 6,569
• Norfolk: 5,534
• Richmond: 5,499
• Chesapeake: 5,058
• Arlington County: 4,778

Globally, there are 46.8 million reported COVID-19 cases and 1,203,978 confirmed deaths as of Nov. 2. The United States, which has the most confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, has seen 9.25 million confirmed cases so far, with 231,227 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since February.

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