Va. COVID-19 cases continue decline

Last week, the state saw 5,455 new COVID-19 cases and 151 virus-related deaths, continuing a statewide decline, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s update Monday, Sept. 28. Virginia’s positivity rate is 4.7%, a 1% decrease since Sept. 21.

Virginia has 146,593 total cases and 3,172 fatalities as of Monday, as the world approaches 1 million deaths — one out of five of which took place in the United States.

Gov. Ralph Northam and first lady Pamela Northam announced in a statement Friday that they had tested positive for COVID-19 after a household staff member came down with the coronavirus. The governor said he was asymptomatic and that Pam Northam had mild symptoms, and that they planned to quarantine themselves at least 10 days following their tests last week. In a video update via Twitter on Monday, Gov. Northam said he and the first lady were “on the mend.”

Several Virginia universities are reporting COVID-19 rates among students, faculty and staff members, although the universities are using different methods. Some are reporting daily, while others are providing weekly updates. James Madison University closed its campus in early September due to a high number of new cases and plans to reopen in October. Here are the most current university stats:

• James Madison University: 865 total self-reported positive cases (since Aug. 17); 629 positive tests reported by health center (since July 1), for a total of 1,494 cases. The overall positivity rate of tests at the university’s health center (since July 1) is 24.23% as of Sept. 28.
• Virginia Tech: 976 positive tests since Aug. 3, with 141 new cases from Sept. 18 to Sept. 24. The seven-day moving average positivity rate as of Sept. 24 is 20.14%.
• University of Virginia: 648 positive cases among students and employees reported from Aug. 17 to Sept. 25. The university recorded 158 new cases from Sept. 18-24, according to its tracker.
• Virginia Commonwealth University: 276 total positive tests, including 242 student cases as of Sept. 28. According to prevalence testing, the positivity rate is 0.6% as of Sept. 25.
• Old Dominion University: 62 positive cases out of 2,588 tests performed as of Sept. 28.
• George Mason University: 60 positive cases among students and employees between Aug. 17 and Sept. 24.
• Radford University: 409 total positive cases among students and employees as of Sept. 21, with 12 new cases since Sept. 14. Overall positivity rate is 10.8% as of Sept. 21. 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 Sept. 24, the most recent day available:

• West Piedmont (Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties and the city of Martinsville): 10.9% (up from 10.2% Sept. 17)
• Western Tidewater (Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the cities of Franklin and Suffolk): 12.8% (up from 10.7%)

In West Piedmont, there are 19 outbreaks listed, with seven at long-term care facilities, 10 in congregate settings and two at correctional facilities. Western Tidewater reported 18 outbreaks, with nine at long-term care facilities, four in congregate settings, four at correctional facilities and one at a health care setting, according to VDH.

These are the 10 Virginia localities that have seen the most cases in the state, as of Sept. 28:

• Fairfax County: 20,822
• Prince William County: 12,122
• Virginia Beach: 6,858
• Loudoun County: 6,839
• Chesterfield County: 6,000
• Henrico County: 5,452
• Norfolk: 4,849
• Richmond: 4,647
• Chesapeake: 4,315
• Arlington County: 3,963

Globally, there are 33.2 million reported COVID-19 cases and 999,202 confirmed deaths as of Sept. 21. The United States, which has the most confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, has seen 7.12 million confirmed cases so far, with 204,861 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since February.

Below is the latest data from VDH:

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