PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia reported 752 new COVID-19 cases and 5 new deaths on Monday, the lowest single day increase in deaths since April 14.
The last two days have seen death increases of 7 and 5, well below the 7-day averages of roughly 24 per day, data shows. Virginia’s peak in average deaths per day was 33 on May 8, when 43 new deaths were reported.
Most of Virginia reopened under phase 1 this past Friday, but the patients reported Monday contracted the virus well before this weekend.
Any new cases linked to exposure this weekend likely won’t be identified until at least a week later, with the median time of 4-5 before symptoms usually appear, per the Centers for Disease Control.
After trending up through Saturday, May 16, daily reported cases the past two days have fallen sharply. Though Virginia saw a similar dip in cases around May 4, before a rebound that included its highest daily increase on May 14.
Here’s VDH’s graph of daily reported cases.
Though Virginia reported an average of nearly 6,000 “testing encounters” per day back on May 9, per day testing averages are down below the 5,000 mark — well below Gov. Northam’s goal of 10,000 tests per day — and are trending down.
Meanwhile Virginia’s percentage of positive tests to total tests has fallen below 15% statewide, with Northern Virginia inflating that number compared to the overall percentage in the rest of the state.
COVID-19 patients in hospitals remains around the 1,500 mark as of Monday, with overall bed capacity statewide staying steady with about 4,000 free beds open.
Here’s the latest update for Tidewater:
Accomack: 690 cases, 30 hospitalized 9 deaths
Chesapeake: 387 cases, 78 hospitalized, 10 deaths
Franklin: 32 cases, 2 hospitalized, 1 death
Gloucester: 28 cases, 7 hospitalized, 1 death
Hampton: 163 cases, 30 hospitalized, 3 deaths
Isle of Wight: 119 cases, 10 hospitalized, 3 deaths
James City County: 187 cases, 54 hospitalized, 15 deaths
Mathews: 5 cases, 1 hospitalized, 0 deaths
Newport News: 206 cases, 38 hospitalized, 10 deaths
Norfolk: 361 cases, 56 hospitalized, 5 deaths
Northampton: 198 cases 14 hospitalized, 9 deaths
Poquoson: 7 cases, 2 hospitalized, 0 deaths
Portsmouth: 228 cases, 39 hospitalized, 10 deaths
Southampton: 137 cases, 4 hospitalized, 2 deaths
Suffolk: 269 cases, 41 hospitalized, 22 deaths
Virginia Beach: 557 cases, 86 hospitalized, 19 deaths
Williamsburg: 43 cases, 9 hospitalized, 3 deaths
York: 63 cases, 9 hospitalized, 3 deaths
Quick highlights:
- 57 new cases across Tidewater, no new deaths compared to Sunday
- Accomack reported just 2 new cases Monday, and health officials still haven’t added all of the 510 positive cases found after mass testing at the county’s two chicken plants. As of Friday, the Virginia Department of Health said “about 85 of the 510 results mentioned above are reflected in the case count for Accomack and Northampton counties.” VDH said the labs that processed the tests are not connected to VDH’s electronic reporting and the results have to be entered manually, and some of the 510 patients do not live in Virginia.
- Health officials said about 225 tests were also still pending. Accomack delayed moving into phase 1 by at least two weeks.
- Northampton County, just below Accomack, has the highest COVID-19 death rate in the state, with 77 per 100K. Northampton has just under 12,000 residents, per the 2019 census.
