New COVID-19 cases continue to decline statewide; deaths are up

State watches numbers as college students start classes

Published August 24, 2020 by Kate Andrews

The Virginia Department of Health has reported 113,630 COVID-19 cases as of Aug. 24, an increase of 6,209 cases in the past week. The state also saw 86 more deaths from the coronavirus last week, bringing the total to 2,471.

The number of new deaths is up from the previous week’s total of 58, but the number of new cases declined from the previous week, which saw 6,672 new cases. The statewide positivity rate is 6.4%, an improvement from recent weeks — although state health officials are watching numbers closely as some colleges start classes in person.

Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University have launched COVID-19 dashboards that record student and employee positive test results. At Tech, 21 people have tested positive since Aug. 9, with an increase of 16 cases during the week ending Aug. 23. VCU has 58 active student cases and 12 employee cases as of Aug. 23.

Some communities in the state still have higher percentages than the state average. Earlier this month, Gov. Ralph Northam placed restrictions on Hampton Roads localities, limiting alcohol sales to 10 p.m. and not allowing gatherings of more than 50 people.

Here are the health districts statewide with higher than 10% positivity rates:

Central Virginia (Lynchburg and Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell counties): 10% (up from 8.1% Aug. 17)
Chesapeake: 11.2% (down from 11.3%)
Pittsylvania-Danville: 12.7% (down from 12.9%)
Portsmouth: 11.5% (down from 12%)
West Piedmont (Martinsville and Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties): 17.5% (down from 17.7%)
Western Tidewater (Isle of Wight and Southampton counties, cities of Franklin and Suffolk): 12.4% (down from 12.8%)

These are the Virginia localities that have seen 400 or more total cases, as of Aug. 24:

Fairfax County: 17,729
Prince William County: 10,392
Virginia Beach: 5,739
Loudoun County: 5,735
Chesterfield County: 4,867
Henrico County: 4,359
Norfolk: 4,164
Richmond: 3,615
Chesapeake: 3,564
Arlington County: 3,400
Alexandria: 3,270
Newport News: 2,145
Portsmouth: 2,086
Manassas: 1,758
Spotsylvania County: 1,718
Stafford County: 1,602
Suffolk: 1,545
Hampton: 1,463
Harrisonburg: 1,143
Accomack County: 1,135
Roanoke: 1,129
Culpeper County: 1,073
Rockingham County: 1,000
Albemarle County: 963
Lynchburg: 839
Shenandoah County: 759
Henry County: 750
Frederick County: 744
Hanover County: 743
Fauquier County: 720
James City County: 712
Greensville County: 657
Pittsylvania County: 644
Buckingham County: 634
Charlottesville: 589
Petersburg: 587
Roanoke County: 557
Manassas Park: 552
Danville: 544
Prince George County: 491
Bedford County: 487
Isle of Wight County: 485
Mecklenburg County: 482
Prince Edward County: 466
Fredericksburg: 453
York County: 432
Winchester: 429

Globally, there are 23.4 million reported COVID-19 cases and 809,591 confirmed deaths as of Aug. 24. The United States, which has the most confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, has seen 5.7 million confirmed cases so far, with 176,816 deaths nationwide attributed to the coronavirus since February.

Below is the latest data from VDH: