Va. COVID-19 rate creeps up to 5%

Hotspots recorded in Southern, Southwest Va.

Published October 19, 2020 by Kate Andrews

The state’s COVID-19 positivity rate increased last week to 5%, up from 4.5% on Oct. 12. According to the Virginia Department of Health, the state recorded 7,258 new cases and 96 more coronavirus-related deaths over the past week.

Virginia has 166,828 total COVID cases since the pandemic started, as well as 3,457 deaths, as of Oct. 19.

The Lenowisco Health District — which covers Lee, Scott and Wise counties and the city of Norton — saw its positivity rate rise to 11% as of Oct. 15, up from 5.6% on Oct. 9. Including Franklin, Henry and Patrick counties and the city of Martinsville, West Piedmont Health District’s rate reached 11.2% on Oct. 15, up from 10% on Oct. 8.

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: 1,585 total cases since July 1. The overall positivity rate of student tests at the university’s health center is 3.3% as of Oct. 18.
Virginia Tech: 1,302 positive tests since Aug. 3, with 74 new cases from Oct. 12 to Oct. 18. The seven-day moving average positivity rate as of Oct. 18 is 10.57%.
University of Virginia: 1,022 positive cases among students and employees reported since Aug. 17. The university recorded 59 new cases from Oct. 9-15, according to its tracker.
Virginia Commonwealth University: 318 total positive tests, including 287 student cases, as of Oct. 16. According to prevalence testing, the positivity rate is 0.32% as of Oct. 19.
Old Dominion University: 142 positive cases out of 4,461 tests performed as of Oct. 18. From Oct. 11-17, there were 21 new positive tests.
George Mason University: 96 positive cases among students and employees between Aug. 17 and Oct. 15.
Radford University: 430 total positive cases among students and employees as of Oct. 13, with 17 new cases since Oct. 6. Cumulative positivity rate is 10% as of Oct. 13. The dashboard is updated each Tuesday.
Liberty University: 122 positive cases from Sept. 30-Oct. 13 among students and staff, out of a total 573 cases between Aug. 16-Oct. 13.

These are the 10 Virginia localities that have seen the most cases in the state, as of Oct. 19:

Fairfax County: 22,687
Prince William County: 13,612
Loudoun County: 7,576
Virginia Beach: 7,553
Chesterfield County: 6,695
Henrico County: 5,970
Norfolk: 5,179
Richmond: 5,109
Chesapeake: 4,748
Arlington County: 4,384

Globally, there are 40.1 million reported COVID-19 cases and 1,115,521 confirmed deaths as of Oct. 19. The United States, which has the most confirmed cases and deaths worldwide, has seen 8.16 million confirmed cases so far, with 219,811 deaths attributed to the coronavirus since February.

Below is the latest data from VDH: