RICHMOND, Va. (WJHL) — COVID hospitalization and death numbers in Southwest Virginia continue to significantly outpace statewide rates, and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) reported four new deaths and seven new hospitalizations Thursday.
The new deaths reported include two in Smyth County and one each in Russell and Washington counties.
New case rates, however, continued to decline while statewide rates rose again — a trend that has been in place for more than a week now after several months of new cases in the nine-county region growing at least as fast and often much faster than Virginia’s.
Southwest Virginia reported 175 new cases, bringing its rolling seven-day average to 344 new cases per 100,000 population, down from 350 Wednesday. Virginia’s rate increased from 212 to 219.
Southwest Virginia’s case rate is 6% lower than it was Dec. 3, while the state rate has increased 45% during that period, from 151 to 219.
The highest current case rates regionally are in Russell County at 483, Washington County (including Bristol) at 407 and Wise County (including Norton) at 403.
The seven new hospitalizations kept Southwest Virginia’s seven-day average nearly the same at 14.9. During the delta surge the region’s hospitalization rate is now three times the state’s — 223 per 100,000 population compared to 75 statewide.
New reported hospitalizations include three in Buchanan County and one each in Lee, Russell, Smyth and Wise counties.
The seven-day rate of new reported deaths per 100,000 reached 9.0 in Southwest Virginia Thursday. That’s as high as it has been since the week ending Oct. 25, when the region was being hit by deaths from the initial delta surge.
The current death rate is more than four times the statewide rate of 2.2. A total of 299 Southwest Virginian COVID deaths have been reported since Sept. 1.
Statewide, VDH reported 741,004 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth on Dec. 16.
According to VDH, the total number of confirmed and probable cases is 1,009,933.
VDH reports there have been 12,633 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths across the state.
Below is a complete breakdown of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Southwest Virginia:
Note: VDH does not report whether cases are active or recovered. County and community case totals can include active, recovered, confirmed and probable cases.
Bristol, Va. – 2,584 cases / 195 hospitalizations / 51 deaths (10 new cases)
Buchanan County – 2,957 cases / 170 hospitalizations / 83 deaths (6 new cases, 3 new hospitalizations)
Dickenson County – 2,105 cases / 67 hospitalizations / 32 deaths (5 new cases)
Lee County – 4,019 cases / 146 hospitalizations / 62 deaths (5 new cases, 1 new hospitalization)
Norton – 714 cases / 35 hospitalizations / 17 deaths (11 new cases)
Russell County – 4,407 cases / 166 hospitalizations / 71 deaths (27 new cases, 1 new hospitalization, 1 new death)
Scott County – 3,617 cases / 185 hospitalizations / 87 deaths (9 new cases)
Smyth County – 5,417 cases / 346 hospitalizations / 131 deaths (8 new cases, 1 new hospitalization, 2 new deaths)
Tazewell County – 6,426 cases / 226 hospitalizations / 120 deaths (22 new cases)
Washington County, Va. – 8,708 cases / 684 hospitalizations / 168 deaths (42 new cases, 1 new death)
Wise County – 6,230 cases / 247 hospitalizations / 138 deaths (30 new cases, 1 new hospitalization)
For full coverage of the entire Commonwealth of Virginia, click HERE.
