PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia’s average number of new coronavirus cases is at its highest point of the pandemic at more than 6,300 new cases per day on average.
Cases are expected to keep increasing overall nationwide as the omicron variant continues to spread quickly. The U.S. is reporting nearly 215,000 new cases per day, though hospitalizations and deaths are lower than previous waves.
Preliminary data appears to show that omicron may lead to “milder” infections, at least in terms of lower hospitalization numbers, but the sheer number of infections overall can have big impacts on our already strained health care system.
Data from VDH shows unvaccinated people are still much more likely to get infected and overwhelmingly more like to get seriously sick or die.
The key takeaway going forward is that even though there are breakthrough infections among “fully vaccinated” and people who’ve gotten a booster, those people have significant protection against severe symptoms and boosted people even have extra protection against getting an infection outright.
Even a “mild” case of COVID has the potential to bring fever, significant fatigue and other longer term symptoms such as loss of test or smell. “Long COVID” sufferers can have even more debilitating symptoms such as brain fog, extreme fatigue and more that can stretch for months.
State metrics
- New cases (+4,472, 1,049,336 total), 6,307 on average, rising and higher than summer delta wave
- Deaths (+2, 15,319 total), rising again but overall steady (26 per day) after falling to 12 per day
- Current hospitalizations (+38, 1,672 total currently), rising but still below delta summer wave peak, 399 in ICU, 474 ICU beds available
- Test positivity: 14.5%, rising overall, up from 5-6% last month
Local cases (combined numbers from last three days)
- Accomack: 4,428 cases, 339 hospitalized, 83 deaths (+38 cases, +1 hospitalized)
- Chesapeake: 31,982 cases, 1,293 hospitalized, 377 deaths (+70 cases, +27 hospitalized)
- Franklin: 1,752 cases, 75 hospitalized, 44 deaths (+14 cases, +1 hospitalized)
- Gloucester: 4,309 cases, 88 hospitalized, 83 deaths (+29 cases, +1 hospitalized)
- Hampton: 16,634 cases, 641 hospitalized, 252 deaths (+246 cases, +32 hospitalized)
- Isle of Wight: 4,912 cases, 226 hospitalized, 93 deaths (+43 cases, +2 hospitalized)
- James City County: 8,078 cases, 243 hospitalized, 100 deaths (+122 cases, +5 hospitalized)
- Mathews: 987 cases, 28 hospitalized, 24 deaths (+12 cases)
- Newport News: 22,506 cases, 688 hospitalized, 314 deaths (+266 cases, +16 hospitalized, +1 death)
- Norfolk: 26,781 cases, 1,324 hospitalized, 367 deaths (+364 cases, +3 hospitalized)
- Northampton: 1,233 cases, 108 hospitalized, 48 deaths (+9 cases, +1 hospitalized)
- Poquoson: 1,473 cases, 37 hospitalized, 23 deaths (+12 cases)
- Portsmouth: 13,814 cases, 905 hospitalized, 255 deaths (+196 cases, +8 hospitalized)
- Southampton: 2,517 cases, 89 hospitalized, 72 deaths (+7 cases)
- Suffolk: 12,019 cases, 722 hospitalized, 256 deaths (+143 cases, +14 hospitalized, +2 deaths)
- Virginia Beach: 54,828 cases, 2,446 hospitalized, 591 deaths (+1,017 cases, +84 hospitalized, +1 death)
- Williamsburg: 1,302 cases, 37 hospitalized, 13 deaths (+5 cases, +5 hospitalized)
- York: 6,176 cases, 130 hospitalized, 84 deaths (+77 cases, +1 hospitalized)
