PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Department of Health says a backlog has resulted in a new record-high of daily increase with 3,793 additional cases of COVID-19 reported Saturday along with 37 new deaths related to the virus.
As of Saturday morning, December 5, Virginia has an overall number of 251,173 coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak. Of the overall cases reported, 220,510 have been confirmed by testing. 30,663 were probable cases, in which a patient who shows symptoms is diagnosed without testing.
The state’s positivity rate is also at an all-time high — 10 percent. We can expect this trend to keep rising because of people getting tested before and after the holidays this month.
Hospitalizations have held around the same mark the last few days, but are still around record levels and trending up. One model projects some Virginia regions could run out of bed space by January, particularly Southwest. 24,998 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from Virginia hospitals so far, per the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association.
Local cases
- Accomack: 1,374 cases, 109 hospitalized, 21 deaths (+7 cases)
- Chesapeake: 6,888 cases, 548 hospitalized, 81 deaths (+47 cases, +4 hospitalized)
- Franklin: 557 cases, 28 hospitalized, 17 deaths (+3 cases)
- Gloucester: 543 cases, 22 hospitalized, 5 deaths (no change)
- Hampton: 2,903 cases, 142 hospitalized, 35 deaths (+36 cases, +10 hospitalized)
- Isle of Wight: 1,074 cases, 56 hospitalized, 27 deaths (+12 cases)
- James City County: 1,241 cases, 77 hospitalized, 22 deaths (+1 case, +3 hospitalized)
- Mathews: 170 cases, 13 hospitalized, 1 death (+1 hospitalized)
- Newport News: 4,198 cases, 169 hospitalized, 56 deaths (+19 cases, +4 hospitalizations, +1 death)
- Norfolk: 6,786 cases, 476 hospitalized, 93 deaths (+58 cases, +5 hospitalized, +1 death)
- Northampton: 356 cases, 50 hospitalized, 31 deaths (+6 cases)
- Poquoson: 159 cases, 4 hospitalized, 2 deaths (no change)
- Portsmouth: 3,298 cases, 360 hospitalized, 71 deaths (+42 cases, +3 hospitalized)
- Southampton: 1004 cases, 33 hospitalized, 40 deaths (+6 case)
- Suffolk: 2,867 cases, 173 hospitalized, 80 deaths (+31 cases, +4 hospitalized)
- Virginia Beach: 11,552 cases, 565 hospitalized, 119 deaths (+234 cases, +9 hospitalized, +3 deaths)
- Williamsburg: 300 cases, 22 hospitalized, 8 deaths (-1 cases, +1 hospitalized)
- York: 975 cases, 31 hospitalized, 9 deaths (+7 cases, +3 hospitalized)
Overall, Hampton Roads and the Tidewater region reported a total of 508 cases Saturday, which is 13% of the daily increase statewide.
Key local metrics
- 508 new cases, trending up
- 2 new deaths in Hampton Roads, steady overall
- +42 currently hospitalized (293 total), trending up
- Percent of positive tests: 7.65%, trending up
- Virginia Beach alone makes up more than half of overall new cases in Hampton Roads
According to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, 1,852 residents in Virginia are currently hospitalized due to the virus. That number is a combination of confirmed positive COVID-19 patients and hospitalized patients whose COVID-19 test results are still pending.
