Another 81 cases and four deaths reported

Wise County reported 71 new COVID-19 cases between last Thursday and yesterday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

As of yesterday, the county had reported a total of 4,740 cases since spring 2020, compared to 4,669 cases as of Thursday.
There were 216 county residents hospitalized with COVID as of yesterday.
The county’s total number of deaths associated with COVID-19 increased by three, from 118 to 121.

The health department’s cumulative positive case count for Norton increased by 10 since Thursday, from 498 to 508.

There were 28 city residents hospitalized with COVID as of yesterday.
The number of total deaths in the city increased by one, from 10 to 11.

In Virginia, the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began rose from 648,996 last Thursday to 655,601 yesterday, an increase of 6,605. The number of “probable” cases rose from 217,780 Thursday to 221,489 yesterday, an increase of 3,709.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Virginia increased by 118 to 10,886. The number of probable COVID-19 deaths increased by 40 to 2,022.

To look at the health department’s data, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov and go to the COVID-19 Data and Resources section.

VACCINATION RATES

As of yesterday, 49 percent of Wise County residents and about 56 percent of Norton residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to health department statistics.

However, only about 40 percent of county residents and nearly 46 percent of Norton residents are fully vaccinated.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Aug. 12 that 73 percent of Virginians 18 and older had received at least one dose.

Guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifies that those who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated should continue to wear masks, practice physical distancing and avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces.