Area records 44 new COVID cases in a day

October 12, 2021

Wise County reported 38 new COVID-19 cases in one day last week, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

Because of Monday’s holiday, the health department’s COVID case database was updated only to last Friday. However, its vaccination database was updated to yesterday.

As of Friday, the county had reported a total of 4,883 cases since spring 2020, compared to 4,845 cases as of Thursday.
There were 220 county residents hospitalized with COVID as of Friday.
The county’s total number of deaths associated with COVID-19 remained at 122.
The health department’s cumulative positive case count for Norton increased by six between Thursday and Friday, from 521 to 527.

There were 28 city residents hospitalized with COVID as of Friday.
The number of total deaths in the city remained at 12.

In Virginia, the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began rose from 661,094 last Thursday to 662,979 the following day, an increase of 1,885. The number of “probable” cases rose from 224,229 Thursday to 225,180 Friday, an increase of 951.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Virginia increased by 39 in one day, to 11,025. The number of probable COVID-19 deaths increased by five to 2,050.

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, almost 50 percent of Wise County residents and almost 57 percent of Norton residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to health department statistics.

However, only about 41 percent of county residents and about 46 percent of Norton residents are fully vaccinated.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced in mid-August 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.