COVID stats change again

Once again, local COVID-19 case numbers and numbers of deaths have been revised, with some previously reported numbers being reduced.

According to Virginia Department of Health statistics, as of yesterday, Wise County’s total number of cases since spring 2020 is 12,800, or 114 more cases than reported Monday.

However, the figure reported Monday was a reduction of 372 from the total case count reported one week earlier.

As of yesterday, the health department reported Wise County’s total of COVID deaths as 210, or two more than reported Monday. But the Monday number was a reduction of four compared to one week earlier.

The department’s cumulative positive case count for Norton was revised down once again by 117, from 1,568 reported Monday to 1,451 reported yesterday.

Also, the city’s total number of deaths was revised down by three, from 23 reported Monday to 20 reported yesterday.

According to the state health department’s COVID website, the department collects data from several sources. In some cases, it states, conflicting data may show that a case was reported initially in one county, but updated patient address information causes the department to move the case to a different county.

In a Wednesday email, Allie Phillips, population health manager for the two health districts that serve the coalfield region, stated that local case counts “have been fluctuating . . . in large part due to quality assurance work that our staff have been doing to verify the individuals’ county of residence. Thus, this is a reflection of lower daily reports, giving our staff time to work on quality assurance.”

The state health department website notes that with increasingly detailed COVID-19 statistical reporting, the new information “may result in slight changes in previously reported case, hospitalization or death counts in your community or within the state. Please note that the data are preliminary and subject to change.”

Further, it states, “Most often, a case is only counted once, even if a person has multiple positive tests. However, there are instances where a person may be counted as more than one case. This may happen when a person tests positive again after 90 days from the first test, or when a person tests positive” with a different COVID variant.

STATE NUMBERS

The health department reports that statewide, the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began rose from 1,485,313 Monday to 1,487,381 yesterday, an increase of 2,068. The number of “probable” cases in Virginia rose from 613,066 Monday to 614,321 yesterday, an increase of 1,255.
During the same period, the number of confirmed deaths increased by 38 to 18,289. The number of probable COVID-19 deaths increased by three to 3,723.