Area sees 99 new COVID cases, one more death

The local spread of COVID-19 continues.

Wise County reported 88 new cases between last Thursday and yesterday, according to the Virginia Department of Health.

As of yesterday, the county had reported a total of 4,364 cases since spring 2020, compared to 4,276 cases as of Thursday.
The county’s total number of deaths associated with COVID-19 grew by one, from 115 to 116.

The health department’s cumulative positive case count for Norton increased by 11 since Thursday, from 432 to 443.

The number of total deaths in the city remained at eight.

The delta variant of the virus continues to spread locally and statewide.

In Virginia, the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began rose from 619,377 Thursday to 627,843 yesterday, an increase of 8,466. The number of “probable” cases rose from 203,608 Thursday to 208,297 yesterday, an increase of 4,689.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Virginia increased by 78 to 10,388. The number of probable COVID-19 deaths increased by 27 to 1,924.

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

However, only about 39 percent of county residents and 44 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.