Three deaths, 42 new cases

Wise County saw 34 new COVID-19 cases between Monday and yesterday.

The county’s total number of COVID cases since spring 2020 increased from 12,770 to 12,804 in three days, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The county’s total number of COVID-related deaths increased by three, from 205 to 208.

The health department’s cumulative positive case count for Norton increased by eight, from 1,592 to 1,600.
The total number of deaths in the city remained at 22.

The latest sub-variant of last year’s omicron variant is spreading rapidly, although death rates have slowed.

Statewide, the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began rose from 1,454,892 Monday to 1,457,459 yesterday, an increase of 2,567. The number of “probable” cases in Virginia rose from 595,922 Monday to 597,389 yesterday, an increase of 1,467.

During the same period, the number of confirmed deaths increased by 66 to 17,939. The number of probable COVID-19 deaths increased by 13 to 3,619.