Staunton, Waynesboro COVID cases surge; as Virginia cases rise 13.1%

Mike Stucka
·4 min read
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Bryce Phelps, 3, picking a lollipop after receiving his first Pfizer vaccine at Bloom Pediatrics in Birmingham, Michigan, on June 22. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are now available to children as young as 6 months.
Bryce Phelps, 3, picking a lollipop after receiving his first Pfizer vaccine at Bloom Pediatrics in Birmingham, Michigan, on June 22. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are now available to children as young as 6 months.

Staunton and Waynesboro recorded fivefold increases in new COVID cases along with many other locations in Virginia the week before the July 4th holiday. Augusta County's new cases decreased by half; but two county residents died of the coronavirus each of the last two weeks.

Staunton reported 95 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 17 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 6,088 cases and 117 deaths.

Waynesboro County reported 75 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 15 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 6,309 cases and 68 deaths.

Augusta County reported 75 cases and two deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 148 cases and two deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 20,153 cases and 214 deaths.

New coronavirus cases leaped in Virginia in the week ending Sunday, rising 13.1% as 19,654 cases were reported. The previous week had 17,379 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Virginia ranked 15th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 11.8% from the week before, with 800,077 cases reported. With 2.56% of the country's population, Virginia had 2.46% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 38 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Rockbridge County reported 79 cases and one death in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 22 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 3,539 cases and 80 deaths.

Within Virginia, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Buena Vista County with 540 cases per 100,000 per week; Campbell County with 539; and Nottoway County with 499. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Fairfax County, with 2,881 cases; Prince William County, with 1,042 cases; and Virginia Beach County, with 1,024. Weekly case counts rose in 91 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Henrico, Virginia Beach and Chesterfield counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Across Virginia, cases fell in 41 counties, with the best declines in Lynchburg County, with 53 cases from 127 a week earlier; in Augusta County, with 75 cases from 148; and in Alexandria County, with 453 cases from 523.

In Virginia, 111 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 66 people were reported dead.

A total of 1,872,624 people in Virginia have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 20,630 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 87,843,561 people have tested positive and 1,017,848 people have died.

Note: Johns Hopkins University data includes Virginia's independent cities as counties in the listing. There are 133 "county" entries in the data. In cases with naming conflicts, the independent city will be marked with "City County," such as "Fairfax City County" and "Fairfax County."

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Virginia's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, July 3. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 1,972

  • The week before that: 1,805

  • Four weeks ago: 1,790

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 65,244

  • The week before that: 61,335

  • Four weeks ago: 56,288

Hospitals in 33 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 40 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton County reported 95 additional COVID-19 cases last week