Va. COVID-19 cases pass 20,000 milestone as reopening plans begin

As of Tuesday, May 5, the Virginia Department of Health has received 20,256 confirmed tests and clinical diagnoses for COVID-19 across the commonwealth.

Positive results submitted to the department by local health districts climbed throughout April, with Virginia first crossing 2,000 cases on Friday, April 3, and by May 1, hitting 16,901 total cases. So far in May, Virginia – which had been ranked among states with the lowest per capita testing – has significantly ramped up its testing capacity, and increased testing has, in part, led to more positive cases detected.

From April 30 to May 1, new cases in Virginia rose by 1,055 alongside

for the health department to start reporting total tests administered rather than people tested (though they switched to reporting both over the weekend). Then, from Friday to Saturday, cases rose by 830, and from Saturday to Sunday, 940. From Sunday to Monday, 821 new positive results were submitted to the state, and from Monday to Tuesday, the total of new daily cases was 764.

Virginia's projected peak, according to most data modeling, should have been last week or this week, but it's been difficult to gauge when, until last Friday, less than one percent of Virginians had been able to receive lab tests for the virus.

On April 23, Gov. Ralph Northam

, based on comprehensive testing, a steady supply of PPE, and requirements on open hospital capacity.

Those guidelines, based on federal guidance from the White House, called for 14 days of declining daily case totals before Virginia could enter Phase 1. The governor

that the benchmark is based on a 14-day trend downward – not necessarily broken by one or two days with an increase.

On Monday, May 4, Gov. Northam

, with current trends showing the curve flattening and Virginia's hospital capacity and PPE supplies steady.

As testing increases, the rate of tested Virginians who received positive results is also starting to slowly drop.

By May 5, the Virginia Department of Health had received reports of 19,357 confirmed and 899 probable cases of COVID-19 across the commonwealth.

"Probable" cases are cases that were diagnosed by a doctor based on symptoms and exposure without a test – also known as clinical diagnoses.

Those positive test results are out of 127,938 total tests administered in Virginia, which were between 112,809 unique people. (

that around 10% of people get tested more than once, so the state now reports both total tests and total people tested).

Tests from Monday to Tuesday increased by more than 5,000.

Overall, considering testing numbers and positive results, a little less than 16% of Virginians who have been tested have received positive results. The recent increase in testing has already brought that percentage point down from over 17% last week – and that number is a key to reopening on schedule, Gov. Northam

.

At this point, 2,773 Virginians have been hospitalized due to the disease caused by the virus, and at least 713 have died of causes related to the disease – a rise of 29 deaths in a day.

The hospitalization and death numbers are the totals confirmed by the Virginia Department of Health, which are always delayed by several days due to the logistics of medical facilities reporting information to local health districts, when then report it to the state health department.

The

shows a lot of detail by locality, including hospitalizations and deaths for each city or county, and will soon be updated to break the data down by zip code as well.

The hospitalization numbers are cumulative — they represent the total number of people hospitalized due to the disease throughout the outbreak and not the total number currently in the hospital. For current hospitalization stats,

.

In our area, as of May 5, there were at least 47 confirmed cases in Augusta County, 525 cases in Harrisonburg, 282 cases in Rockingham County, 113 cases in Page County, 165 cases in Shenandoah County, 13 cases in Staunton, 16 cases in Waynesboro, 2 cases in Highland County, 132 cases in Frederick County, 56 cases in Winchester, and 8 cases in Rockbridge County, along with 5 in Lexington.

Part of the Harrisonburg number, which has the most confirmed cases in our region, comes from

, where the Virginia Department of Health and UVA Health collaborated to test every resident and staff member, finding 81 residents and 12 staff members positive.

By Tuesday, April 28, the facility had

due to coronavirus. No further information has been provided since then.

A separate outbreak in Harrisonburg,

, has resulted in at least 25 positive cases, according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Another involves

as of April 30. The health district has not publicly identified LCS as an outbreak site, but the number of cases they have confirmed to employees meets the VDH definition of a congregate setting outbreak.

In Page County, which went from 30 cases on April 23 to 100 as of April 30, a large part is accounted for from an outbreak at

, where 59 residents tested positive for the virus amid an outbreak.

The facility has 115 residents total. According to Dr. Colin Greene, with the Lord Fairfax Health District, about 10-15 percent of staff members there have tested positive as well.

In Shenandoah County, New Market Poultry Products, which has more than 100 employees working on a daily basis,

– though an exact number was not provided.

The Central Shenandoah Health District currently has 11 identified outbreaks and the Lord Fairfax Health District has 12.

Dr. Colin Greene, the director of the Lord Fairfax Health District, told WHSV on Thurday that they're looking into three "significant outbreaks" in their area, including two at workplaces and one at a long-term care facility, though he does not have permission from the facilities to share their identities.

Those outbreaks are a major factor behind the increase of cases across their district since last week.

Health department officials have not specified the majority of the locations of our outbreaks, given that Virginia state code requires permission to be granted by a facility for their information to be released to the media. That;s because Virginia code treats facilities the same as "persons," meaning their anonymity has to be protected.

Many of the local outbreaks have been identified in congregate settings, which could include workplaces, apartment complexes, churches, gyms, or any setting with a group of people in one place.

Of the state's total hospitalizations, at least 50 have been in the Central Shenandoah Health District. Of those, 2 have been in Augusta County, 31 in Harrisonburg, 16 in Rockingham County, and 1 in Waynesboro.

In the Lord Fairfax Health District, there have been at least 44 hospitalizations. Thirteen of those have been in Shenandoah County and 12 in Page County.

As far as deaths, there have been three reported in Shenandoah County, five in Page County, one in Augusta County, 19 in Harrisonburg, and one in Rockingham County.

Although the statewide numbers list 19 deaths for Harrisonburg, the

of coronavirus-related causes.

However, if any of those patients had listed residences elsewhere in the state, the health department statistics are based on people's resident addresses.

With one death in Rockingham County, WHSV confirmed with Cargill

of COVID-19. The company did not provide further details on if any outbreaks are investigation, though the situation at poultry facilities across Virginia has been a

.

Dr. Norm Oliver, the state's health commissioner, has said that it often takes several days before local health districts are able to enter death information into the state database. Dr. Laura Kornegay, director of the Central Shenandoah Health District, told WHSV that deaths first have to be reported to them by medical facilities, which is a major cause for the delay on the numbers reported for our area.

Dr. Kornegay also explained that if someone has tested positive for COVID-19, that's what goes on their death certificate. Those death certificates have a space to list secondary causes of death, and that's where ongoing health issues like heart disease and cancer are listed – the same process is how flu deaths are reported.

Just to the east, there have been at least 110 cases in Albemarle County, 64 in Charlottesville, 13 in Greene County, and 9 in Nelson County.

In the part of West Virginia we cover, three case have been three confirmed cases

, nine cases

, and three cases in Grant County.

Wondering about the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19 in Virginia? Recovery information is not required to be sent to the Department of Health, so there is no accurate way to track that data for every single confirmed case.

But there is a way to track the number of patients who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 and have since been discharged – effectively tracking how many people have recovered from the most severe cases.

The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association updates their own dashboard of data each day on hospital-specific statistics, including bed availability, ventilator usage, and more. Their

indicates that, as of May 5, at least 2,617 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital.

Unlike the VDH data that reports cumulative hospitalizations, their data on hospitalizations reflects people currently hospitalized for COVID-19 (whether with confirmed or pending cases), and that number is at 1,496.

The data used by the VDH to report

hospitalizations is based on information reported in hospital claims. On the other hand, the numbers reported by the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association are based on a current census from hospitals, which provides a separate data set.

The

is updating with the latest statewide numbers at 9 a.m. each day.

The numbers that appear on that list are based on the cases that had been submitted to the department by 5 p.m. the previous day, so there is always some lag between when local health districts announce positive test results and when the department's numbers reflect those new results.

Our Virginia counties are primarily served by the Central Shenandoah Health District, which covers Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge and Rockingham counties, as well as the cities of Buena Vista, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton and Waynesboro; and the Lord Fairfax Health District, which covers Shenandoah, Page, Frederick, Warren, and Clarke counties, as well as the city of Winchester.

According to the Virginia Department of Health's May 5 breakdown, 112,809 people in Virginia had been tested for the virus, with 20,256 positive results. The number of total tests has increased significantly over the last week, with around 3,000 to 5,000 tests a day, beginning to meet Gov. Northam's guidelines for the state to reach Phase 1 of reopening by May 15.

The department's breakdown and location map, available to the public

, shows the number of cases confirmed each day, number of people tested, total hospitalizations, total deaths, and demographic breakdowns, as well as breakdowns by health district.

Here's a breakdown of cases for our region as of 9 a.m. on May 5. You can find the breakdown for the entire state in the chart below our list.

• Augusta County - 47

• Buena Vista - 6

• Harrisonburg - 525 (+28 from Monday)

• Highland County - 2

• Lexington - 5

• Rockbridge County - 8 (+1 from Monday)

• Rockingham County - 282 (+13 from Monday)

• Staunton - 13

• Waynesboro - 16 (+2 from Monday)

11, with 2 in long-term care facilities, 1 in a healthcare setting, 6 in congregate settings, 1 in a correctional facility, and 1 in an educational setting

• Clarke County - 12 (+2 from Monday)

• Frederick County - 132 (+6 from Monday)

• Page County - 113

• Shenandoah County - 165 (+16 from Monday)

• Warren County - 68 (+5 from Monday)

• Winchester - 56 (+6 from Monday)

12, with 4 in long-term care facilities, 3 in healthcare settings, and 5 in congregate settings

• Albemarle County - 110

• Charlottesville - 64

• Fluvanna County - 76

• Greene County - 13

• Louisa County - 50

• Nelson County - 9

3, with 2 in long-term care facilities and 1 in a correctional facility

• Culpeper County - 201

• Fauquier County - 147

• Madison County - 17

• Orange County - 41

• Rappahannock - 6

2, with 1 in a healthcare setting and 1 in a congregate setting

Virginia remains under a series of public health orders and executive orders designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth. The timeline of those measures can be seen below.

On Monday, May 4, Governor Ralph Northam announced that

, which closed many non-essential businesses across Virginia, would be extended until May 14.

At that same briefing, the governor

, which he said he anticipates will begin on Friday, May 15. At that point, the businesses that had to close due to EO 53 will be able to reopen, though they'll operate with restrictions in place, including social distancing measures, safety measures like PPE for employees, and increases sanitation.

On Wednesday, April 29, Gov. Northam

, letting elective procedures resume on May 1. That also effectively re-opened dentist's offices for regular appointments and veterinarian's offices.

On April 24, the governor

, calling for the commonwealth to see a 14-day trend of declining daily case totals before the process begins.

Executive Order 53, which closed many non-essential businesses and banned gatherings of more than 10 people, is set to last until at least May 8, after

.

, the 'Stay at Home' order signed by Northam on March 30, is set to run through at least June 10, as it has been since its signing. It instructs all Virginians to stay home except for essential needs.

Virginia remains under a state of emergency until June 10 as well.

Of the orders in place, Executive Order 53 is enforceable by law, so someone who hosts a gathering of more than 10 people can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor. You can learn more about what police enforcement of Northam's executive orders looks like

.

Virginia's

and the

have each been postponed by two weeks as well.

Most people don't suffer much from COVID-19, but it can cause severe illness in the elderly and people with existing health problems.

It spreads primarily through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Those droplets may land on objects and surfaces. Other people may contract the virus by touching those objects or surfaces and then touching their eyes, nose, or mouth.

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can cause mild to more severe respiratory illness. In a small proportion of patients, COVID-19 can cause death, particularly among those who are older or who have chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, cough, and difficulty breathing. Symptoms appear within 14 days of being exposed to an infectious person.

To lower the risk of respiratory germ spread, including COVID-19, the Virginia Department of Health encourages the following effective behaviors:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer only if soap and water are not available.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when coughing or sneezing.

• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

• Stay home when you are sick.

• Avoid contact with sick people.

• Avoid non-essential travel.

There is currently no vaccine to prevent or antiviral medication to treat COVID-19. The best way to avoid illness is preventing exposure, which is why governments around the world have implemented Stay at Home orders.

For the latest factual information on COVID-19, you're encouraged to check both the

and the

.