PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Monday brought another 7,974 new cases for Virginia, as the commonwealth reports a record 13,266 new cases per day on average and a record 28% test positivity rate.

206 new current COVID hospitalizations were also reported on Monday, bringing current hospitalizations to 2,611 patients statewide — higher than the summer delta wave but about 900 patients lower than the 2020 winter surge before vaccines.

Virginia’s weekend coronavirus case counts are also released on Monday. VDH reported 14,712 new COVID-19 cases on January 1 and 19,506 new cases on January 2... which is overwhelmingly the most cases reported in Virginia in a single day.

This comes as COVID hospitalizations among children are up to record levels nationwide due to the omicron/delta wave. The FDA on Monday approved booster vaccine shots for 12 to-15 year-olds, after approving them for older teens earlier this month.

The good news is that compared to previous forms of the coronavirus, the more contagious omicron is leading to far fewer hospitalizations and deaths on a per case basis.

That said, VDH posted a message to its dashboard stating that beginning January 1, 2022, they would be updating the case definition for COVID-19 deaths. As a result, there will be a delay in reporting new COVID-19 deaths throughout January 2022. Go to this link to see how VDH counts a COVID-19 associated death.

That’s believed to be due to in part to the inherent nature of the virus, but vaccines are really doing heavy lifting to keep people out the hospital.

The unvaccinated continue to account for the overwhelming majority of hospitalizations and deaths, Virginia Department of Health data shows.

And not only are the vaccines continuing to help prevent severe disease, they’re also helping to keep people from getting infected. Sure there are breakthrough cases, but VDH data from this most recent week of reporting shows unvaccinated people are 12 times more likely to be infected than vaccinated people.

About 20 people are still dying of COVID per day in Virginia, and more than 1,200 are dying on average nationwide, but so far deaths haven’t spiked up with this recent wave.

If you do want to brave the snow and wind for a COVID test, there is a clinic at Military Circle until 6 p.m. Monday. VDH closed vaccine sites across the commonwealth on Monday due to the inclement weather but they should reopen this week.

Statewide metrics

  • New cases: +7,974 (1,160,703 total), 13,266 on average (highest levels of pandemic)
  • Deaths: +2 (15,615 total), steady overall around 20 deaths per day, reporting average skewed by recent addition of 2020 out-of-state deaths)
  • Current hospitalizations:+206 patients (2,611 total currently, 2,216 7-day average), above delta wave but about 900-1,000 patients below 2020 winter surge peak and lower ICU/ventilator numbers, 498 in ICU and 259 on ventilators (2,611 total beds still available statewide, 433for ICU)
  • Test positivity: 28%, rising and at record levels, up from 5-6% last month
  • Vaccine doses administered: 14,079,149
  • Percent of population with at least one dose: 77.5% (6,613,115)
  • Percent of adults (18+) with at least one dose: 88.8%
  • Percent of population fully vaccinated: 67.7% (5,778,904)
  • Percent of adults fully vaccinated: 78.1%
  • People vaccinated with booster/third dose: 2,082,151
Coronavirus Coverage on WAVY.com

Local cases

  • Accomack: 4,678 cases, 345 hospitalized, 83 deaths (+133 cases, +5 hospitalized)
  • Chesapeake: 34,564 cases, 1,384 hospitalized, 382 deaths (+1,184 cases, +47 hospitalized, +1 death)
  • Franklin: 1,822 cases, 77 hospitalized, 44 deaths (+38 cases, +2 hospitalized)
  • Gloucester: 4,629 cases, 93 hospitalized, 83 deaths (+136 cases, +2 hospitalized)
  • Hampton: 18,351 cases, 751 hospitalized, 257 deaths (+826 cases, +63 hospitalized, +1 death)
  • Isle of Wight: 5,239 cases, 241 hospitalized, 93 deaths (+142 cases, +5 hospitalized)
  • James City County: 9,101 cases, 274 hospitalized, 100 deaths (+518 cases, +25 hospitalized)
  • Mathews: 1,040 cases, 29 hospitalized, 24 deaths (+26 cases)
  • Newport News: 24,694 cases, 802 hospitalized, 320 deaths (+1021 cases, +66 hospitalized)
  • Norfolk: 29,090 cases, 1,542 hospitalized, 370 deaths (+155 cases, -13 hospitalized)
  • Northampton: 1,678 cases, 109 hospitalized, 49 deaths (+53 cases, +1 hospitalized)
  • Poquoson: 1,559 cases, 39 hospitalized, 23 deaths (+45 cases, +1 hospitalized)
  • Portsmouth: 15,062 cases, 961 hospitalized, 256 deaths (+539 cases, +29 hospitalized)
  • Southampton: 2,590 cases, 89 hospitalized, 74 deaths (+31 cases, -1 hospitalized)
  • Suffolk: 12,982 cases, 786 hospitalized, 260 deaths (+421 cases, +43 hospitalized, +1 death)
  • Virginia Beach: 61,083 cases, 2,860 hospitalized, 603 deaths (+2,472 cases, +196 hospitalized)
  • Williamsburg: 1,349 cases, 40 hospitalized, 13 deaths (+6 cases, +2 hospitalized)
  • York: 6,483 cases, 142 hospitalized, 87 deaths (+188 cases, +5 hospitalized)