Virginia August 7 COVID-19 update: 2,015 new cases reported, but health department attributes large increase to data lag

Posted: Aug 7, 2020 / 10:51 AM MDT

Updated: Aug 7, 2020 / 01:38 PM MDT

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia reported an increase of 2,015 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, which would’ve been a 1-day record for the commonwealth, but the state health department says the increase is due to a data backlog, with cases from Wednesday and Thursday added into Friday’s numbers.

“Today’s data will indicate 2,015 new cases. This figure includes information that should have been reported on Wednesday and Thursday of this week as well as the regular numbers for Friday.”

VDH says their office of information management identified and fixed the technical issue late Thursday.

Reported cases on Wednesday (798) and Thursday (818), were about 200 cases below Virginia’s 7-day average.

Statewide numbers:

New cases: (+2,015, 97,882 total) — VDH attributed case increase to data lag
New deaths (+18, 2,317 total) — 99 deaths reported in last 4 days (20 per day average), “death by date of death,” which is the date a COVID-19 patient actually died, still steady at 6.5 per day
Hospitalizations (+23 cases, 1,372 total) — highest since late May
Testing (7.3% 7-day average, daily tests now down to 15,000 per day

Before the announcement, Hampton Roads’ average of new cases appeared to be dropping off, but now data show the average is really just staying steady. The good news is that the percent of positive tests locally has dropped to 10.9% from as high as 13%, meaning there’s still community spread but the virus is being slowed. Western Tidewater is the only health district seeing an uptick in positivity rate, up to 13%. (More on this further down).

Meanwhile the rest of the state is seeing an uptick in cases, with reported deaths and hospitalizations up across the state.

Current COVID-19 hospitalizations (1,372) are now at their highest point since late May, and deaths are trending up.

Here’s the latest count for Hampton Roads and the whole Tidewater region (numbers are cumulative and include data from Wednesday and Thursday)

Accomack 1,087 cases, 79 hospitalized, 16 deaths (+2 cases)
Chesapeake: 2,828 cases, 225 hospitalized, 37 deaths (+67 cases +2 hospitalized)
Franklin: 174 cases, 7 hospitalized, 6 deaths (+16 cases)
Gloucester: 152 cases, 13 hospitalized, 2 deaths (+5 cases)
Hampton: 1,173 cases, 49 hospitalized, 7 deaths (+42 cases)
Isle of Wight: 378 cases, 20 hospitalized, 9 deaths (+8 cases)
James City County: 596 cases, 59 hospitalized, 16 deaths (+21 cases)
Mathews: 17 cases, 2 hospitalized, 0 deaths
Newport News: 1,788 cases, 80 hospitalized, 18 deaths (+52 cases, +2 hospitalized)
Norfolk: 3,629 cases, 187 hospitalized, 30 deaths (+133 cases, +5 hospitalizations, +1 death)
Northampton: 295 cases, 48 hospitalized, 29 deaths
Poquoson: 43 cases, 2 hospitalized, 0 deaths (+2 cases)
Portsmouth: 1,726 cases, 133 hospitalized, 25 deaths (+50 cases, +1 hospitalized)
Southampton: 257 cases, 12 hospitalized, 13 deaths (+8 cases)
Suffolk: 1,231 cases, 93 hospitalized, 49 deaths (+47 cases)
Virginia Beach: 4,781 cases, 229 hospitalized, 53 deaths (+123 cases, +7 hospitalized, +1 death)
Williamsburg: 121 cases, 12 hospitalized, 6 deaths (+2 cases)
York: 355 cases, 14 hospitalized, 4 deaths (+17 cases)

Key local metrics (data includes some Wednesday and Thursday numbers)

595 new cases
2 new deaths
– 7 current hospitalizations
10.9% percent of positive tests

7-day positivity rates

Chesapeake – 12.6% — starting to trend back down
Eastern Shore – 3.4% — Steady and low overall (low overall testing)
Hampton – 9.6% — steady just under 10%
Norfolk – 10.6% — trending down from high of 17% reported on July 12
Peninsula — 7.1% — back up slightly after trending down to 6.3% from 11.5% on July 17
Portsmouth — 14.5% — trending down slightly, still high
Virginia Beach — 8.6% — trending back down overall, but hovering around 10%
Western Tidewater — 13.8% — trending up overall