HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia ranks ninth in the nation in new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents in this week’s White House COVID-19 report, which the Biden administration made public Wednesday.
The weekly reports are shared with governors across the country and were private prior to Wednesday. The reports have previously only been seen through rare leaks.
The report notes that the data at the state level may differ from what is available at the federal level.
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton were all ranked among the top 12 localities in the state for new cases in the past three weeks, according to the latest data.
10 On Your Side reached out to the Virginia Department of Health to ask what in particular may be driving the numbers.
“I think we’re still seeing the after effects of people getting together for the holidays,” Virginia Department of Health Regional Epidemiologist Michelle Burnette said.
While holiday gatherings may explain a spike in numbers, Hampton Roads was not alone in celebrating with family and friends. So, what could be the reason for the spike in our state, as well as our region in particular?
“I think it just goes in waves. We surged over the summer. Virginia has seen waves of illness in different regions and different regions of Virginia experience different peaks at different times,” Burnette said.
She said Norfolk’s is already coming down, it appears, from its latest peak. In mid-January, she said the city had about 200 new COVID-19 cases a day and now they’re seeing about 130 a day.
The report uses county and metro area color classification to put localities in zones.
Red Zone:
- Areas that reported new cases at or above 101 per 100,000 during the last week
Orange Zone:
- Areas that reported new cases between 51–100 per 100,000 population, and a lab test
Yellow Zone:
- Areas that reported new cases between 10–50 per 100,000 population, and a lab test
** Lists of red, orange, and yellow localities are sorted by the number of new cases in the last three weeks, from highest to lowest. Localities with fewer than 10 cases last week are excluded.
The Virginia Beach/Norfolk/Newport News metro area is listed at the top of the red zone in the latest report.
The weekly report, last updated January 24, shows Arizona as the worst state in all national rankings.
The report also shows Virginia ranks 14th in the nation for test positivity and 11th nationwide for new COVID-19 admissions per 100 hospital beds. Virginia is 34th on the list for new deaths per 100,000.
Read the full report below:
NewsNation contributed to this report.