Across the state, and in all of the WMRA region, the community level of transmission of the virus is again high, meaning there are more than 100 new daily cases out of 100,000 people averaged over the last seven days.
The highest rate of transmission in our area is in Augusta County, with a rate of 641 new cases per 100,000 people. Lexington City is also experiencing a high rate of transmission at 604 per 100,000. For comparison, the transmission rate is 154 in Albemarle County, and 205 in Rockingham County. Most counties and cities in our region are seeing transmission rates between 150 to 350 per 100,000. Virginia's statewide average is currently 460 per 100,000. All of these numbers were reported by the Virginia Department of Health for the week of August 22 to 28, 2021.
As of Monday, August 30, 2021, 1,700 Virginians are in the hospital due to COVID-19, according to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. That’s more than seven times the rate of hospitalizations in early July which averaged around 225. It is also about half the 3,200 peak of hospitalizations in late January, 2021.
In Virginia, there are nearly 3,100 new cases each day, as recorded by the seven day average on August 30th. The spread of the disease continues to be mostly among those who have not been vaccinated. According to VDH, unvaccinated people have contracted COVID-19 at a rate more than 13 times higher than those who are fully vaccinated. And unvaccinated people have been hospitalized at a rate 12 times higher than those who have gotten their shots.
The death rate is also again climbing. The current seven day average of daily new deaths is now at 19. The average peaked in early March, 2021 at 217 and dropped to 3 in early July, 2021. Since the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 11,810 Virginians. That death count is equivalent to the total combined populations of the towns of Fishersville and Shenandoah.
