Holsworth: August 28, 2020, Virginia Covid-19 Update
Editor’s note: Bearing Drift is grateful to Dr. Bob Holsworth for permission to share his daily Virginia coronavirus updates. For more, follow him on Facebook.
1. Hospitalizations Trend Down
Hospitalizations have trended a clear step down in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) daily report showed 1174 COVID-19 patients in hospitals on Tuesday, 1101 today.
Looking at the Friday reports for the last three weeks helps to illustrate this point.
August 14- 1299 COVID-19 patients in hospitals
August 21- 1233 COVID-19 patients in hospitals
August 28- 1101 COVID-19 patients in hospitals
2. Cases and Deaths Up
We are not, however, seeing a downward trend in cases. For the last 3 days, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has reported 823, 1121, and 1013 confirmed cases. The virus is smoldering on and my hope that it might be dramatically reduced before the onset of flu season is beginning to fade.
The 7-day test positivity rate moved back up to 6.8% from 6.4%.
There has been 114 deaths in the last 7 days, up from 66 the previous seven. VDH reports a total of 2,550 COVID-19 deaths in the Commonwealth since the pandemic began.
3. Always a Caveat
Every time we see some good news about the virus (hospitalizations down this week), there is a caveat or a counterpoint. This week it’s the persistence of confirmed cases, the increased deaths, and the outbreaks on college campuses.
My own sense is while our scientists are moving as rapidly as they can on treatments and vaccines, we are unlikely to see genuine gamechangers in the next few months. Protecting the most vulnerable among us, maintaining overall vigilance and withstanding pandemic fatigue remains the order of the day.
