The Virginia Department of Health on Saturday reported on its website three more deaths from the coronavirus and raised the number of confirmed cases to 739.
It represents the largest increase of the number of cases ? up from 604 the previous day ? since the pandemic began.
The number of Virginians who have died from COVID-19 is now at 18, including a man in his 60s from the Western Tidewater Health District who recently tested positive for the coronavirus, officials there said in a release Saturday.
The man was a patient at a local hospital where he died due to respiratory failure, the release said. The patient had several underlying medical conditions, which exacerbated the effects of COVID-19.
“The staff of the Western Tidewater Health District is deeply saddened by the death of this patient,” Dr. Todd Wagner, the district director said in a statement. “This is another reminder of how important it is for us to protect ourselves and others from the COVID-19 virus.”
This new case will be included in the statewide tally Sunday.
The Western Tidewater district includes health departments from Isle of Wight, Suffolk, Southampton and Franklin.
As of Saturday, state health officials say 9,166 people have been tested in Virginia and 99 have been hospitalized.
Fairfax County has 156 known cases, the highest in Virginia.
The greatest concentration of cases in Hampton Roads is in James City County, which has 65 cases.
The next largest is Virginia Beach, which has 35. Newport News is next with 13, followed by Norfolk with 10 and York County at 9.
The state reports 7 total cases in Hampton including one staffer from the Hampton Sheriff’s Office.
Williamsburg and Gloucester each have six known cases.
Elsewhere around Hampton Roads, there are three cases in Isle of Wight, two in Mathews County, two in Poquoson. Suffolk and Southampton each have one case.
The age breakdown of confirmed cases in Virginia:
0-9: 7 cases
10-19: 10 cases
20-29: 122 cases
30-39: 113 cases
40-49: 122 cases
50-59: 134 cases
60-69-116 cases
70-79: 81 cases
80+: 34 cases
Of the positive cases, 382 are men, 349 are women, with the gender on eight cases not recorded.
This week, Gov. Ralph Northam called for the creation of a regional federal testing site that would service Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., where more than 360,000 federal workers live.
Daily Press archives were used in this story.
Lisa Vernon Sparks, 757-247-4832, lvernonsparks@dailypress.com
