Virginia Jan. 18 COVID-19 update: 7,245 new cases after nearly 10K reported Sunday, record 2,000-plus in Hampton Roads

Posted: Jan 18, 2021 / 10:28 AM EST

Updated: Jan 18, 2021 / 10:34 AM EST

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia reported 7,245 new coronavirus cases and 10 new COVID-19 deaths on Monday, after reporting a record 9,914 new cases on Sunday, which was by far Virginia’s highest one-day increase.

Virginia is now reporting more than 6,000 new cases per day (record) and 49 deaths per day (50 on on Jan. 14 is the highest average).

Statewide numbers

New cases: (+7,245, 446,550 total), trending up, at record levels, nearly 10K reported Sunday
Case incidence rate: 72.4 per 100K people, trending up, at record levels
New deaths (+10, 5,739 total), at record levels and trending up, 49 per day on average
Current hospitalizations (+93, 3,151 total), trending up overall, at record levels
Testing (14% 7-day average of positive tests), back down recently, averaging around 34K tests per day
Vaccines administered: (283,342 total), 15,384 per day on average (33,470 fully vaccinated), not updated yet for Monday
Vaccines distributed: (943,400 total), not updated yet for Monday

COVID-19 hospitalizations are also at a record high on average, with more than 3,000 people hospitalized total statewide on a given day. ICU occupancy hasn’t gone up much past 80% however, with 81% as of Monday. That’s 584 people in the ICU in Virginia.

Deaths are also at record levels overall, with 49 per day on average as of Monday.

Vaccine data had yet to be updated at the time of publishing, but Virginia is now up just over 15,000 per day on average. Virginia has a short-term goal of 25,000 people (50,000 long-term) on average as it looks to get more people in phase 1b vaccinated, but Virginia Department of Health officials say there still isn’t enough supply to roll out vaccines on scale at this time. Virginia’s only getting about 100,000 doses per week. That means it’s now not expecting to begin mass vaccinations until March.

In a call over the weekend, officials said there have been more doses administered than are being reported on VDH’s website. That’s due to data entry lag, which VDH is hoping to improve with the recent addition of new staff. About 226,000 of the distributed doses have also gone to Walgreens and CVS, who are in charge of administering the doses to long-term care facilities, which are still in the process of vaccinations.

“Those doses are out of our control,” said Dr. Danny Avula, Virginia’s head of vaccine rollout. Virginia gets those doses but then hands them over to CVS and Walgreens.

When the time comes for large-scale rollout, Virginia will make announcements, officials say. Those that currently meet the requirements for phase 1b should contact their health department or physician in the meantime to check availability.

Local cases

Accomack: 2,168 cases, 148 hospitalized, 31 deaths (+28 cases, +4 hospitalized)
Chesapeake: 12,807 cases, 672 hospitalized, 113 deaths (+510 cases)
Franklin: 766 cases, 41 hospitalized, 19 deaths (+5 cases, +2 hospitalized,+1 death)
Gloucester: 1,249 cases, 36 hospitalized, 14 deaths (+32 cases)
Hampton: 5,937 cases, 215 hospitalized, 57 deaths (+232 cases, +2 hospitalized)
Isle of Wight: 1,892 cases, 90 hospitalized, 33 deaths (+32 cases)
James City County: 2,772 cases, 106 hospitalized, 33 deaths (+87 cases, +1 hospitalized)
Mathews: 386 cases, 16 hospitalized, 4 deaths (+2 cases)
Newport News: 8,008 cases, 229 hospitalized, 76 deaths (+213 cases, +2 hospitalized)
Norfolk: 11,294 cases, 625 hospitalized, 123 deaths (+219 cases)
Northampton: 572 cases, 60 hospitalized, 32 deaths (+15 cases)
Poquoson: 486 cases, 15 hospitalized, 7 deaths (+21 cases)
Portsmouth: 5,808 cases, 473 hospitalized, 94 deaths (+92 cases)
Southampton: 1,585 cases, 37 hospitalized, 44 deaths (+9 cases)
Suffolk: 4,956 cases, 269 hospitalized, 100 deaths (+66 cases, +1 hospitalized)
Virginia Beach: 22,857 cases, 906 hospitalized, 177 deaths (+464 cases)
Williamsburg: 416 cases, 22 hospitalized, 8 deaths (+5 cases)
York: 2,040 cases, 38 hospitalized, 13 deaths (+37 cases)