Virginia March 5 COVID-19 update: 1,652 new cases, 71 new deaths reported; Tidewater drops below 10% test positivity

Posted: Mar 5, 2021 / 12:04 PM EST

Updated: Mar 5, 2021 / 12:13 PM EST

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia reported 1,652 new coronavirus cases and 71 more COVID-19 deaths on Friday, showing that reporting of cases still remains pretty high despite the recent downturn, and that VDH is still reporting high death figures as it inputs old death certificates.

Though Virginia’s been reporting high numbers of deaths, most are not recent. Deaths have actually been trending down since late January, about a month after the first COVID-19 vaccine in Virginia was administered in Norfolk.

Virginia’s COVID-19 hospitalizations meanwhile are still going down, with 43 less patients on Friday. Though there’s still a way to go to even get below 1,000 total patients currently statewide.

The big news in Tidewater/Hampton Roads is that test positivity has gone below 10% overall for the first time in months. The region’s positivity rate now sits just under 10%.

Statewide numbers

New cases: (+1,652, 581,408 total), (1,489 per day on average, record is 6,166)
Case incidence rate: 17.5 per 100K people, down from 72 in late January
New deaths (+71, 9,428 total), major recent input of past death certificates into the state’s system, but that’s slowed (176 per day 7-day average)
Current hospitalizations (-43 patients, 1,222 total), trending down overall
Testing (6.3% 7-day average of positive tests), trending down since early January, testing down (about 21K per day on average)
Doses administered (2,175,489 total doses, 53,604 per day on average, 763,439 fully vaccinated, 16.5% with at least one dose
Doses distributed (2,505,895 total), 92.4% first doses administered and 72.8% second doses administered, Virginia’s first dose allotment for Pfizer and Moderna now up to 180,000 per week, with 69,000 coming from Johnson & Johnson this week, plus 52K from the federal pharmacy program.

Virginia is getting a boost of 69,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines this week, with some coming to the Tidewater region, but the vaccine is still only available to people in phase 1b under Virginia’s pre-registration system and is mostly going to rural areas.

For the latest on the vaccine and more resources, visit WAVY’s vaccine page.

Local cases

Accomack: 2,619 cases, 187 hospitalized, 35 deaths (+10 cases)
Chesapeake: 18,446 cases, 858 hospitalized, 226 deaths (+51 cases, +2 hospitalized, +4 deaths)
Franklin: 1,007 cases, 51 hospitalized, 27 deaths (+8 cases)
Gloucester: 1,903 cases, 51 hospitalized, 43 deaths (+8 cases)
Hampton: 8,738 cases, 301 hospitalized, 127 deaths (+30 cases, +2 hospitalized)
Isle of Wight: 2,677 cases, 118 hospitalized, 57 deaths (+5 cases, +2 hospitalized, +2 deaths)
James City County: 3,906 cases, 130 hospitalized, 64 deaths (+20 cases, +1 death)
Mathews: 556 cases, 20 hospitalized, 11 deaths (+1 case)
Newport News: 11,688 cases, 318 hospitalized, 190 deaths (+69 cases, +2 hospitalized)
Norfolk: 15,079 cases, 828 hospitalized, 209 deaths (+30 cases, +11 hospitalized, +4 deaths)
Northampton: 726 cases, 73 hospitalized, 34 deaths (+2 cases)
Poquoson: 728 cases, 20 hospitalized, 15 deaths (+2 cases)
Portsmouth: 7,789 cases, 589 hospitalized, 149 deaths (+22 cases, +2 hospitalized, +1 death)
Southampton: 1,860 cases, 49 hospitalized, 52 deaths (-1 case, -1 death)
Suffolk: 6,995 cases, 400 hospitalized, 163 deaths (+21 cases, +5 hospitalized, +2 deaths)
Virginia Beach: 31,010 cases, 1,308 hospitalized, 330 deaths (+81 cases, +5 hospitalized, + 2 deaths)
Williamsburg: 540 cases, 24 hospitalized, 11 deaths (-1 case)
York: 3,082 cases, 52 hospitalized, 38 deaths (+23 cases)