COVID-19 cases in Virginia increase by 1,521, deaths by 17

The Virginia Department of Health reported Thursday that the statewide total for COVID-19 cases is 198,027 — an increase of 1,521 from the 196,506 reported Wednesday.

The 198,027 cases consist of 180,623 confirmed cases and 17,404 probable cases. There are 3,758 COVID-19 deaths in Virginia — 3,490 confirmed and 268 probable. That’s an increase of 17 from the 3,741 reported Wednesday.

The VDH defines probable

COVID-19 cases as people who are symptomatic with a known exposure to COVID-19, but whose cases have not been confirmed with a positive test.

Statewide, the total number of people hospitalized is 13,339, though the VDH dashboard notes that hospitalizations are underrepresented. According to the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, 22,002 people have been hospitalized for COVID-19 and released.

In the Richmond area, there are 22,819 cases: 7,924 in Chesterfield

County, 7,094 in Henrico County, 5,871 in Richmond and 1,930 in Hanover County. Also, the region has 488 deaths attributed to the virus: 242 in Henrico, 121 in Chesterfield, 78 in Richmond and 47 in Hanover.

There are 1,383 outbreaks, which make up 29,737 of Virginia’s total cases. The VDH classifies an outbreak as at least two lab-confirmed cases.

Data from the VDH coronavirus dashboard shows the percentage of positive results from testing is up from Wednesday at 6.5%.

State health officials have said there’s a lag in the reporting of statewide numbers on the VDH website. Figures on the website might not include cases or deaths reported by localities or local health districts.