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COVID cases up: But still not tracking, yet, comparable to the Omicron wave

Chris Graham
covid-19 news
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COVID cases are up – way up, actually – with the latest wave. At this stage, we’re nowhere near where we were with the winter Omicron wave with either cases or hospitalizations.

The caveat: yes, we don’t know where we are yet in the current wave.

From a look at numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, the Commonwealth is averaging 3,307.9 new cases per day over the past seven days, and 2,476.2 per day over the past 28 days.

The daily case numbers are nowhere near where they were at the height of the Omicron wave this past winter, which peaked at a seven-day average of 18,782 cases per day on Jan. 13, and 12,072.3 cases per day in the preceding 28 days, dating back to Dec. 17.

Hospitalizations are also trending much lower than the height of the winter COVID wave. The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is reporting 459 patients either with COVID or suspected of having COVID in hospitals in the Commonwealth today, and a seven-day moving average of 429 COVID patients per day.

The high-water mark during the winter wave was 3,755, and a seven-day moving average of 3,702.

It’s been a while since I last looked at vaccination trends. Sadly, there hasn’t been much progress there since my last peek at the data.

VDH reports that 82.2 percent of the state’s population has had at least one vaccine dose, 73.6 percent has had two doses, and 35.9 percent have received a booster shot.

The relative numbers for our three home localities:

  • Augusta County: 61.7% one dose, 59.8% two doses, 32.8% booster
  • Staunton: 70.2% one dose, 67.4% two doses, 40.6% booster
  • Waynesboro: 66.6% one dose, 63.7% two doses, 35.0% booster

Story by Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].