Richmond’s increasing trend of COVID-19 cases is now in its sixth week. And the city’s health director said there’s no indication that’s going to change anytime soon.
Dr. Danny Avula said Thursday the city’s average of new daily cases isn’t quite as high as it was in the spring, though it’s now affecting a larger percentage of people in their 20’s and 30’s.
Avula said the city has not seen a surge in hospitalizations at this point, possibly due to the age of patients. "Because we’re seeing so many more cases shift toward this 20-29 age group and 30-39 age group,"Avula said, "they’re getting milder disease and aren’t requiring hospitalization." Avula added that a rise in hospitalizations often runs a couple of weeks behind a rise in cases. He said there’s also still a lot of concern about the dual impact of flu and COVID-19.
Avula reported an increase in outbreaks at small group homes that serve adults with special needs. Outbreaks among larger long term care facilities have remained fairly steady and relatively low compared to other parts of the country.
During the same briefing Thursday, Mayor Levar Stoney noted that 25 city employees are currently isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. Some of those cases are related to an outbreak at the city's elections office. More than 50 other employees are quaranting due to possible exposure to a COVID case. Stoney reinforced the need everyone to stay home from work if you start to feel sick or have COVID symptoms.
Chesterfield, Henrico Cases Trending Higher
Virginia’s average of daily new coronavirus cases continues to climb. Thursday, the average hit 1,546 new cases every day. That’s higher than at any time since the pandemic began. A month ago, the average was 1,002.
Many of the health districts experiencing record high averages are in southwest Virginia. But the Chesterfield and Henrico health districts are also setting new highs.
The seven-day average has actually been dropping in the Roanoke and Lynchburg areas over the past few days.
