COVID-19 case rates continued to increase nationwide during the past week, with about 70,410 new cases recorded per day over a seven-day average.

Virginia case rates increased slightly, with about 2,000 cases per day over a seven-day average, said Dr. Richard Williams, medical director of the Three Rivers Health District, in his weekly report.

In the Three Rivers Health District, cases were stable during the week, he said, averaging just under 20 cases per day, and the CDC lists all localities in the district at low community transmission levels except for Mathews, which continues to have a medium transmission level.

The number of new cases in Mathews decreased to nine over the past week, between last Wednesday and this Tuesday. This brings the total number of Mathews cases to 1,522 since the pandemic began. Mathews had no new hospitalizations or deaths, leaving those numbers at 32 and 27, respectively.

In Gloucester, there were 45 new cases during the week, bringing the t...