The number of COVID-19 cases diagnosed in Mathews County since the pandemic has nearly doubled since last week, while total hospitalizations have also doubled.

The Virginia Department of Health reported on Wednesday morning that there have been 81 confirmed cases and six hospitalizations in the county since March, when the first case was reported. As recently as Wednesday, Sept. 9, the county had just 23 cases and two hospitalizations, numbers that had held steady since mid-August. By last week, the number of cases had jumped to 41, with three hospitalizations. There still have been no deaths from COVID-19 reported for Mathews.

Dr. Richard Williams, director of the Three Rivers Health District, said that there has been increased viral transmission of the illness throughout most of the jurisdictions in Three Rivers over the past few weeks. The teams responsible for case investigation and contact tracing have determined that most of the increase has occurred in private social sett...