What a difference a couple of weeks can make.

Two weeks ago, the Three Rivers Health District reported low levels of COVID-19 throughout the district and decreasing levels of the virus across Virginia, with a slight rise nationally. By this week, cases have increased quite a bit, both in Virginia and nationally.

According to the weekly update from the office of Dr. Richard Williams, director of the Three Rivers Health District, there has been a 56 percent increase in cases nationwide over the past two weeks. Just during the past week, the total rose from 52,000 cases per day to 65,700 cases per day on a seven-day average.

The total number of cases across Virginia jumped 63 percent, from a seven-day average of 965 cases per day two weeks ago to an average of 1,576 cases per day this week. During that same period, the number of cases in the district rose from 11-12 cases per day to about 20 cases per day on a seven-day average as of Monday.

While Gloucester and Mathews still...