There was more good news on the COVID-19 pandemic front this week, as the number of new local, district and statewide cases continued to drop. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the first case identified in Virginia, and Sunday will be the sad anniversary of the first death, Gov. Ralph Northam said in a press briefing Tuesday.
Northam said that, at the same time that case numbers are going down across the state, the number of vaccinations being administered is steadily increasing.
The Mathews NAACP has announced a clinic to be held next Thursday, March 18, at the Mathews Historical Museum (details below).
A few weeks ago, the statewide goal was to administer 25,000 shots a day, Northam said, and as of Tuesday, the state was administering nearly 51,000 shots a day. He said Virginia is 11th in the U.S. in terms of doses given and 6th in terms of the percentage of allocated doses that have been used.
“We’re going to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror,” he said.
Three Rivers Health District Director Dr. Richard Williams said in his weekly report that the district has dropped to about 30 new cases per day over a seven-day average. The supply of vaccine is increasing and should improve even more over the next few weeks and months, he said. Because of this, the district was able to add 10 new CDC-approved providers in the district to begin vaccination operations.
CVS, Walmart, Kroger, Walgreens, Albertsons and Food City will receive vaccine this week and begin their vaccination operations under the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership, he said, along with two independent pharmacies in Three Rivers District.
“All of these partners will work to provide vaccination opportunities to people who have signed up on our waiting lists,” he said. “Several months from now, we will have an abundance of vaccine, but at present it is still being managed as a scarce national resource.”
Case counts
In Gloucester, 48 new cases of COVID-19 were identified during the past week, for a total of 1,933 cases since the pandemic began, while Mathews added just four new cases, for a total of 559.
Gloucester added one hospitalization since last Wednesday, for a total of 52, and two deaths, for a total of 45, while Mathews had no new hospitalizations or deaths, with totals at 20 and 11, respectively.
In Middlesex, the numbers stood at 532 cases, 20 hospitalizations, and 18 deaths as of Wednesday morning.
Districtwide, the case count on Wednesday morning was 8,846 cases across all 10 counties. There have been 335 hospitalizations, and 165 district residents have lost their lives since the pandemic began.
Across Virginia, 589,375 cases of COVID-19 have been identified over the past year, along with 24,925 hospitalizations and 9,849 deaths.
Vaccination clinic
The Mathews Branch NAACP is sponsoring a COVID-19 vaccination clinic from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, at the Mathews Historical Museum, 200 Main Street, Mathews.
The vaccinations are provided and will be administered by the Three Rivers Health District.
Mathews residents 65 and older will be given top priority, along with primary caregivers for elderly Mathews residents.
Mathews Social Services will assist in providing transportation; for help call 804-725-7192.
Preregistration is required.
To register, send name, date of birth, and phone number to MathewsNAACP@gmail.com or MathewsNAACPsecretary@gmail.com or call 757-344-5388.