While COVID-19 case rates nationally and statewide dropped slightly during the past week, Gloucester, Mathews and Middlesex counties recorded their highest one-week totals since the beginning of the pandemic.

Gloucester had 750 new cases of the virus during the past week, bringing the county’s total to 6,151 cases since March 2020. Mathews had 105 new cases, for a total of 1,254, and Middlesex had 140 new cases, for a total of 1,490.

In contrast, after hitting a high of over 800,000 new cases daily last week, the national COVID-19 case rate dropped this week, with 603,586 cases per day recorded.

Virginia cases as a whole dropped slightly, as well, said Dr. Richard Williams, director of the Three Rivers Health District, to around 16,000 cases per day after hitting a high of 18,600 daily cases last week.

“There are many more cases that go unreported and undiagnosed, however,” said Williams in his weekly Covid update. He once again urged residents to get vaccinated against CO...