COVID testing positivity rate in Virginia climbs to over 12%

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - The COVID-19 testing positivity rate continues to increase as new cases are reported across the Commonwealth.

On Monday, May 9, the Virginia Department of Health reported a case increase of 1,607 new cases. If you would like to see a breakdown of cases among vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and fully vaccinated people, click here.

The state is now reporting 1,721,501 total cases of COVID-19 in Virginia as of May 9, 2022, dating to the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

NOTE: VDH is now only updating the cases and testing dashboard Monday through Friday.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 20,288 deaths, with 7 new deaths reported on Monday.

Currently, there are 261 patients hospitalized, including those with pending coronavirus tests. That data is from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA).

According to Julian Walker with the VHHA, a hospitalization is only added to the total count if it’s the primary reason the patient is hospitalized. For example, if someone went to a hospital with a broken bone and tested positive, they wouldn’t be counted in the coronavirus bed count.

“That is the standard for how we collect the data in the survey that informs the dashboard,” Walker said. ”The question is specifically worded to indicate that we are looking for hospitalizations where COVID is the primary cause.”

On Monday, the 7-day testing positivity rate increased to 12.3%. Here’s an explanation of Virginia’s positivity rate

VDH continues to track testing: 13,569,746 PCR COVID-19 tests have been administered in the state. The department has a website designated for locating COVID-19 testing sites, view it here.

To view NBC12′s latest COVID-19 coverage, click here.

As of March 10, the Virginia Department of Health made changes to its dashboard, which no longer breaks down cases by locality.

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