County, Norton report 168 new COVID cases

Wise County saw 152 new COVID-19 cases between last Thursday and yesterday.

The county’s total number of COVID cases since spring 2020 increased from 11,906 to 12,058 in four days, according to the Virginia Department of Health.
The county’s total number of COVID-related deaths remained at 203.

The health department’s cumulative positive case count for Norton increased by 16, from 1,503 to 1,519. MON 1,519

The number of total deaths in the city remained at 22.

The latest sub-variant of last year’s omicron variant is spreading rapidly, although death rates have slowed.

Statewide, the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began rose from 1,415,850 Thursday to 1,422,031 yesterday, an increase of 6,181. The number of “probable” cases in Virginia rose from 574,991 Thursday to 577,850 yesterday, an increase of 2,859.
During the same period, the number of confirmed deaths increased by 27 to 17,625. The number of probable COVID-19 deaths increased by 10 to 3,538.