COVID-19 cases in Mathews and Gloucester continued to rise during the past week, with 11 new cases reported for Mathews, bringing the total to 92 as of Wednesday morning, and 16 new cases for Gloucester, for a total of 265.
A third death was reported in Gloucester on Wednesday morning, while there have been none in Mathews.
Each county also added another hospitalization to their running counts, for a total of seven Mathews patients and 14 Gloucester patients who have been hospitalized since the pandemic began.
Dr. Richard Williams, Director of the Three Rivers Health District, attributed some of the new Mathews cases to a large congregate event that occurred in the county. He could not confirm the type of event due to privacy constraints, but he said that contact tracing and case investigation are ongoing.
Williams reiterated his oft-repeated advice to wear masks, practice social distancing, limit the size of crowds, and avoid spending time in crowds.
“These measures are our primary de...