COVID-19 in Virginia’s Five Major Regions
Melanie Vinton
September 30, 2022
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The Virginia Department of Heath divides the state into five major regions. The map below shows which counties and cities belong to each of the five regions.
We use COVID-19 data from the Virginia Department of Health. The source data was downloaded from the Virginia Department of Health website and is as of September 29, 2022. The population data is from The Cooper Center.
Despite the variation in the geographic size of the different regions, the population distribution also varies considerably. The population of Northern Virginia is nearly double that of both the Northwest and Southwest regions. The population numbers are estimates for 2019 from the Cooper Center.
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| Region | Population |
|---|---|
| Central Region | 1,467,120 |
| Eastern Region | 1,881,143 |
| Northern Region | 2,532,330 |
| Northwest Region | 1,360,408 |
| Southwest Region | 1,345,966 |
COVID-19 in the Major Virginia Regions
The following chart shows the 5-day moving average of COVID-19 cases across the different major regions in Virginia.
However, as noted above, the population differences between the regions is significant. This chart shows the 5-day moving average of COVID-19 cases in each region, relative to the population.
Hospitalizations
The following chart show the data across the five regions of Virginia for reported COVID-19 hospitalizations. Note the VDH regularly validates and corrects the data. In mid-June 2021 a major correction was made to the number of hospitalizations in Northwest Virginia and in November 20201 the Northern Region had a reduction to the total number of hospitalizations by 15%, which shows up in the data all on one day.
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When population differences are factored in, the hospitalization chart changes dramatically.
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For clarity, we adjust the hospitalization moving average from 5-day to 14-day. In this case, we see that some regions have seen dramatic changes in hospitalizations over time, while others have remained relatively stable, such as the Eastern region.
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Focus in on the Past Month
The following charts are the same as above but drill down to just the past 4 weeks.
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Hospitalization Rate
The following chart shows the hospitalization rate in the 5 major Virginia regions in the past month. The hospitalization rate is the ratio of hospitalizations to positive cases reported each day. If the number of hospitalizations drops below zero, as happens when data quality corrections are made, the rate is not calculated.
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