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In four days, the number of positive cases of COVID-19 cases in Prince Edward County has doubled.

After cases have held steady in the teens for weeks, the number of cases went from 19 on Wednesday morning to now 41 on Sunday. It is unclear if the rapid increase is coming from outbreaks at the prison or nursing home facilities. or if the area is seeing more cases of community spread.

The Piedmont Health District is currently listed as having four outbreaks. Three of those are in correctional facilities with one in a long-term care facility. We know Prince Edward has an outbreak at the Piedmont Regional Jail with at least four confirmed cases. There has also been an outbreak at Farmville Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center. The number of cases in that outbreak has not been confirmed.

Cases in surrounding counties appear to have largely stabilized. Buckingham has moved up one case the past two days to stand at 35 cases. Cumberland County has 10 cases. Lunenburg County has moved up to four cases. Charlotte County is actually down a case from to seven.

Mecklenburg County continues to see cases of the virus grow rapidly. The county of 30,000 people now has 94 cases and has had nine deaths.

Across Virginia, there have been 12,970 cases and 448 deaths due to the virus.

Updated statistics from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association show there are currently 1,436 hospitalized with confirmed cases of coronavirus or tests that are pending. Of those patients, 387 patients are in the ICU. That state currently has 649 of it 2,987 ventilators I use. The stats show that 1,815 patients who have been diagnosed with the virus have gotten better and been discharged from the hospital so far.