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The Piedmont Health District saw 131 new coronavirus cases this week according to data obtained from the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), with approximately 75% of those new cases originating in Prince Edward County.

Prince Edward was listed on the VDH coronavirus webpage as having a cumulative total of 386 virus cases as of Wednesday, Aug. 5, up 97 from the 289 cases reported the week prior.

The Immigration Centers of America (ICA) Farmville detention center, which has been dealing with a large outbreak at its facility for several weeks, was listed by the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website as having 225 coronavirus-positive detainees under isolation and monitoring on Wednesday, with 290 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 among its detainee population.

VDH-reported COVID-19 deaths in Prince Edward have increased from six to 10 since last week, and Lunenburg County saw its first VDH-reported coronavirus death Thursday, July 30.

It is unknown if these deaths occurred recently or are the result of death certificates being reviewed by the health district, as announcements of coronavirus-related deaths can come weeks or months after the death may have occurred.

Lunenburg’s coronavirus case total increased six cases this week, going from 53 to 59.

Buckingham County rose five cases this week from 592 to 597. Cumberland increased eight cases, from 63 Wednesday, July 29, to 71 cases as of Aug. 5.

According to Piedmont Health District Director Dr. H. Robert Nash, the health district’s new coronavirus cases in July totaled 452, a more than 80% increase over June’s total of 251 cases.

Wednesday Nash said thus far in August the district has averaged around five new cases per day, although there is not enough data to determine if this is a consistent trend yet.

Nash added the statewide seven-day moving average for cases decreased steadily from July 11 through July 27, and also decreased in Virginias’ central region from July 11 through July 30.