RICHMOND, Va. -- Central Virginia is starting to see the anticipated post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID-19 cases, according to Dr. Danny Avula, the head of the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts.
According to new case numbers from the Virginia Department of Health, Henrico and Richmond reported the highest number of daily cases ever on Sunday and Monday.
Additionally, Virginia's seven day percent positivity rate is now nearly 11%.
"Thanksgiving is definitely the culprit. Many of our case investigations are pointing to Thanksgiving gatherings as exposures," Avula said.
He added that the health districts have done a lot of post-Thanksgiving testing.
In Richmond, the daily COVID case count on Monday was 126 cases, and on Sunday it was 90 cases. The previous high was back on June 1, when Richmond reported 81 cases.
In Henrico, the daily COVID case counts over the past three days are 149, 150, and 128. The previous high was on November 24, when case numbers reached 133 cases.
Chesterfield recorded a record high number of cases on Saturday with 142.
Avula said "lots of travel, COVID fatigue, family gatherings, shopping and the colder weather pushing everything indoors are to blame."